Introduction
The customer: Pilkington – NSG
Pilkington, part of the NSG Group, is a global leader in glass and glazing solutions for the automotive and architectural sectors. Managing a vast volume of returnable transport items (RTIs) — racks, trolleys and bins — presented a significant logistics challenge. Manual tracking meant delays, asset loss and poor visibility into item locations across the supply chain.
To solve it, Pilkington implemented SmartX HUB's RTLS-enabled RFID platform to automate and optimize RTI tracking across multiple sites and partners.
The Challenge
Manual tracking, missing containers, rising costs
Without real-time visibility, it was hard to know the exact location and status of each container in circulation. Reusable packaging — racks, bins and trolleys essential to daily operations — was frequently lost or misplaced. Manual, disconnected tracking made reconciliation slow and error-prone, and to compensate for perceived shortages, teams over-purchased RTIs or paid for expedited shipping. Without automated return tracking, enforcing supplier compliance with return schedules was difficult too.
No real-time visibility
Hard to know the location and status of each container.
Lost & misplaced RTIs
Racks, bins and trolleys frequently went missing.
Over-purchasing
Perceived shortages drove extra buys and expedited shipping.
Weak return accountability
No automated way to enforce supplier return schedules.
