In-Transit Visibility Network

In-Transit Visibility Network

Knowing where material is located throughout the supply chain, matching orders to requirements in the field, and getting personnel and materiel to the right place at the right time are major supply chain challenges facing the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and international militaries. The deployment of supplies during Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991) highlighted the consequences of not having complete visibility of the U.S. DoD supply chain. More than 25,000 of 40,000 containers shipped to Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm had to be opened to determine the contents. Millions of dollars of duplicate goods were shipped, which not only significantly increased the cost of military operations to U.S. taxpayers, but also created bottlenecks at distribution points and congested points of debarkation.

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An inability to gain visibility and manage shipments within the supply chain created the following problems:

  • Increased transportation costs
  • Overwhelmed or idle distribution centers and pipelines
  • Amplified inefficient use of resources
  • Increased lost, delayed or duplicated shipments
  • Reduced combat readiness
  • Built "iron mountains" of excess materiel

The In-Transit Visibility (ITV) Network was developed to solve these problems by meeting the need for Total Asset Visibility (TAV). The ITV Network has been extended to more than 45 countries and more than 4,000 locations with "read-and-write stations." These stations track and locate the flow of military supplies and equipment ranging from boots and food to bullets and missiles through the supply chain from point of origin to consignee – both in times of peace and conflict. The network is the world’s largest active RFID system. On a typical day, the ITV server has location information on more than 450,000 shipments and receives more than 35,000 unique tag reports in near real-time of shipments moving through the DoD’s global supply chain.

In 2003, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (UK MoD) elected to extend a similar capability throughout the UK MoD supply chain. In that same year, the DoD Joint Chiefs of Staff J4 offered to extend the use of the DoD ITV Network to all Coalition Allies. Following the UK implementation by Savi, NATO also called upon Savi to install an active RFID network to track and locate supplies moving from Central Europe to Afghanistan. Savi also implemented an interoperable active RFID network covering more than 30 locations for the Australian Defence Force. Other allied defense forces deploying Savi’s RFID-based networked solutions include Denmark, Sweden, Spain and Poland.

The integration of AIT/RFID technologies and the creation of the ITV Network allow the DoD and international militaries to achieve significant productivity gains, reduce cycle times, decrease customer (warfighter) wait time, and increase supply confidence. Military organizations, through near real-time Total Asset Visibility of supplies and materiel in transit and in storage, can now scrutinize their logistical processes and supply chains to find ways to minimize the resources required to receive, store, locate, pick, pack and ship supplies. In addition, materiel managers can now manage and control materiel moving from vendors to depots, through air and seaports, to storage locations, and to field operating units.

For more information on Savi's products and solutions, call Savi at 1-888-994-SAVI(7284) or request more information through Savi's online form. To call Savi directly from outside the U.S., you may also contact one of Savi's international offices.

Industries

  • Military

Products

  • SmartChain Site Manager
  • SmartChain Edge Applications
  • RFID Infrastructure
  • RFID Tags

Standards & Technologies

  • ISO 18000-7