Lending and Return System of Hong Kong University Graduation Gown

Customer Background

Since its founding in October 1991, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has quickly become an internationally renowned institution and has taken the lead in transforming Hong Kong into a knowledge-based society. HKUST is committed to innovative research and teaching. All professors have PhDs and stand out in local institutions. Scholars at the University of Science and Technology have opened up new horizons in science, engineering, business management, humanities, and social sciences, successfully pushing the boundaries of knowledge to higher levels. The state-of-the-art facilities have created the conditions for success. HKUST is actively involved in social services, through the establishment of science camps, the establishment of online credit courses for secondary school students, and the provision of lifelong learning courses to promote the links between HKUST and the local community. HKUST has established academic alliances with universities in the Mainland and cooperated with the municipal government to pave the way for long-term national cooperation. At the international level, HKUST is a member of the Association of East Asian Research Universities and the Association of Pacific Universities. Together with the European Institute of HKUST, it has established exchanges and cooperation with many of the world's top universities and research institutions.

Project Challenge

Given that thousands of graduates leave the campus each year, the demand for graduate robes is huge, exceeding the limits of the manual borrowing process. The loss and damage of graduation gowns and their accessories (such as robes, square caps, tassels, and drapes) occurred from time to time, and the rate of asset loss continued to rise. The school could not even find and replenish stocks in time, which brings the result some graduates have no graduation gowns. In addition, remote supervision of the cleaning of graduation gowns has not found a more effective implementation. Therefore, the university needs a suitable solution to reform the management of graduation gowns.

Solution

The Schmidt Graduation Gown Lending and Return System was applied to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2005. It has systematically managed the tracking and tracing of the graduation gowns and accessories from lending to return.

The solution uses G-BOX UHF fixed RFID reader as the core of the whole system. The independent intellectual property of G-BOX is owned by Schmidt. It is composed of RFID reader, terminal processor, middleware and single application software. It meets the requirements of multi-functional industrial use. In addition to RFID tag reading and writing, it can also monitor and control external sensors and signals.

The advantages of G-BOX are reduced implementation costs, reduced project deployment time, improved reliability in harsh environments, and improved overall performance of RFID systems. The integrated design overcomes a large number of wiring defects between traditional RFID devices, and the price is only half of traditional RFID systems. Therefore, the emergence of G-BOX has greatly enhanced the popularity of RFID technology. For RFID tags, high-temperature, anti-extrusion, washable laundry labels are used, which can be recycled 100 times in extreme environments. In addition, the addition of 3G routers makes the system connection faster and more stable, realizing real-time status information updates.

The whole system architecture is clearly defined. The student ID code is entered on the lending system, and the tag attached to each lending gown or accessory is read by the reader to write the tag number into the system, since the tag number has been previously associated with the object. Specific information (such as color, size, etc.) corresponds one-to-one. Since then, each item is refined to the object, and the information is associated with the renter. The student's rental record, including the item details and rental status, is automatically ordered. The ground is stored in the system one by one; the return system also reads the label attached to each returned robes or accessories through the reader, eliminates the lending records, and records the use of the objects to help users to calculate the cost and additional service fees and to issue an invoice accordingly.

Implementation Result

The system has been in operation since 2005, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has received objective comments for its effectiveness. On the one hand, students have gained convenience; from the perspective of the organization, graduation gowns and other objects have also been recycled, and third-party service supervision has been more real-time and effective.

• Transparency of Asset Usage

--System users can see the rental and return of the graduation gown at a glance, including the integrity or damage of the object itself.

--The organization can monitor the status of third party services through the same information platform

--The management can understand the inventory situation in the first time and make emergency decisions such as replenishment and adjustment in a timely manner.

• Effectiveness of Asset Management

--UHF RFID reader and laundry label excellent literacy combination, making reading and writing efficiency and accuracy greatly improved

--Whether it is university or a third party, the real-time delivery of information is created on the same system platform, which also greatly improves operational efficiency and accuracy.

--The system optimizes the operation process of the entire lending and return system of graduation gown, and the automation functions such as statistics and cost calculation time are greatly shortened.

• Asset Utilization circulated

--RFID laundry label is resistant to heat and pressure, and can be recycled 100 times in extreme environments.

--The recycling rate of graduation gowns and accessories has been greatly improved, and the asset loss rate has been reduced, and a large extra expenditure has been saved.

--The adoption of information solutions reduces paper consumption, which benefits environmental protection.