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Vol 31 - No 07 - November/December 2005 Branch news : Visit to RFID Solution Centre Thames Valley and London Branches visited the RFID centre on Wednesday 14th September. For those few that do not yet recognise the acronym, RFID is radio frequency identification – a technology that has been around in clothing, libraries and car access for some time, but is now exploding in use in logistics and a host of other applications. The RFID Solution Centre is a permanent education and demonstration facility with a host of major sponsors including the DTI, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Cable and Wireless and others. It is ‘one-stop’ facility where visitors can see live demonstrations and simulations of a range of RFID solutions under one roof. Our hosts, James Johnson and Jacob van Vuuren walked the group through over a dozen applications. There are two broad categories of device – passive and active. Passive RFID devices (costing perhaps 6p to 40p) are read only and written once. Active devices contain a battery and chip that can be re-written – an ‘electronic purse’. These cost in the range £25 to £1500 the latter for devices containing a hard drive and GPS that are attached to US military containers. Both types can be interrogated at a distance depending on the technology, contain far more data than bar codes, and can be read at a rate of up to 600 tags per second. Advantages over bar codes include faster scanning, more data, remote sensing, line of vision not required, and of course in the case of active devices re-writing of data. This is by no means the death of bar codes, in fact several of the demonstrations integrated bar codes with RFID. A typical application involves using bar codes for individual products during order picking, but RFID to track pallets or cartons within a plant or along a supply chain. Several of the applications include integration with ERP systems and visual systems and in at least one case with voice activated order picking. Several systems cover picking, dispatch, travel, receiving, stocking. James and Jacob demonstrated a range of applications from conventional to unusual. The latter included tracking patient records and medicines, a device to help locate utility pipes remotely, tracking beer kegs including the number of usages, a security system for tracking transactions on a mail journey, and a medical trial pack that collects data every time a pill is taken. It is clear that RFID can lead to an explosion of ‘pokayoke’ (fail safe) devices for inventory accuracy, assembly work and quality checks. Also RFID has huge potential in maintenance (TPM) where checks and verifications of status are needed or assets tracked. In hospitals, for example, perhaps 10% of all equipment is ‘on walkabout’ and cannot be located every time it is needed. Likewise, invisible barriers for equipment such as laptops can be set up. All this was hugely impressive, especially when used as a pokayoke or for TPM. But, on the other hand, from a Lean perspective, there must be a fear that RFID will make inventory and document tracking too quick and easy leading to more and more inventory and transactions rather than reducing or eliminating it in the first place. Remember, tracking is waste – many RFIDs should only be contemplated following a ‘5 Whys’ session! John Bicheno, FIOM Lean Enterprise Research Centre Related Topics:
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