Playing tag with baggage : RFID technology in baggage handling at Stockholm Skavsta Airport

Abstract: The purpose of this master thesis has been to develop a baggage handling process at Stockholm Skavsta Airport that is cost-efficient, in order to prepare for the expected expansion of the airport. When developing the new process it was a directive to examine the possibilities of using radio frequency identification, RFID, technology and also that the required investment for the new process should have a payback time of no more than two to three years. The current process contains a completely manual sorting activity, which is both costly in terms of personnel and creates some mishandling of baggage due to the human factor. Our recommendation is a baggage handling process that use automatic sorting through RFID technology that eliminates the mishandling of baggage and reduce the personnel costs and at the same time have a payback period of less than three years. The main cost driver is the RFID tag costs and therefore our process is a so called closed-loop system, where the tags are reused several times and require very little work in between uses. The proposed physical layout consists of a drawing of the physical layout of the baggage sorting hall, a description of the RFID system, and the required information system software.