IT Standards

Specializing in RFID technologies and integration, professionals from IBM Integrated Technology Services and IBM Business Consulting Services collaborated with Sernam to design and deploy the system. IBM began the project with a strong understanding of Sernam’s IT architecture and its business processes.The team evaluated third-party mobile messaging and Web interface providers, and worked closely with the other companies that developed Sernam’s tracking application and supplied RFID printers. The IBM-implemented solution integrates seamlessly with Sernam’s existing architecture.

The solution supports multiple terminals and communications channels, initially handles an estimated daily volume of 12,000 total e-mails, faxes and mobile messages, and can scale easily to accommodate increasing demand. The system’s RFID readers automatically send the status of the packages to Sernam’s information system where the wireless application then sends an alert to each customer’s preferred communications channel. If a message fails to reach the intended customer, the originating Sernam branch office is notified. Banchet explains, “It was critical to integrate the RFID system with our other applications. The information transmitted by the RFID tags must be pertinent and available immediately.”

To provide end-to-end integration and connect real-time information across Sernam’s business, the wireless solution includes IBM WebSphere Application Server for z/OS technology, offering a Java™ technology-based application server optimized for delivering applications running on an IBM mainframe in an IBM z/OS environment. IBM DB2 Universal Database software provides dependable, long-term event storage. For development, the IBM team used Java technology-based IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software. IBM WebSphere RFID Device Infrastructure integrates data from a variety of readers and filters, aggregates RFID data and delivers RFID events to the IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server.

A robust and scalable middleware platform, IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server helps Sernam transform its business by connecting the edge of its environment with enterprise operations. IBM WebSphere MQ provides reliable messaging and delivery of the right information in the right format at the right time. Sernam’s RFID parcel tracking produced convincing results at a reasonable cost. “It has increased the confidence our customers have in what we do for them,” concludes Banchet. “In financial terms, making the overall chain more reliable has cut our dispute resolution costs by 20 percent and misrouted parcels by 30 percent.” Sernam can now handle spikes in shipping volume in its critical night delivery service because packages are automatically handled and routed.

Fewer manual tasks enable Sernam to increase productivity and save staff valuable time in tracking packages and attending to customer inquiries. Because customers can track their packages via the methods each prefers, Sernam reports 1,000 fewer phone calls per day from customers inquiring about the status of a specific shipment, helping to reduce costs. In the future, Sernam hopes to gain further business and technology benefits by installing RFID reading systems in its delivery trucks, and at locations where its customers print RFID tags themselves.