During the last four months, the "Secure Free Zone Project" has enabled Western Digital and Royal Thai customs to monitor and validate in near real-time more than 11,000 trips of RFID-sealed truck trailers that transport high-performance hard drives from manufacturing and distribution facilities through customs inspection points in Bangkok.

Having the ability to electronically validate the security and contents of a truck from origin through government inspection points has sped up customs clearances of shipments destined for the United States.

The ongoing operation involves agreements with Royal Thai customs and the Thailand-based TIFFA EDI Services Co. Ltd., resulting in key benefits for Western Digital, which include: enhanced automation; a reduction in overhead; reduced waiting times for customs clearance; less individual transaction cost and increased accuracy of shipment information.

"Through cooperation from government authorities and leading-edge, tracking systems provided by Savi Networks and TIFFA EDI Services, Western Digital's operations in this project are more competitive and secure while enabling us to provide better service to our customers," says Narong Dockpetch, director for Western Digital in Thailand. "We view this as a win-win for everyone involved, and a model that can be expanded and replicated elsewhere to improve the flow of commerce while ensuring greater security."

"The Secure Free Zone Project with Western Digital demonstrates that use of advanced technology can provide both compliance and security value while increasing the efficiency of cargo movement," says Lani Fritts, chief operating officer of Savi Networks "Tangible business benefits like these provide the return on investment for real-time shipment and security information implementations in the global supply chain, which enables public and private sector value"

Today, the "Secure Free Zone Project" includes active RFID readers and transaction processing software at critical logistics checkpoints, such as manufacturing loading docks, entry and exit gates and Customs inspection stations. The infrastructure is installed in the Nava Nakorn industrial estate and the BangPa-In industrial estate, which are duty-free zones set up to stimulate import/export business where the facilities and checkpoints are located.