High Value Process Manufacturing

In high-value process manufacturing, RFID tags are used to enable work-in-progress tracking. This eliminates the need for manual keying in of information to update the status of any one sub-assembly within the process.

Where manufacturers make use of J.I.T. delivery of raw materials with a minimum safety stock level, RFID tags can be used to signal the usage of material for automatic updating of raw material inventory levels, which in turn enables the inventory management system to automatically generate replenishment orders as and when required. This ensures accuracy and minimum lost production time resulting from under-stocked situations. Operational efficiency is gained and this ultimately leads to increased productivity and a high level of customer-satisfaction.

By encoding product serial numbers and lot identification data into the read-only RFID memory, the manufacturer is able to provide lifetime tracking and product authentication. This is a useful feature for warranty claims and verification of 'original' products and/or parts.