RFID - a weapon for mass production

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is moving upstream from the supply chain into the heart of manufacturing operations.

The first step in any RFID deployment is to establish a foundation of enterprise-wide automation and manufacturing information systems, writes Rockwell Automation's Chris Chan.

Now a global phenomenon, RFID uses electromagnetic (or electro-static) tags on consumer goods to enable the automatic identification and tracking of items in the supply chain. A transponder or 'tag' fitted to each item communicates with a 'reader' via short transmission range radio frequencies to initiate actions or interface with databases.

For retailers, the ability to know where every item is in the supply chain can save billions of dollars per year. For manufacturers, precise real-time forecasting can yield tangible benefits in supply chain performance. For both these groups, RFID offers a fast-track means of meeting these goals. RFID is becoming industry's alternative to the barcode - and this is having a significant impact on the plant floor.

Retailers are increasingly requesting that their suppliers tag pallets and cases. The suppliers, in turn, are requiring those further along the supply chain to do the same. This proliferation of RFID is demanding new integration and software standards. The key question asked by manufacturers is: just how far upstream into the manufacturing process should RFID be implemented?

Better than the barcode
Used in conjunction with the existing manufacturing execution systems (MES) and enterprise resource planning (ERP), RFID technology can improve efficiency, cut costs and boost sales.

While MES solutions already collect information - such as product ID, time stamp, physical attributes, machine, order and lot numbers at each processing step - RFID complements these efforts, especially in such areas as genealogy tracking. The information is encoded onto an RFID tag and channelled through the supply chain for a quick response to product recalls.

Effective RFID deployment also has the potential to provide fast, accurate data that exceeds barcoding capabilities. In many barcoding activities, manual intervention is required for capturing data. RFID eliminates the need for line-of-sight manual scanning by the use of transceivers that communicate with the tags - even around corners and across warehouses. The reductions in labour costs can have a major impact, particularly in high-volume and high-speed manufacturing operations.

RFID can also be used to tag reusable assets in order to optimise equipment and machinery performance. Information about the machine and its operations - such as location, usability status, maintenance requirements, contents and inventory levels - helps to devise appropriate production, maintenance and labour schedules.

By providing new streams of real-time data, RFID supports existing Lean and Six-Sigma programs. Tagging the materials as well as the machinery means that as raw materials are consumed or assembled, the process for in-bound material can be automatically alerted and controlled. Conversely, alerts can be set up to avoid incorrect mixing at the last minute, which can reduce scrap rates and increase process quality.

Unparalleled visibility
The underlying theme in RFID deployment is the visibility into process and inventory. The better a manufacturer is able to collect, manage and use information to drive production assets and processes, the more visibility it can provide to its trading partners.

Depending on the level of automation and MES in a plant, RFID can be used to varying scales to provide visibility into each stage of the supply chain - from raw materials to shipping, via production and packaging.

RFID's success in providing visibility across the supply chain is closely tied to the nature of the control systems and execution processes driving production. To fully realise the full benefits of RFID, the control systems that drive manufacturing execution may need to be modified. This can include retooling of equipment, revamping execution strategies, recalibrating plant-level information systems, and integrating new RFID-enabled manufacturing data to enterprise systems.

By doing this, manufacturers will be able to react to real-time, or near real-time, stock and store data from retailers. Manufacturers will then need to enhance their manufacturing information systems to enable them to match supply to demand - whether it's a sudden spike in demand or a glitch on the assembly line. They will also need to change their business processes and train people to use the data that will be at their disposal - because virtually everyone in the organisation will be affected.

An integrated architecture foundation
From the forklift operator to the head of logistics, with RFID new work practices will come into play. A supplier could simply slap RFID tags on 60 cases of coffee cans, stack them randomly onto pallets and read every tag as a forklift carries the pallet through a dock door at 10 kilometres an hour.

While this 'slap and ship' strategy will assist post-production processes, it will have minimal impact on current production operations. However, by applying the technology incrementally across the plant floor, manufacturers can seamlessly integrate the new information captured by RFID into the manufacturing process itself.

The foundation for an effective RFID installation across any plant floor is a fully integrated manufacturing automation and information system. Such an information system should be enterprise-wide, encompassing the factory floor, the enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, the computerised maintenance management system (CMMS), warehousing, purchasing and the e-business portals. Building on this, a combination of RFID investments and incremental, but functionally focused MES applications can quickly and cost-effectively deliver functionality that parallels comprehensive MES solutions.

As RFID deployment generally occurs incrementally, the ideal MES complement is one that is scalable.

RFID deployments generally tend to progress from pallet level to individual product level. Full-scale deployment and its impact on manufacturers, suppliers and consumers can potentially take several years, depending on information management systems already in place. Leading manufacturers are quickly investigating and adopting RFID initiatives from both short-term and long-term strategic perspectives.

Plant-level integration
Once information is shared across the enterprise and plant floor, all receiving, manufacturing, warehousing and shipping operations must be coordinated.

Regardless of the effort and dollars spent on RFID at the enterprise level, poor management and execution of RFID efforts at the plant level could drive down potential benefits.

Manufacturers have to take raw data from RFID readers and determine how to get it into MES and control systems that drive manufacturing. Delivering the right information at the right time to an MES or control system is the first step. The second step is to modify the rules concerning manufacturing execution - such as control, scheduling, routing, tracking and monitoring - to collect and respond to new RFID information.

These rules are being better defined by the RFID hardware, software and services markets, which are on a strong growth track. Most of these services revolve around ensuring that information captured by RFID tags and readers can be transformed into action both at the ERP level and the manufacturing level. Readers will capture data, but companies need middleware to process data and feed it to enterprise systems.

Middleware software and technologies are evolving to provide for dynamic near-real-time communication between readers and software, using the internet or other networked platforms. By incrementally RFID-enabling existing investments in control and plant management systems, manufacturers can extract value from RFID more quickly and cost effectively than competing alternatives.

As more and more suppliers adopt RFID, it is making sense to join the trend and take advantage of the technology. This trend will eventually drive down the cost of tags and readers, and encourage still more manufacturers to comply.

Many questions as to how RFID technology will be deployed remain unanswered. What information will be shared? In the transition period between barcodes and RFID tags, what will be the most effective way to track goods? As a first and most important step, manufacturers are best to focus on establishing an enterprise-wide automation and information architecture. This is the foundation of any effective manufacturing floor RFID application, and will lead to a strong RFID-enabled facility.

For further information contact Rockwell Automation Australia Ltd
37 Chapman Street, Blackburn 3130