The system, which uses ODIN’s patented Blackbird technology, also enables users to inventory tagged items from anywhere in the world with the click of the mouse. SMART containers can transmit item level data to any ERP system over various communication mediums, including satellite, cellular, and active RFID.

ODIN worked with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to develop the SMART Container solution according to the agency’s specifications. Many of the SMART Container features, while now available to the civilian sector, were a response to an order by the Office of Secretary of Defense instructing DOD suppliers to provide low cost passive RFID tags on assets shipped to the government in an attempt to provide visibility from “the factory to the foxhole.”

The DOD provides an ample market for these devices, as its currently deploys roughly one million shipping containers around the world, any of which can be retrofitted with the ODIN solution. The ODIN system is currently in use by the U.S. Navy, and is said to have met a number of in-field challenges regarding the tracking and location of critical assets traveling in a variety of containers.