Active RFID solution for a car assembly plant.
A feasibility study was undertaken by tender to provide a solution to a supply problem. The location is a car assembly plant in India.
The Plant is 5 kilometres long with eight goods inward bays and associated internal holding areas. The Distribution Centres supplying the assembly plant loaded at night to deliver the next day (Just in time).
Despite several initiatives over a long period of time synchronicity between Plant and DC had not reached the level required to ensure continuous production. The perception was to introduce a multi million dollar control system to control the flow of production information. This would ensure the correct parts for the correct planned production was delivered to the correct goods inward bay on time and visible to the plant.
With Active RFID the solution was less complex and costly. The DC's existing bar code and infrastructure. The palettes and trolleys have an active tag in a protective case and are assigned stock with the existing bar code system within the DC's. This is the only time the bar code is used. The Active tag has the same code as the bar code.
The despatch bays have 2 long range receivers each that pick up the tags when they are assembled or as they are loaded. As the transport leaves the tags go out of the monitored zone and are lost to the system, the missing numbers are automatically tallied with the inventory of the transport and if correct no recall is given. The assembly plant has the same long range receivers in the goods inward and holding areas which pick up the tag numbers as they approach and are unloaded. Automatically confirming they are in the correct location and entered into the stock.
The DC's have visibility of the holding areas and as the pallets or trolleys leave the monitored zone the tag ID is lost advising what to replace. A multi million dollar exercise became few thousand. Cost recovery 4 weeks (good month) or 4 days (bad Month) As the tags transmit a secure unique ID on a short low power signal to the local area it allows a computer system to match the ID to an internal record.
Despite several initiatives over a long period of time synchronicity between Plant and DC had not reached the level required to ensure continuous production. The perception was to introduce a multi million dollar control system to control the flow of production information. This would ensure the correct parts for the correct planned production was delivered to the correct goods inward bay on time and visible to the plant.
With Active RFID the solution was less complex and costly. The DC's existing bar code and infrastructure. The palettes and trolleys have an active tag in a protective case and are assigned stock with the existing bar code system within the DC's. This is the only time the bar code is used. The Active tag has the same code as the bar code.
The despatch bays have 2 long range receivers each that pick up the tags when they are assembled or as they are loaded. As the transport leaves the tags go out of the monitored zone and are lost to the system, the missing numbers are automatically tallied with the inventory of the transport and if correct no recall is given. The assembly plant has the same long range receivers in the goods inward and holding areas which pick up the tag numbers as they approach and are unloaded. Automatically confirming they are in the correct location and entered into the stock.
The DC's have visibility of the holding areas and as the pallets or trolleys leave the monitored zone the tag ID is lost advising what to replace. A multi million dollar exercise became few thousand. Cost recovery 4 weeks (good month) or 4 days (bad Month) As the tags transmit a secure unique ID on a short low power signal to the local area it allows a computer system to match the ID to an internal record.
