International Paper Rolls Out First RFID Forklift

International Paper Co. believes eliminating the need for radio-frequency identification readers and portals at every distribution-center dock door or entrance from stockrooms to the store floor can save companies thousands of dollars in equipment. So it has developed and rolled out the first operational RFID forklift through its Smart Packaging business unit.

The RFID-enabled forklift is designed to improve inventory accuracy and reduce the number of lost shipments for merchandise that's stacked and delivered to stores or moved through a warehouse on pallets.

The forklift reads electronic-product-code pallet tags and tracks product movement through the warehouse. Software built into the intelligent forklift identifies, monitors, and reports the location and condition of the pallet's content in real time, the company says.

Customers who have RFID systems in place can integrate any existing IT infrastructure with the forklift, International Paper says. The technology is based on its RFID lift-truck product that International Paper estimates has successfully read the EPCs on 5 million RFID tags. The product was introduced two years ago.