Boeing, Airbus sponsor forums on RFID tracking

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification and it may seem like more techno-jargon that's of little concern to the travel industry. But, just consider one possibility: an RFID tag in every piece of luggage that is tracked from the time it leaves the passenger's hands until it reaches the conveyer belt on arrival.

Delta Airlines has already conducted tests of baggage tracking. But, for now, most of the development work in aviation concerns tracking aircraft parts. The two major aircraft manufacturers, Boeing and Airbus, are beginning to use RFID as a way to track parts in supply chain management.

Although they are competitors, Boeing and Airbus are sponsoring three sessions of the Global Aviation RFID Forum. The first will be held in Atlanta, June 8-9, followed by Hong Kong, August 10-11, and Munich, October 19-20. Participants will include airlines, aviation suppliers, regulatory agencies and third-party maintenance providers.

Boeing and Airbus

Boeing and Airbus have agreed to require Air Transport Association (ATA) SPEC 2000 automated identification and data capture guidelines and to jointly host the sessions. The goal is to build consensus about standards for using global Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology on commercial airplanes.

Similar to a bar code, RFID is an automated identification and data collection technology that uses radio frequency waves to transfer data between a reader and items that have RFID devices affixed. These "smart labels" or tags store such data as part and serial numbers, manufacturer codes and date of installation. In addition, the tags can also store maintenance and inspection data, so airlines can tell when a particular part needs replacing and thus have adequate inventories on hand.

The smart labels contain a microchip and antenna and operate at 13.56 MHz -- an internationally recognized standard frequency. The label offers significant advantages over other types of identification; specifically, no line of sight requirement and a dynamic read/write capability. Until now, RFID technology has been used extensively in applications within the retail industry as well as employee identification badging and access control.

In February, Airbus was recognized as a finalist in the Aerospace Industry Awards in recognition in the maintenance and modification category for its pioneering use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which is aiding the tracking of spare parts to its aircraft.

Many proven benefits

"This technology offers the aviation industry many proven benefits, with the ultimate objective being continued safety, airworthiness and operational efficiencies for commercial airplanes," said Kenneth Porad, RFID program leader for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "By working together, Boeing and Airbus benefit by avoiding conflicting requirements with mutual customers and suppliers."

RFID involves "smart label" identification tags installed throughout an airplane that store data including part and serial numbers, manufacturer codes, country of origin, date of installation and maintenance and inspection information. The tags contain a microchip and antenna and offer significant advantages over similar technologies, including no line-of-sight requirement for data transmission and a dynamic read/write capability.

Last October, Boeing and FedEx jointly began an in-service evaluation of the use of radio frequency identification (RFID) smart labels on some major airplane parts for a newly converted FedEx MD-10 Freighter.

"The RFID technology is designed to help airlines reduce ownership costs by managing repairs and modifications and minimizing inventories," Porad said. "This program is part of the Spares Engineering Initiative to improve configuration management for our airline customers."

For complete details and to register for any of the forums, go to http://www.globalaviationrfidforum.com.