Radio frequency identification (RFID) readers and their associated tags bring great wireless support to manufacturing automation. With the advent of RFID in automation tags can be both “read” and “written to” in real time by readers that are not in line-of-sight with the tags. This is of great benefit to manufacturing automation. The immediate access and retrieval of parts and products for use in production is a critical step in the manufacturing process. Being able to find the right parts in the right order for use in production and stage them for production is a critical task that is greatly assisted by RFID in automation.
The capabilities of RFID is a great step up from the bar code scanning that is done in grocery stores. Instead of only being able to pull the correct price for a purchased item from the store database like the bar code does, the RFID “tag” can “talk” to a device that requests information from it. In return conversation the “reader” will send changes to the information that is stored on the RFID tag. The tag has memory that will allow for the storage of such information as the date the product or item was bought, from whom it was bought, the size and other characteristics of the item, how many items are in inventory, along with other data.
To initiate a conversation with an RFID tag a reader would send a signal to the tag. The tag has enough battery power to awaken from a sleep state to “talk” back to the reader and send the information that it has requested. It becomes very apparent what the capability of such a scenario has for any warehouse or production operation. It becomes much easier for an operating facility to know what the continuous inventory of any part or item is in the warehouse. As production uses items from inventory the available inventory level is adjusted automatically. Once the reorder point for any given item is reached, then a message is sent to the ERP or order management software to initiate an order for more of the items to be purchased and added to inventory.
RFID is an added security device in a warehouse operation. If any item is moved from inventory without authorization from material management for that movement, then a security signal is activated that will allow for investigation of the movement. The obvious cost control is in effect that will minimize losses due to pilferage of inventory. Inventory levels in the warehouse are kept at optimum levels using these devices, not having too much of any given item or too little of any given item. If the optimum reorder points for all items are established, then the reorder mechanism will be triggered when the reorder point is reached by the subtraction of available items by the work of RFID tags and their associated readers. This will contribute to an optimized cost level for inventory on a continuous basis.
As technology pushes the capabilities of RFID tags and their associated readers to new abilities, the sophistication of these two working together will become much more effective. The memory on the RFID tag should grow to include space for a larger amount of data. The limitation of readers to only be able to “talk” to certain tags should be much more fine tuned, increasing the security abilities of these devices. The distance at which reader and RFID tags can hold conversations should increase, making the process much more effective. These devices already have the ability to “talk” with one another without being in a direct line of sight, but that ability should be increased as time goes by. Suppliers of items that are to be purchased for inventory may supply these products with RFID tags attached, further enhancing the use of these devices.
Cost reduction and security are the two main contributions that RFID devices and readers make in automation to the manufacturing automation operation. The ability to keep optimum inventory levels cuts down on the amount of storage area that is required for over-stocked items in inventory. This assists in reducing the plant storage costs and allows the suppliers to warehouse items until they are actually needed in production. RFID in automation will only increase in abilities and decrease costs in doing so.
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