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Postal operators in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have actively tested RFID technology to measure the quality of their services in the Middle East.

Can postal operators in the Middle East raise their standards with RFID technology?

Although the understated nature of postal operations in the Middle East could be misconstrued by customers, the sector has led a quiet revolution over the years, with a series of multi-million dollar investments to dramatically improve the flow of regional mail.

A fundamental component in this transformation has been radio frequency identification (RFID) - a ‘next generation' technology that has long been touted by suppliers as a miracle cure for improved efficiencies within the supply chain. The verdict on that claim is still awaited, although the solution has been ardently piloted by the likes of Saudi Post, Qatar Post and Emirates Post, with others likely to follow in the near future.

"RFID technology has massive potential for the postal sector because it's primarily used to track items that are constantly on the move," reasons Mike Meranda, CEO of Tagstone, a technology specialist with offices in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. "We've already seen Saudi Post, Qatar Post and Emirates Post take the lead as national operators with their pilot initiatives and the Middle East postal sector is actually considered a global pioneer for this technology."

The concept of RFID technology is relatively simple. To start with, a special tag is placed on each item that requires tracking, for example a small parcel that is travelling from Doha to Dubai. The tags are more versatile than barcodes and have been designed to carry a greater amount of information. Moreover, barcodes are read-only, whereas the data on RFID tags can be updated at different stages of the journey.

A handheld or fixed reader then scans the tags using radio frequency waves to exchange data, such as dates or destination, and instead of one-by-one scanning, the technology has the ability to read hundreds of items at the same time, regardless of whether the tag is actually visible.

Despite the obvious benefits, not to mention the hype that has generated over the years, RFID has failed to create the impact that many suppliers had predicted, with companies often pointing the finger of blame to the costs involved. However, Meranda is ready to argue the case that customers are being misled by expensive price tags.

"The costs are coming down," he states. "Besides, the truth is that it doesn't matter how expensive the technology is, if it costs US$1 million and saves you $100 million, then it's worth doing. In general, the cost of RFID has more than halved in the past four years and in some sectors, the drop has been even more significant."

Qatar Post has emerged as a regional leader for the technology and led a three-month pilot alongside Saudi Post and Emirates Post in 2008, where RFID tags were placed on approximately 3120 test letters and circulated in the three countries. Overseen by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) - a United Nations agency that promotes a unified approach between postal operators around the world - the pilot was introduced to examine how RFID could be utilised to measure the quality of service in the Middle East.

"The testing period was successfully completed last year, making it the first RFID pilot in the Middle East postal sector," explains Catina Aghayan, quality and development consultant at Qatar Post. "With this technology, we can track our mail at every stage of delivery, from origin to final destination, and identify the bottlenecks in our operations, which can then be analysed, monitored and consequently resolved to avoid repeat occurrences in the future. This will lower our costs, improve our efficiency and allow Qatar Post to meet local and international standards."

According to Aghayan, who is also president of the Middle East RFID Association, recent concerns about privacy issues as a result of the pilot have been unwarranted and only served to highlight the importance of educating customers about the potential benefits that can be obtained. "We are not tracing the contents of mail," she states.

"We are tracing actual mail items and gathering information only for the purposes of speeding up and improving delivery. The information will give us further network transparency and consequently our clients will feel more confident about their mail being secured, protected and delivered to the right place at the right time."

The results from the pilot study have since been presented to postal operators from 22 countries in the greater Middle East region, many of whom are facing increased pressure from the Universal Postal Union to boost their efficiencies and match global standards in postal operations.

"Under the latest guidelines from the UPU, there could be penalties for postal operators that fail to prove their competence in the future. RFID could prevent this from happening," states Engineer Ahmad Alanazi, director of quality management at Saudi Post. "Previous solutions have relied
on active RFID technology, which is expensive, but this trial has proved that postal tracking can be managed on a passive or semi-active platform, which is more cost effective. This could pave the way for countries around the region and throughout the world to demonstrate their compliance without the cost."

Following the trial period, Saudi Post has announced plans to create a network of RFID-based mailboxes for citizens across the Kingdom. Each of the 10 million mailboxes that will be installed at homes in Saudi Arabia is being equipped with a passive RFID tag and postal carriers will employ Intermec handheld CN3 readers to identify the mailboxes before slipping letters into them. The devices, which contain GPS and wireless data communication modules, have been purchased to provide real-time updates to managers regarding the location and activities of postal carriers.

"As soon as a postal worker makes a delivery, they can use their Intermec CN3 to synchronise and update our database. There is no longer the need to wait for them to return at the end of the day," says Alanazi. "Additionally, the new solution will increase customer satisfaction as it enables us to immediately show our customers that a letter or package has been delivered, as the confirmation of delivery is detailed on the Saudi Post website."

In addition to the three national mail carriers, seven other organisations participated in the pilot. These included Motorola and Lyngsoe Systems (both of which provided RFID interrogators and tags), Trackit Solutions (which handled installation and maintenance), and Quotas (which served as an independent third-party manager for compiled data).

"RFID presents a unique opportunity for postal operators to automate the monitoring and tracking of their service quality," explains Tarek Hassaniyeh, regional sales manager at Motorola Enterprise Mobility. "Most of the biggest players in the world have adopted a range of active RFID solutions, which are more expensive. However, the pilot with Qatar Post, Saudi Post and Emirates Post used passive RFID technology, which means that affordable technology is now within the reach of postal authorities in the developing and under-developed world."

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READERS' COMMENTS

Interesting..
Posted by ametis, Dubai, UAE on Friday 24 July 2009 at 04:56 UAE time


Similar studies have also ben carried out in UK, France, Germany, but none have adopted it for regular mail because of investment does not justify the return.

On Pacakages, and courier services yes always.

I have been involved with RFID trials with Airlines, Post offices, supermarkets, automobile manufacturers.

There are still obstacles to be overcome, before the magic carpet can fly

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