The Israel Defense Force said it would begin using radio frequency identification to manage its supply lines, which will save the army millions of dollars.
The process would employ a sticker containing a miniature radio frequency to broadcast data to computers, according to a report on Friday in the Israeli daily Haaretz. Radio frequency identification labels can manage large storage rooms in real time without requiring personnel to go from box to box scanning barcode stickers.
"Introducing the technology will be done gradually in various units," Colonel Effi Khalifa, head of the teleprocessing department in the Technology and Logistics Directorate, said via the newspaper.
"In the first stage, we'll implement (the process) in the field of fuel. We'll control the tanks in military units by integrating the (radio frequency identification) labels and additional sensors, which will allow us to receive data about the type and exact amount of fuel contained in them." He said the goal is to "reduce the siphoning of fuel in the IDF."
The IDF tested the technology's feasibility in three trials last July, according to the report. After the successful tests, the Defense Ministry got on board with the project by signing contracts with suppliers of the technology.
The American company Savi ran the tests, the newspaper said. Savi, a partner of the Israeli startup AtCom-RFID, is the radio frequency identification supplier to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
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