Mumbai Cleans Up With RFID Technology

Mumbai Garbage Truck with CSL CS203 Integrated RFID Reader

HONG KONG — April 2015 — Together, Convergence Systems Limited (CSL), a global provider of passive RFID products and active RTLS equipment, and RFID Tags and Services (RFTS), a leading solution provider and distributor of RFID, announced that the city of Mumbai has implemented a sophisticated, real-time vehicle tracking system for solid waste management that relies on RFID technology to ensure that garbage is collected on time, improves the efficiency of city services, including curbing the financial losses.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (BMC), which is responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the city, is piloting a vehicle tracking management system (VTMS) that includes the city’s garbage trucks. To enable real-time, automated monitoring of the collection process, CSL’s CS203 Integrated RFID Readers are installed on the trucks and CS208 Intelligent RFID Reader with embedded edge servers are positioned at the dumping areas. Mumbai’s garbage bins (scattered all over Mumbai) have been tagged with specially designed RFID tags supplied by RFID Tags and Services (RFTS).

Each stage of the process is color-coded on the system’s map. The areas not yet serviced are marked in blue; orange marks the areas where trucks are in the process of picking up the garbage; and neighborhoods already serviced turn green on the map. City employees can easily track the entire collection process remotely using the controller unit (Unify) designed and manufactured by RFTS to collect and process data collected by RFID Reader, monitoring data transmitted via mobile connectivity and GPS.

The Unify Controller is designed to be integrated with various other sensors (e.g. temperature, pressure, weight, fuel gage, GSM, GPS etc.) that go with RFID readers in complex solutions to make it powerful and intelligent piece sitting between data collection hardware and backend server thus enabling Cloud based services and push data to IoT.

“With mobile connectivity and an embedded edge server, the rugged CS208 and CS203 RFID Readers enabled the city to operate this system affordably with passive RFID technology,” said Ketan Kolge, Sales Director, Convergence Systems Limited, India. “Now, movement of the trucks can be monitored in real-time from the point of collection to the dumping ground for maximum efficiency.”

“The ease of use, system integration and cost benefits provided by the CSL RFID Readers made them an obvious choice to pair with our RFID tags and the Unify controller units,” said Rahul Daware, Head of Technology, RFID Tags and Services, India. “BMC plans to introduce the technology throughout the city in the near future, minimizing the need for staff to manually record each trip.”
Mumbai’s garbage trucks cover 4,000 collection points, each vehicle making multiple trips per day. To date, 20 vehicles are included in the RFID program, which is designed to improve public service, and to capture data for further enhancements.

According to municipal commissioner Mr. Sitaram Kunte, the project is a step towards making Mumbai a ‘smart city’. Mr. Kunte said, “If this project proves successful, we will implement it for ambulances, fire engines and other BMC-owned vehicles.”

The CS208 RFID Reader is extremely versatile, offering plug-and-play integration and universal connectivity via 3G/GSM/GPRS, SMS, Ethernet, USB and Serial interface. To see this intelligent, integrated RFID reader in action, visit CSL in Booth #744 at the RFID Journal LIVE show, April 15-17 in San Diego, California.

About Convergence Systems Limited
Founded in 2000, Convergence Systems Limited is a leading design engineering company and provider of radio frequency ID (RFID) tags, readers, antennas, modules and custom RFID hardware. CSL is unique in providing both passive Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) Gen 2 RFID products, as well as a full line of active RTLS RFID products. CSL delivers a broad portfolio of RFID hardware for logistics management, supply chain, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, access control, transportation and retail industries around the world. A member of standards organization EPCglobal, CSL is headquartered in Hong Kong with a global distribution channel. For more information, visit www.CSL-RFID.com.

About RFID Tags and Service
RFID Tags and Services (RFTS) is leading solution provider and distributor of RFID hardware including RFID tags (contact and contactless), RFID inlays (LF, HF, NFC, and UHF), RFID readers, RFID reader antennas and related services such as printing and encoding. RFTS R&D division has innovative products like Unify controller to enable seamless integration of CSL RFID Readers with any other system. RFTS also has wide range of specialized tags – Tamperproof Windshield (Certified), Jewelry and Mount on Metal Tags RFTS’ vibrant and experienced team has vast experience in designing solutions across diverse market applications. RFTS distributes RFID products from leading manufacturers and specializes in designing custom products to fit the customer’s need. For more information, visit www.rfts.co.in.

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