260825 Live Bird Crate Tracking RFI.pdf

Request for Information (RFI) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Tracking Solution for Live Bird Transport Crates Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture

Request for Information (RFI)

Issue Date: August 25, 2026

1. Purpose The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) is requesting information from qualified vendors regarding commercially available Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies capable of supporting the tracking and management of reusable transport crates utilized throughout the live bird market supply chain.

The purpose of this Request for Information (RFI) is to obtain information regarding current RFID products, implementation approaches, system architectures, and operational capabilities that would enable the Department to establish end-to-end visibility of transport crates from the point of origin, throughout transportation, and ultimately to their destination within Pennsylvania's Live Bird Marketing System.

This RFI is solely for planning, market research, and information gathering purposes.

Information received will assist the Department in evaluating available technologies and determining future strategic direction.

2. Background The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is responsible for oversight of Pennsylvania's Live Bird Marketing System. The Department currently utilizes the TraceFirst CoreOne platform to manage regulatory and operational activities and seeks a system that will integrate with the TraceFirst platform.

The Department is evaluating technologies that could improve visibility, accountability, biosecurity, and operational efficiency associated with the movement of reusable bird transport crates.

The Department seeks information regarding RFID solutions capable of providing reliable crate identification and tracking throughout the complete operational lifecycle, including:

• Farm or producer locations

• Crate cleaning and preparation facilities

• Bird loading operations

• Transportation

• Distribution centers (if applicable)

• Live bird markets

• Return transportation

• Sanitization and reuse

The Department is particularly interested in technologies that minimize manual scanning activities while maintaining high read accuracy in challenging agricultural environments.

3. Objectives The Department seeks information regarding solutions that:

• Provide positive identification of individual crates.

• Track crate movement throughout the complete supply chain.

• Support automated or semi-automated scanning.

• Improve inventory visibility.

• Reduce lost or misplaced transport containers.

• Improve disease traceability and outbreak response.

• Support regulatory compliance.

• Improve operational efficiency.

• Integrate with existing enterprise applications including the TraceFirst CoreOne platform.

4. Requested Information Vendors are requested to provide responses addressing the following topics.

4.1 Company Overview

Please provide:

• Company history

• Years providing RFID solutions

• Organizational size

• Primary markets served

• Relevant public sector experience

• Agricultural or food safety experience

• Live animal or livestock tracking experience

• Number of RFID implementations completed

4.2 Product Overview

Describe the proposed RFID solution including:

• Product portfolio

• RFID technologies supported

• Passive RFID

• Active RFID

• Battery-assisted RFID

• UHF

• HF

• NFC (if applicable)

• Environmental ratings

• Expected operational life

• Read distances

• Read accuracy

• Anti-collision capabilities

• Multiple tag reading capabilities

• Performance in metal-rich environments

• Performance around water and biological materials

4.3 Recommended Solution Architecture

Provide a recommended end-to-end solution architecture for tracking reusable bird transport crates.

Include recommendations for:

• RFID tags

• Fixed readers

• Mobile readers

• Handheld readers

• Vehicle-mounted readers

• Gate readers

• Conveyor readers (if applicable)

• Antennas

• Mobile applications

• Middleware

• Device management

• Monitoring software

• Cloud services

• Edge computing components

Provide a diagram illustrating the recommended deployment architecture.

4.4 Operational Lifecycle

Describe how the recommended solution would support each operational stage.

Origin

• Crate assignment

• Tag commissioning

• Bird loading

• Initial verification

Transportation

• Departure scanning

• En-route visibility

• Vehicle checkpoint scanning

• Exception reporting

Destination

• Arrival verification

• Automatic inventory updates

• Receiving confirmation

• Exception handling

Return Process

• Empty crate tracking

• Cleaning facility

• Inspection

• Reuse

• Inventory reconciliation

4.5 Scanning Performance

Describe expected performance for:

• Read accuracy

• Read speed

• Simultaneous crate scanning

• Dense tag environments

• Stacked crate reading

• Forklift movement

• Truck loading

• Outdoor environments

• Indoor environments

• Wet conditions

• Dust

• Cold temperatures

• High temperatures

Please identify any operational limitations.

4.6 Integration Capabilities

Describe integration capabilities with enterprise applications including:

• REST APIs

• SOAP APIs

• Web Services

• Event messaging

• MQTT

• Kafka

• Azure Event Hub

• AWS messaging services

• Batch interfaces

• CSV import/export

• XML

• JSON

Specifically describe the approach for integration with the Department's TraceFirst CoreOne platform.

