In 2017, Blue Bird Corporation selected GuardRFID’s real-time asset tracking solution to track its in-process buses across its 40-acre facility located at Fort Valley, Georgia. After almost a year of use, the system has exceeded expectations. Previously, it could take hours to find a bus. With this new system in place, locating a bus can now be achieved within seconds by seeing its location on a graphical user interface. A specially-equipped golf cart can also be used to ping the RFID tag as it drives by the bus, which sends a notification to the hand-held device. In addition to significant cost reductions, the system also enhances the quality of on time delivery to customers.

GuardRFID's real-time Asset Tracking solution at the Blue Bird site provides a real-time view of their buses throughout their facility. By integrating both long-range RTLS and close-range portal detection in a single system, it provides precise real-time asset visibility and perimeter security. This powerful combination assists Blue Bird in accurately identifying, locating, tracking, and securing hundreds of buses at any given point in time. Blue Bird uses GuardRFID’s ruggedized Industrial Tag, that has been created to work effectively and efficiently in industrial environments including harsh and hazardous conditions.

GuardRFID's system is proven for high-density tag deployments, with very fast system response times, and offers seamless integration with existing IT policies, standards, and systems, and ready-to-go integration with complementary systems like CCTV & Access control.

“We no longer have a person dedicated to knowing where the buses are. The days of spending hours to find a bus are over,” said Matt Walker, Manufacturing Engineering Specialist at Blue Bird. “You know it is working well when people come to you and thank you for installing it because it made their job easier. We now look the bus up on the computer or cell phone app and know where to go to get it. The free cell phone app used to locate assets is very handy. The bus is usually under the dot that is displayed on the map.”

Blue Bird plans to add more readers around their facility to give better depth perception, and therefore even greater location accuracy.

“One reason we selected GuardRFID was that the system is scalable, “Walker added. “We started with 19 readers with five of them being self-contained solar powered stations. We understand the need to improve the accuracy of certain indoor areas. We knew this would be an issue, but it allowed us to keep the cost down while still getting the precision we wanted to start with. We look forward to our continued partnership with GuardRFID.”

“Active RFID is gaining rapid adoption in the manufacturing industry, as it provides real-time visibility of materials and equipment without the need for manual intervention. In the case of Blue Bird, locating buses within a forty-acre yard is difficult and time consuming, and requires significant manual labor,” says Zahir Abji, GuardRFID’s President and CEO. “The adoption of GuardRFID’s technology has resulted in tremendous reduction in the time it takes to locate a particular bus, while reducing the cost of performing this task.”