Containers carrying supplies for NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) between Europe and Afghanistan are to be tracked with RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. The Savi SmartChain platform will be used to manage and track consignments under the scheme, and the results will be evaluated to see if a similar system could be applied right across the nineteen member-countries.

The NATO-Savi agreement follows an offer made by the US Department of Defense last October to share its existing, global RFID-enabled In-Transit Visibility (ITV) network for joint logistics operations with NATO - providing NATO added compatible infrastructure to plug into the system.

The idea is improve supply chain visibility and communications during joint operations. Following a four-month evaluation, NATO chose to use the same standard-setting solutions used by both the DoD and the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. Savi Technology has designed, developed and deployed all of them.

Savi's ST-654SaviTags, about the size of a chocolate bar, communicate at 433 MHz, and are said to be effective at distances of more than 100 metres; they also use the 123 KHz frequency for more precise, "slot-level" location.

Tracking of course means something rather different in container shipping from tracking in land-based operations. Containers are not literally tracked wherever they go, but are recognised when they pass known monitoring points - notably at ports. Since movements between ports are rarely in dispute, the key is knowing when units pass those points, and what is in them.

However, in the latest phase of the Smart and Secure Tradelanes initiative, satellite tracking via Inmarsat is to be added to the core RFID-based system, along with anti-intrusion sensor technology.

This high-level promotion of RFID in tracking is bound to underpin moves in the commercial market to achieve similar results - a trend supported by the findings of a report by BearingPoint, a leading US-based consulting and systems integration specialist. The organisation monitored goods moving between the port of Laem Chabang, Thailand and Seattle, Washington during September and October of last year, and found a host of commercial benefits including inventory reduction, faster customs clearance, better customer service and a reduction in theft.