User's Manual

FAST Bin℠ User Manual
Fastenal Company FAST Bin℠ User Manual Page | 2
Revision 4.0
System Description
This document describes the Fastenal® FAST Bin℠ system, which enables remote monitoring of
inventory by means of sensing and communication technologies to report the state of the
inventory to a central Fastenal server.
The FAST Bin system consists of the five devices that are used to create two different types of
installations: Infrared (IR) Bins and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Bins. The devices
include IR Bins, RFID Bins, Controllers, Readers, and Repeaters.
The IR system uses IR Bins, Controller(s) and Repeater(s) to communicate information, while
the RFID system uses RFID Bins, Controller(s), and a Reader which is enclosed in the RFID
enclosure.
Each device uses one or more communication technologies to transfer the information, as
shown in Figure 1:
Figure 1. FAST Bin Communication Technologies
The communication technologies are as follows:
• Wi-Fi: Standard technology used to connect digital devices to each other and to the
Internet
• Cellular: A network technology that enables mobile device communication via cells and
transceivers