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CAISI and WPS handheld barcode scanners provide WiFi in-transit visibility at the port of Beaumont.

Article Excerpt
Army officials here say they are one huge step closer to their goals of in-transit visibility and total asset visibility for the thousands of tons of cargo that pass through the port of Beaumont each month, thanks to the recent implementation of a new generation of RFDC (radio frequency data communications) handheld barcode scanners along with secure, wireless CAISI, the Combat Service Support Automated Information Systems Interface.

The handheld scanners capture cargo's linear and 2D barcode information, such as the dimensions of cargo, or what work contractors/stevedores have performed, to allow them to be paid. The CAISI system then wirelessly transmits the data back to the Worldwide Port System (WPS) database at the port's terminal management directorate (TMD) office.

Both the handheld scanners and the CAISI system are products of the Program Executive Office, Enterprise Information Systems (PEO EIS). The handheld scanners are Intermec CK31G units, provided by the AIT-III (Automatic Identification Technology) contract managed by the Product Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology (PM J-AIT), while CAISI is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) solution provided by the Product Manager, Defense Wide Transmission Systems.

As port operations were returning to normal after Hurricane Rita, which hit the Texas-Louisiana coastline on Sept. 24 and passed directly over the port of Beaumont, the handheld scanners and CAISI tandem were successfully tested together during full-scale loading operations the week of Nov. 14. During that week, stevedores loaded more than 1,200 pieces of cargo, including tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, wheeled vehicles and containers to an LMSR (large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off ship).

Key port for OIF cargo

Lt. Col. Timothy Whalen, commander of the 842nd Transportation Battalion at the port of Beaumont, said he was glad the port was chosen for the test.

"This port is...