22.11.2008 08:57:20
http://www.haworth-europe.de/en/news_events_all/news_all_archiv/2007/07_07_09_rfid.php
Furniture on the move in flexible office environments
Haworth helps keeping track using the latest RFID technology
Bad Münder, Germany, June 2007.
The times when heavy furniture remained in one place, steady as a rock, are now a thing of the past. Flexibility is the magic word when office requirements change and furniture is to be moved about and put together as desired. This is when facility management is happy to employ the help of electronic aids to keep track of the whereabouts of office furnishings.
To put the term facility back into this task, Haworth has been using a product developed by a company named Projektfabrik based in Bad Homburg, Germany. The system, using RFID technology, is based on a passive transponder chip that provides facility management with all relevant information needed to organise the effective use of office space. All details such as commercial and inventory data on the individual pieces of furniture are stored - as well as the movement of the items throughout the entire building. The information is scanned and automatically registered when objects move through doorframes fitted with data readers.
This method of tracing the movement of furniture within large office complexes is a great help to office administrators as it avoids multiple registration of inventory items. Until recently, this task could only be handled with the help of additional staff and financial resources. Now thanks to this technology, the invisible chip, integrated during the production of the furnishings, allows a company to check the whereabouts and inventory data of the items involved at the touch of a button.
Furniture already in stock can be retrofitted with the new technology and the inventory checked via PDA. The mobile PDA system is fitted with a module allowing easy and efficient processing of the data, which is then sent to the operating system and converted into to the relevant computer system. The system used by Haworth for this purpose is compatible with all standard operating systems and databases.
Haworth distributes the system currently only in Germany but will deliver to other countries upon request.