The Narrative Behind our Film
https://www.rfiddirect.eu/portfolio/manufacturing/
We, at RFIDdirect, are certain that a world of manufacturing accessing greater visibility is not just a future concept but possible now. So, we are completely committed to developing technologies that enable:
- You have complete visibility in your production environment
- You know exactly where every individual jobs-card is
- You can see the actual status of the jobs-card in production
- You have complete control over your production environment
- You can see where stock / inventory within the production is
- You can visualise the production bottlenecks by analysing data captured
- You can calculate the exact cost-price for each product coming through your production line
- You can reduce the time to enact recalls; complete reverse traceability of products
- You can provide digitised certification for your products
The Questions for You
- How well is your production performing?
- What is the real production capacity in use?
- What is the stand time per machine in the process?
- Where materials and in what quantity are stacked within the process, and how long?
- What are the Key Performance Indicators you want to manage?
RFIDdirect knows you are on the right track if you are asking questions – not knowing the answers is never a problem for us; not asking any questions is the most worrying of all.
Evolution and Deployment of RFID technology
Tracking and managing items is primarily what RFID is all about; many companies use RFID to identify assets, equipment, inventory and work-in-progress to reduce operational costs, increase the quality of products, improve safety and enhance customer satisfaction. (Mark Roberti, founder & editor RFID Journal 2014)
The Term Internet-of-Things and Industry 4.0
These current buzzwords often used world-wide in the media and, at conferences. Common in popular science, Industry 4.0 mainly describes the digital technological change in the European manufacturing landscape.
Both terms cover technologies that connect a physical object to the internet, whether that is to track and manage products independently from their geographical location or to make the operational process and data capture (also improving data management and analysis) smarter.
The rise of digitisation has, no doubt, transformed globally how we manage manufacturing and do business. Technology is rapidly evolving; the pace of change has never been so swift.
Adding Value
For manufacturing and other sectors, there are 3 areas of potential added value: bottom-line impact, top-line growth and risk mitigation (value creation should be core to any Industry 4.0 transformation strategy, “The key, then, is to flip your thinking. Instead of focusing on specific technology features or tools, let your goals for value creation lead the way”, Tom Lawton, Partner and Head of Manufacturing at BDO, proposes this to those navigating the best way through this era of change and disruption.
Building a Valid Business Case
Often the question we receive is, “We want RFID; can you give me a price?” Or alternatively, “Can you simply replace the barcode system we already have?”. Therefore, adopting a new technology for just for being new is not the best way forward and can be costly, even risking it not working at all.
Return on Investment
As with any investment, the Return-On-Investment will be the driver behind the decision to go ahead. A good understanding of the process under investigation is the start. Deploying a full process scoping, followed with a proof of concept is the start in many efficiency improvement projects. In the scoping, the data capture points are revealed in combination with the true value of that data for the process itself.
Data Capture can be done in many ways; sensor technology, barcode, RFID, infra-red and many more solutions. The questions always remain the same: what do you want to know and why? E.G. Single item or multiple items in a single scan? Additionally, consider any environmental implications and what does the captured data add to the system? Therefore, best solutions are often hybrid systems, deploying several technologies.
With the above in mind, we commit to building an authentic business case through scoping exercises with a generic and open approach – looking into the complete process. We always have the clear aim to improve this process, creating improved process visibility, inventory levels and overall KPI’s.
Conclusion – Visibility, Availability, Customisation
At RFIDdirect, our bespoke software solutions aim to answer any of your questions and more. We ultimately undertake the challenge to provide complete visibility of your manufacturing process, from procurement to manufacture, final product QA-control, right to dispatch – including real-time reporting, KPI analysis and performance statistics.
With offices in UK and Europe; we focus on what the customer honestly wants to achieve, what is their situation today, what is the gap between today’s and a future wish-list? Our aim, above all, is always to help unlock underlying, possibly unseen and unharvested potential.
The Wish-List
Visibility: The (RFID) tag or label (complementary to barcode or standalone) will enable connectivity – and therefore visibility throughout the production and logistics chain. Status can be monitored for a variety of performance or capacity purposes. Additionally, the added benefit of wider and easier connectivity to peripheral hardware such as smart phones and other mobile platforms.
Availability: Inventory can be accurate and visible real-time – with deliveries projected and ensured at the right location and the right time. Predictive planning can become more effective and competitive.
Customisation: Data capture will assist more responsive, flexible production processes to meet customers’ needs – allowing their input in a more direct way, adding value to products and service.
To conclude, we are aware that in-process knowledge within the manufacturing industry is still limited, many procedures, for example, only available by hand-written data on job-cards! We at RFIDdirect can help and support you with your KPI’s, and much more.
Sometimes, imagination and a leap of faith is required and, if you take the step forward – we can and will support you all the way.
Keeping Track, Adding Value.
