Two days needed to transfer a complex equipment
to new owners.

Situation

Complex equipments are comprised of a large number of supporting items, such as vehicle-jack, wheel-brace, radio-harness, winches, ropes, chains, user operating and maintenance manuals.  Without these, the equipment may not work to its full specification or be reliable in service.

Complex equipments exist throughout industry(even rental cars!) and the military.

In a military environment, during exercises and operations, there is often the need for equipment to be transferred from one crew to another.  Accurate accounting is essential for proper operation of the equipment (and hence operational success!), the safety of the crew and for the commander to have accurate information regarding the force's capability.

Unique IDs simply checked off the digital list
for that complex equipment

Present Process

In both the military and civilian industry, checks are usually performed manually.  In the case of a complex equipment such as an armoured recovery vehicle checking all of what is called the "Complete Equipment Schedule" can take two men two days.  Equipment must be unloaded from the vehicle, laid out and then counted to ensure that items are not missed or counted twice.&nspc; This effectively puts two men and a vehicle out of action for around 2 days.  In reality, in most emergency situations, the crews take the risk of not having a complete vehicle and hope for the best!

The benefits of every item having a unique ID

When every item has a unique ID, there is no chance of equipment from one vehicle being taken by the crew of another.  Checking the equipment is simply a matter of scanning everything that is readily to hand and, once that is exhausted, deliberately searching for the items that still remain unaccounted for on the list.

Tests indicate that, instead of taking two men two days to fully account for all CES, a more thorough check can be performed in a few hours.  The results of the check can be immediately dispatched as soon as communications are able to be established.