Baosteel Gas | Thingple success story

RESULTS AT A GLANCE

Every cylinder on record, from filling to delivery and back

In use at Baosteel Gas’s Shanghai filling station since 2016, and continuously extended since.

100%of cylinders read as mixed-size loads pass the gate, tested in rain too

6.5 mread range from a tag small enough to sit on the cylinder shoulder

Every fillrecorded against the cylinder, automatically, on the filling line

Every stopdelivery and pick-up scanned and shown on a map

THE CHALLENGE

Cylinders go everywhere, and many never come back

Industrial gas cylinders leave the filling station for customers across a region and can sit scattered for a long time. Without tracking, an industrial gas company can lose around 10% of its cylinders every year.

Cylinders get lost

Untracked cylinders disappear into customers’ sites. Replacing them is a steady, avoidable cost.

Steel confuses RFID

Metal reflects and detunes ordinary tags, so cylinders need special tags built for metal.

Gates must read every cylinder

Filling stations want a gate that counts every cylinder. Different sizes and heights, in bundles, on trucks and forklifts, make that hard.

Records at every step

Filling, inspection, delivery and return all need a record, and paper does not keep up.

The cylinders are standard steel cylinders already in service. So the tag has to fit what exists: small, rugged, fixed on the shoulder, and able to survive filling, handling, weather and years of use.

THE SOLUTION

A tag on every cylinder, readers at every step

Four pieces work together. One identity follows the cylinder from the filling line to the customer and back.

Patented UHF tag for steel cylinders

Small enough to fix on the cylinder shoulder and built for metal. Each cylinder gets a globally unique ID.

Hardware

Gate and filling-line readers

Multi-antenna readers read whole trucks and forklift loads at the gate, and every cylinder on the filling line.

Hardware

Handheld readers

Batch-read cylinders for check-in, check-out, delivery, pick-up, inspection and maintenance.

Hardware

Platform and apps

A cloud portal and mobile apps for operations, management, customers and regulators, all on one data platform.

Software

At the plant and on the road

RFID tag on every cylinder
Gate and filling-line readers
Handheld readers at delivery

⇄Wired

Connectivity

Wired readers at the plant
Handhelds can work offline

⇄Upload

Platform

Cylinder records and alerts
Turnover and production reports
Portal and mobile apps

HOW IT WORKS

One cylinder, from filling station to customer and back

Follow a single cylinder through its cycle. Select a step, or let it play.

What the system recordsIllustrative example

1Cylinder 18006901 registered · tag linked
2Checked in at gate · 96 of 96 read
3Filled · nitrogen · recorded on the line
4Checked out · gate count confirmed
5Delivered · customer site on the map
6Picked up · back at the station

PROVEN AT THE GATE

Tested to read every cylinder

Gate tests with mixed loads, in demanding conditions.

**A truck with 96 cylinders**All 96 read at the gate. With one tag removed, the count reads 95, so the gate counts what is really there.

**Mixed-height cylinder loads**A forklift load of 17 cylinders, about 1 m between tallest and shortest, read in full.

**Rain and illegal tags**All 17 read in simulated rain, and an unauthorised tag raises an alarm.

FROM RECORDS TO DECISIONS

What the records make possible

A record at every step does more than find cylinders.

Tier customers by turnover

Turns per customer · Illustrative

See which customers turn cylinders quickly and which hold them for long.

Know where they are

Cylinders by area · Illustrative

Every delivery appears on the map, down to the customer site.

Inspect before it is due

Days to inspection · Illustrative

Cylinders approaching inspection or the end of service life are flagged.

THE BENEFITS

What changes for each team

Filling station

Fast and automatic

Gates count whole truckloads, and filling records itself.

Delivery and logistics

Know where they are

Every delivery and pick-up is scanned and shown on a map.

Management

Decisions from data

Turnover, production, asset status and inspection alerts on one portal.

Safety and compliance

Traceable through its life

Fillings and inspections are recorded per cylinder, and data can feed regulators’ platforms.

Thingple’s built-in alerts raise the safety standard of every cylinder and significantly improve operating efficiency.
Matt Zhang, Packaged Gases Director, Baosteel Gas

Where could better
data help your plant?

Tell us about your warehouse, your lines or your quality challenges.

Email info@thingple.com ↗

Every gas cylinder on record, from filling to delivery and back

Every cylinder on record, from filling to delivery and back