Poker tournament uses RFID technology to help manage assets efficiently
Every poker tournament uses a lot of equipment, including chips, tables, chairs and machines for shuffling cards.
Alpha Logistics Europe, a company that specializes in the management of such equipment, wants to make sure that the equipment needed is present and returned in an orderly manner at each game. The company is using RFID technology to accomplish this task, using a solution provided by Real Asset Management (RAM), a real estate software application company's MRI subsidiary. The system uses UHF RFID tags on items, Zebra's handheld RFID reader, and RAM's cloud-based software.
There are usually hundreds of thousands of racers in the poker tournament. During the competition, Alpha Logistics provided 4 trucks with furniture and entertainment equipment. Some of these items are disposable, while others are high value and reusable.
In the past, the retrieval and return of items were usually managed by a pen-and-paper system, which was error-prone and could not provide real-time information. "We often have several events at the same time, so the visibility of the device is the key to management," said Joe Page, Alpha Logistics's field event manager.
The solution uses RAM's cloud-based software, which captures the moving data of items through RFID and then shares the data with Alpha Logistics administrators. RAM is a UK-based solution company that provides fixed assets, maintenance and facilities management software for both public and private businesses. The asset management software provided by the company can be used in conjunction with barcode or RFID technology.
Alpha Logistics's customers include organizers of poker tournaments in the UK, other parts of Europe and the United States. These tournaments are usually televised and there are spectators at the scene.
Sachin Naran, a customer manager for Real Asset Management, says that with RAM solutions, managers and field staff can view real-time location data for items. The solution adheres to the sticky UHF RFID tag on the item. RAM's cloud based software will store the unique ID number and related information of each tag.
When the game requires equipment, the staff will use the Zebra handheld device to read the label of the item and then take it out for use. The reader forwards the tag data to cloud-based software and then compares it to the list to ensure that the item is not lost.
When a staff member retrieves his assets after the game, he will use the handheld reader again. If the software determines that the item is not returned to the truck, the alarm will appear on the handheld device.
Naran said the system is also applicable to internal inventory checks, explaining that manual inventory checks are often time-consuming and error-prone. By using RFID technology, the company can make inventory checks at any time quickly and obtain the time information of lost items.
"RAM software provides us with a complete inventory record and can see the real-time location of each device," Page said. At the same time, the software also records the return time of the equipment. The system can also store device related information, such as purchase date, cost and supplier.
With this technology, the company reduces the time spent on inventory checking and can quickly detect lost items. The system was put into use in early 2018. So far, the company has used labels on 1600 items.
