How can traceability and easy data collection help make the assembly line more transparent and efficient? I’m sure if you ask any manufacturing engineer if being able to track vendor and lot information is going to benefit them in some way, they are going to say yes! All companies have some type of ERP system set up to track parts coming in and products going out, but what goes on between those lines? If a customer reports a missing or faulty component how do you easily know where it came from? How do you know when the product was made or who made it?
This is where RFID comes in. RFID read/write heads and data collectors can help you track and control production on the assembly. These data collectors or “tags” come in various shapes and sizes. They can be small chips attached to the workpiece carrier or they can even come as a bolt that you screw right into your part. Read/write heads also come in different sizes and have variable read/write distances or frequencies (i.e. low frequency, high frequency, and ultra-high frequency). The read/write heads connect to a processor unit that ties directly back to the PLC. Once the PLC receives this information, it can provide it to the ERP system. This takes all the information on the floor level and makes it available to the management system.
For example, say you have an unexperienced line worker on your assembly line. You are producing large diesel engines and he has the job to put together the pistons at the front of the line. Many times, he snaps the O-rings putting them on. Other times, the rings aren’t put completely in place, but he still sends the engine to the next station. When customers start calling faulty O-rings, you need an easy way to locate the source of the problem.
If you have 10 different lines changing out various engines every day, it could be difficult to narrow down the source of the problem. But if you have RFID read/write heads at each station on the line and a tag on each engine, you can look into your ERP system and track down on which line the engines in question were assembled and who was responsible for putting together the pistons.
You can then determine if the problem was human error or if the cause was due to poor quality parts, and take steps to rectify the situation. If it is determined that the rings are poor quality, you can easily determine every engine that these rings have been used on and recall only those engines. This is just a small example of how RFID can help with transparency on the assembly line. If you are looking for better ways to track inventory, vendors, or just make data more accessible to you and your company, then RFID is your answer!
