Wrigley Deploys New Flavor of RFID Solution with AeroScout and Cisco
Author: Hrvoje Jakovac
Date: 09 May 2008

AeroScout, Inc., the leading provider of Unified Asset Visibility solutions today announced that The Wrigley Company has implemented its real-time enterprise visibility solution at its largest production facility in Europe, located in Poznan, Poland.

Wrigley is a recognized leader in confections and the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of chewing gum with production facilities in 14 countries around the world. Wrigley is using AeroScout's technology and a Cisco Unified Wireless Network to track the location of pallets in real time, optimizing the efficiency of the production process by reducing losses in time and material. The installation was deployed in Poland by AeroScout in collaboration with Megabit.

"The AeroScout solution will significantly increase the productivity of our facility in Poznan, and because we were able to use our existing Cisco network, the installation was very straightforward," said Jacek Mackowiak, Factory Director at Wrigley in Poznan. "The solution provides benefits, which cut production time and thus increase effectiveness. All of this equates to improved product quality management."

"This is a great example of AeroScout's solutions being used to track work in process, which we do in many different manufacturing segments." said Andris Berzins, Managing Director, EMEA, AeroScout. "The Wrigley installation is representative of the value our manufacturing customers are achieving both in Europe and worldwide. Real-time visibility is evolving beyond just location to include a variety of sensor and status data, all of which enables manufacturers to optimize the efficiency of their operations."

"Combining Cisco's Unified Wireless Network and Wireless Location technology with AeroScout's Active RFID devices and MobileView software demonstrates how applications can converge seamlessly over the IP network to manage data as information, in real time, for the benefit of the business.", said Carlos Rojas, director of Manufacturing Business Solutions in Emerging Markets for Cisco.

"Managing work-in-process inventory drives greater productivity, and that makes supply chains more predictable for customers who want to create and sustain competitive differentiation in their respective markets," adds Rojas. "We call this business solution the Connected Supply Chain; and customers around the world are replicating the success of Wrigley in their own operations."