Managing Automation - March 2009 - (Page 32)

tracking, worker tracking. But the instruments used to create the tune are FID middleware serves as the processor of all sounding better, as RFID manner of RFID information as well as a conduit providers focus on optito business systems. And it may cease to be a mizing the mechanics of stand-alone product in the coming years, according to the technology itself, from Simon Holloway, practice leader for process management tags, to networks, to read & RFID at Bloor Research in the United Kingdom. accuracy. RFID software providers build their applications on One recent shift intop of specific middleware software, which, according to volves the manner in a recent study that Holloway authored, “performs the which items are tracked. necessary tasks of converting the information picked up Most early RFID deployby readers; event processing, applying business rules, perments featured an infraforming a series of functions from aggregations and filterstructure of readers that ing to looking up data that converts this data into meansensed tagged assets at ingful business information.” fixed locations — for exWith players such as Microsoft bringing its BizTalk ample, a carton of pill botServer offering into the mix, Holloway says, “the middletles passing through a ware market is going to become commoditized.” dock door or a car chassis “It’s already happening,” reaching a specific point affirms Andre Pino, chief along the assembly line. marketing officer of Acsis But while these deployCorp., which specializes in ments still dominate, a tying data management from growing number of manRFID and other devices to SAP software. Pino cites ufacturers aren’t satisfied Microsoft, Oracle’s BEA, with knowing that an asIBM, and even SAP as the set passed a set point X middleware purveyors likely number of hours ago. to survive the contraction. They want to track assets Holloway cites Checkfreely and continually. Andre Pino point Systems’ June 2008 Some, including perennial acquisition of middleware provider OATSystems as a first-adopters in the autoprime example of what’s to come. Other examples of motive and aerospace instand-alone middleware vendors include Reva, dustries, are now working GlobeRanger, and RF-it Solutions. The enterprise applicawith real-time location tion integration vendors, including IBM, Oracle, systems to create this Microsoft, and Seeburger, “were very quick to adapt and kind of visibility. enhance their offering to support the requirements of Real-time location sysRFID middleware,” the report noted. tems, or RTLS, come in a “I can see that there will be another retrenchment” in variety of flavors differenmiddleware, Holloway says, with key vendors such as tiated by the means of IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and few others left. communication from the tag to the reader, as well as by their precision in pinpointing asset locations. Some systems run on proprietary networks while others piggyback on WiFi deployments, and still others utilize the latest entrant to the field, ultrawide-band communications. All track assets throughout the entire facility, and sometimes multiple facilities, in real time. The End of Middleware R WIFI PROS AND CONS RTLS vendors that use WiFi networks, including Ekahau, AeroScout, and InnerWireless/PanGo, tout the convenience of using an established wireless infrastructure to transmit RFID signals and asset locations. That convenience comes with a trade-off, though, since WiFi-based systems typically locate tagged assets only within a radius of 3 meters or more. Ekahau, for one, uses two-way communication with the tags to help overcome any blind spots due to imprecise locationing. For instance, if a worker wants to find a specific tool, the system can instruct the tag attached to the tool to blink and play music. The system’s advanced nature puts it in a higher price range than sub-$1 passive tags, admits Tuomo Rutanen, Ekahau’s director of marketing/business development. Ekahau’s tags sell for $40 to $50 each. “We’re not putting these tags on bananas and free packs of underwear,” he says, noting that the tags are more commonly applied to engine blocks, transmissions, frames, and large assemblies. Low-six-figure implementation costs are typical in sizable manufacturing facilities, he says. Ultrawide-band RFID systems — the purveyors of which include MSSI, Ubisense, Time Domain, Aether Wire & Location, and SandLinks, among others — claim greater accuracy, identifying tags to within a foot of their location. Rather than sending wavebased signals, as WiFi and proprietary RFID installations do, an ultrawide-band network sends tiny pulses in rapid succession, allowing for the quick and accurate transmission of the location information of as many as thousands of tags, says Greg Clawson, vice president of sales and marketing at Time Domain, a specialist in UWB tags. Experts say the choice of a communications network should suit the RFID application. “What you have to do is look at an analysis and find the best tool for the job,” says Patrick Sweeney of ODIN, an RFID integrator that remains agnostic regarding the technology it installs. If a manufacturer is looking for pinpoint location services, a proprietary or ultrawideband network may be in order, he says. For applications that only need to know that an engine block is in a certain room, for instance, piggybacking on WiFi may fit the bill. For manufacturers interested in tracking valuable assets outside the confines of their own local communications networks, a number of vendors have introduced GPS-capable tags in recent years. WhereNet and Identec, for example, offer dual-mode systems that use local networks when an asset such as a truck or cargo container is within a yard, and then switch to GPS locationing when that asset hits the road. ma March 32 2009 Photo courtesy: Acsis Corp.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - March 2009

Managing Automation - March 2009 Contents Take 1 Sober Outlook, Cost-Cutting Techniques Dominate at Automation Conference Sale Canceled, i2 Searches for Its Focus Accenture Unveils a Service for the Factory Floor Solar Is Bright Spot for MES Player Eyelit Other Industries Outspent Auto on Robots in 2008 Integrators to Play a Bigger Role at ILS Technology Notes Deep Dive Supply Chains Reader Poll Technology Directions Expert Q&A User Resources Special Report Transformation Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - March 2009

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