IoT & RFID Asset Tracking for Aviation Warehouse Management

The Client

The client operates an independent platform within the aviation industry, facilitating alternatives for the leasing, financing, and management of commercial jet aircraft. To keep pace with digital trends, the client set out to introduce IoT solutions to its existing offerings. The internet of things (IoT) — a sensor-enabled web of connections between otherwise non-smart entities — would open aviation-warehouse data streams and forge a dialogue between systems that could not previously communicate.

An RFID-Driven IoT Application

INNERLUXES's IoT development team built and implemented an RFID-driven IoT application to serve as a central hub for aviation warehouse management, minimizing manual interface activities. The solution was designed to offer the flexibility and scalability required to integrate RFID technology into the client's existing logistics. INNERLUXES engineered a communication interface layer to mesh the technologies, opening channels of communication between the legacy software and RFID technology — and married the back end and front end with an intuitive user-experience workflow.

Architecture and Build

The project began with a general functional specification (GFS) document describing the design and IoT architecture the client expected. After the detailed architecture was determined, INNERLUXES developed the server code using the Spring Boot framework — a solid base for a web application deployable on an intranet, extranet, or the internet. The client provided the desired look and feel for the UI/UX, and INNERLUXES built the code to produce it using an embedded template delivered with Node and React JS.

The RFID middleware was designed as part of the web-server application and forms the core of the system, dictating activities between multiple parties. It uses RFID readers and tags under Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) technology, drawing on multiple sensor inputs — fixed scanners, mobile scanners, RFID antennas, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi media, and weight sensors — with a data-communications interface to send and receive data through specific channels.

GS1-Standard Data Structures

The RFID middleware handles the following data structures per the GS1 standard:

• Serialized Global Trade Item Number (SGTIN)
• Global Location Number with or without Extension (SGLN)
• Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI)
• Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI)
• Global Service Relation Number — Recipient / Provider (GSRN / GSRNP)
• Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI)
• Component / Part Identifier (CPI)
• Serialized Global Coupon Number (SGCN) and General Identifier (GID)
• US Department of Defense Identifier (DOD) and Aerospace & Defense Identifier (ADI), with ATA Spec 2000 encoding/decoding at the business layer
• GTIN + Batch/Lot (LGTIN)

Asset-Status Tracking Workflow

Tagged assets enter the receiving area and pass to the first checkpoint, where a fixed reader triggers a weight sensor that begins reading automatically; a second sensor identifies the material (metal, liquid, or plastics). Untagged assets go to the RFID maintenance and printing area, where data is encoded onto a tag using the RFID printer and application. The goal was an asset-status tracking system — rather than a full warehouse inventory system, since the airline maintains its own warehouse-management software — tracking assets in near-real time to confirm their actual location. Main warehouse operations are tracked across these checkpoints:

• Receiving — via gates and checkpoints based on sensor-trigger logic.
• Put-away — monitored in real time as assets reach the desired location.
• Storage — routine position monitoring of the fixed asset.
• Picking order — a combination of barcode and RFID reading.
• Dispatching — via gates and checkpoints based on sensor-trigger logic.

The Impact

• An RFID-driven IoT application serving as a central hub for aviation warehouse management.
• A communication interface layer bridging legacy software and RFID technology.
• Near-real-time asset-status tracking across receiving, put-away, storage, picking, and dispatch.
• GS1-standard data handling with AIDC readers, multi-sensor inputs, and ATA Spec 2000 encoding.
• Reduced manual interface activity across warehouse operations.

Technologies and Tools

IoT, RFID (AIDC), Spring Boot, Node.js, React JS; GS1 standards, ATA Spec 2000; fixed/mobile scanners, RFID antennas, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, weight sensors.