In the 21st century our older, discrete notions of what it means to manufacture and what it means to track a product are changing. Increasingly, successful manufacturing entails efficient tracking -- of parts and components as they go through the manufacturing process and of the finished products after they are delivered to their end users. Recently, this comprehensive view of next generation manufacturing moved a lot closer to everyday reality with the promulgation of a new standard known as B-11.
Based on an existing Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) Parts Identification and Tracking Standard, the new B-11 standard provides automotive OEMs and suppliers with a uniform set of guidelines for the printing and placement of two-dimensional (2D) barcode labels and passive read/write radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on tires and wheels. 2D barcodes and RFID tags will help support the assembly process and provide item-level traceability throughout a vehicle''s lifecycle. With a 2D label or RFID tag, a portable database can reside on virtually any manufactured item, increasing accurate data capture and reducing the dependency of looking up information on a computer.
While the B-11 standard was created primarily as a solution to track tires in an automotive supply chain, B-11 offers manufacturers an exciting tool that can be used to track virtually any manufactured good throughout an entire manufacturing process. This article will describe RFID technology in greater detail, then provide some illustrations where the B-11 can significantly improve flexible manufacturing practices.
The Journey of C-101
AIAG''s B-11 is the world''s first item-level RFID application standard. As such, its significance extends beyond the world of tires and wheels. We can illustrate some of that potential by looking at a hypothetical product: a new consumer video game device called the "Z- Box." The Z-Box is a complex assembly, composed of numerous parts and subassemblies. Portions of it are manufactured in one plant and then shipped to another plant for final assembly. It is then shipped through a retail supply chain to a final outlet store where it''s sold to the customer.
During manufacturing, an RFID tag is attached to the work-in-process. This RFID tag carries its own ID number as well as the specific part number (or other uniquely identifying data) of this particular Z-Box -- let''s identify it as C-101. Bear in mind that whatever this product happens to be -- whether tire or television -- the basic process is the same.
As C-101 progresses down the production line, each workstation interrogates the RFID tag and retrieves the unique serial number of the tag and the part number (or other data) programmed into it. Based on the part number, a specific task is performed on this unit and the results are recorded, either directly into the tag itself or into the plant''s database or both.
C-101 is made up of different subassemblies, each having its own RFID tag. As each subassembly makes its way through the manufacturing process it is interrogated by the workstations through which it passes. What is to be done to this particular subassembly? What are the desired results of those actions? Does the unit pass QC? All relevant events can thus be recorded into the tag, error-proofing the manufacturing process to levels of accuracy and automation not previously achievable and greatly extending the flexibility of the manufacturing process as well.
Another benefit comes into play when the subassemblies are combined into a complex assembly. At the point where the subassemblies are combined into the larger part, each of them can be interrogated to assure that the right subassemblies are going together at the right time in the right sequence in order to assure the desired result. This fact can be recorded into each of the complex assembly''s RFID tags. The manufacturer can now either overwrite the subassembly part number(s) with the complex assembly part number or add the complex assembly part number to the data already there. These complex assemblies (including C-101) can then be tracked through the remainder of the plant''s manufacturing process.
C-101, the embryonic Z Box, is ready to be shipped to the final assembly and test facility, which nowadays could be across town or across the continent. Obviously it is imperative that there be no errors in shipping. Because C-101 and the other Z Boxes had their RFID tags scanned before they were put into inventory, the shipping department can quickly generate a file with the needed parts, from the required locations, and send it to a parts picker. Using this file, the correct parts can be picked, verified and transferred to a truck or into a container. The truck, or container, is scanned and added to the already scanned part data. All this data can then be automatically transferred to a shipping manifest and sent on with -- or ahead of -- the Z Boxes in that particular lot.
The final assembly plant receives C-101 and the other Z Boxes and verifies the arrival of the truck and/or containers. As each individual Z Box is unloaded, RFID tags are again scanned and the data recorded into the final assembly plant''s database, allowing the plant to quickly answer such key questions as: have we received the right units? at the right time? in the right order? from the right manufacturing plant? and against the right PO?
During final assembly, the info on C-101''s RFID tag enables the plant to determine whether it is intended to be a standard or customized model. Once final assembly is completed, and C-101 passes final quality control, it is scanned again and consigned to inventory before being shipped for retail distribution.
It''s important to note that one of the key features of the B-11 standard is that it allows for a variety of data formats, such as binary, hexadecimal, or ASCII, to be written to the RFID tag, providing that the correct data syntax is used for each type of data entered. For instance, in the automotive industry the ISO 15434 data syntax is the standard. In retail, UCC/EAN is used and it has its own data syntax. A retail merchant can scan the B-11 compliant tag and get the data he needs in the format he''s set up to read. A manufacturer can scan the same tag and extract the ISO 15434 data that is relevant to his operation. Neither needs to be aware of the other''s data, unless it is relevant to their particular needs.
Back to C-101. A retail merchant has received them, scanned them into inventory, and automatically assigned differing resale values, depending on the degree of customization.
Enter the Customer
At this point, an eager Z Box buyer enters the store, is intrigued by C-101''s special features, and snaps it up. The clerk scans C-101''s tag for the sales price and enters the relevant and appropriate customer data. The merchant''s inventory is reduced by one, his financial information is adjusted, and he logs important data on a satisfied customer and his buying habits.
But all is not quite right in the world of Z Box production. The primary manufacturer has just informed the final assembler that a temporary, and now corrected, problem has been detected in a particular workstation. To be safe, the primary manufacturer wants to recall the following Z Boxes for free inspection and possible replacement: serial numbers C-61 through C-150. This includes C-101 as well as 89 other units, about 45 minutes of production in all. In the old, pre-RFID days, the manufacturer tracked Z Boxes based on lot quantities, an eight hour per shift minimum, which would be about 960 pieces from this particular workstation.
Because the manufacturer knows the serial number of each part in question, he is able to tell the final assembler exactly which ones he wants to check and possibly replace. The final assembler, in turn, is able to match these to his own serial numbers and issue a recall notice to the retail chain for those specific items. Note that formerly the final assembler had also tracked production by lots, but in this case the quantities are ten times those of the primary manufacturers. With the old system, the recall could have affected almost 10,000 Z Boxes, not just C-101 and its 89 cohorts.
Personal Manufacturing
Because the retailer knows the exact serial number of the Z Boxes in question, he can search his customer database and come up with the name of C-101''s purchaser. This individual and the 89 other people who purchased the suspect products are alerted by call or postcard (90 customers, not 960 or 10,000) spelling out the potential problem and the solution. The manufacturers and the retailer are thus able to deliver a high level of customer service, and do it more quickly and much more economically than in the past. Personal manufacturing at its best.
This, of course, was a fanciful walk through the capabilities of a product built using the B-11 standard. It was applied to an item other than the tires and wheels for which B-11 was originally designed. Still, it illustrates some of the ways in which this powerful new stage of RFID technology can increase manufacturing flexibility while positively impacting inventory, shipping, receiving, warranty costs and -- most importantly -- customer satisfaction.