Include:

• Integration architecture

• Data synchronization

• Event notifications

• Security

• Authentication

• Error handling

• Retry processing

• API documentation availability

4.7 Mobile Capabilities

Describe available mobile functionality including:

• Android

• Apple iOS

• Offline operation

• GPS integration

• Camera integration

• Barcode support

• RFID support

• Signature capture

• Synchronization

4.8 Reporting

Describe available reporting capabilities including:

• Inventory reporting

• Utilization reporting

• Movement history

• Chain of custody

• Exception reporting

• Missing crate reporting

• Operational dashboards

• Executive dashboards

• GIS visualization

• Historical analytics

4.9 Security

Describe:

• Encryption

• Authentication

• Authorization

• Audit logging

• Device security

• Cloud security

• Identity integration

• Multi-factor authentication

• Role-based security

• FedRAMP availability (if applicable)

• SOC reports

• Security certifications

4.10 Reliability

Describe:

• System availability

• Disaster recovery

• Backup procedures

• Offline capabilities

• High availability

• Failover

• Hardware redundancy

4.11 Artificial Intelligence and Analytics

Describe capabilities including:

• Predictive analytics

• Inventory optimization

• Lost crate prediction

• Utilization optimization

• Route optimization

• Automated anomaly detection

• Machine learning capabilities

4.12 Product Roadmap

Provide a summary of:

• Current product roadmap

• Planned enhancements

• Emerging RFID capabilities

• AI enhancements

• Future agricultural solutions

5. References Provide at least three references for comparable RFID implementations.

Include:

• Organization

• Industry

• Project scope

• Number of assets tracked

• Contact information (if authorized)

Preference will be given to references involving:

• Agriculture

• Food safety

• Animal health

• Government

• Logistics

• Supply chain operations

6. Recommended Deployment Based upon the Department's objectives, provide:

• Recommended hardware configuration

• Reader placement recommendations

• Tag recommendations

• Network architecture

• Communications architecture

• Estimated number of readers

• Estimated number of handheld devices

• Estimated number of fixed readers

• Estimated number of RFID tags

• Recommended implementation phases

• Estimated implementation schedule

7. Budgetary Information This RFI is not requesting pricing proposals.

However, vendors are encouraged to provide budgetary information sufficient to assist the Department in understanding typical implementation costs.

Information may include:

• Hardware costs

• Software licensing

• Subscription services

• Professional services

• Training

• Maintenance

• Support

• Optional services

Budgetary information is for planning purposes only.

8. Response Format Responses should include:

1. Executive Summary

2. Company Overview

3. Technical Solution

4. Product Description

5. Recommended Architecture

6. Integration Approach

7. Deployment Recommendations

8. Product Roadmap

9. References

10. Supporting Documentation

Marketing brochures may be included as appendices but should not replace narrative responses.

9. RFI Schedule The Department anticipates the following schedule:

• RFI Issued:

• Vendor Questions: within 30 days of issuance

• Responses Due: within 45 days of issuance

• Information Review: The responses will be reviewed within 30 days of receipt.

• Vendor Demonstrations may be requested after the review is completed.

10. Important Notice This Request for Information (RFI) is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation, Invitation for Bids (IFB), Request for Proposals (RFP), Request for Quotations (RFQ), or any other procurement vehicle.

Responses to this RFI will not be evaluated for the purpose of contract award.

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is under no obligation to issue a solicitation, award a contract, reimburse respondents for any costs incurred in preparing responses, or procure any products or services described herein.

The Commonwealth reserves the right to use information received through this RFI in the development of future procurement documents, technical specifications, and acquisition strategies.

Participation in this RFI is voluntary.

Submission of information does not create any obligation on the part of the Commonwealth, nor does it confer any advantage or disadvantage upon any respondent in any future procurement.

The Commonwealth reserves the right to contact respondents for clarification of submitted information and may request product demonstrations or technical discussions for informational purposes only.

Any future procurement, if conducted, shall be performed in accordance with applicable Commonwealth procurement laws, regulations, policies, and procedures. Participation in this RFI is neither a prerequisite nor a guarantee of participation in any future procurement.

11. Confidential Information Respondents should clearly identify any proprietary or confidential information submitted. The Commonwealth will handle submitted information in accordance with applicable Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law, procurement regulations, and other applicable laws governing public records.

12. Department Contact Questions regarding this Request for Information shall be submitted in writing to the Department's designated procurement representative identified in the RFI release.

No verbal interpretations or clarifications shall be considered binding.

End of Request for Information