Managing Automation - March 2009 - (Page 33)

[SPECIAL REPORT] Meanwhile, the tags that form the nerve cells of any RFID network can now overcome many of the roadblocks that once stood in their way, including metal- and liquid-based environments. Companies such as FerroxCube, with its metal-friendly Ferroxtag products, are helping to rewrite the conventional wisdom that RFID does not work in heavy industrial environments. Similarly, OmniID and companies like it have pioneered water- and liquid-resistant tags for companies that need to track assets through wet environments. And UWB pur veyors such as Time Domain tout the greater readability of their tags in unfriendly environments. Battery life has improved, too, and stands to gain efficiency with the emergence of commercial applications of energy harvesting, a process that converts ambient energy into electricity for small devices. “This has many exciting applications, such as ‘perpetual’ devices that can run for decades, such as wireless sensors and switches ” reads a recent repor t from RFID researcher IDTechEx, based in the United Kingdom. BROADER THINKING Yet, with so many technology improvements afoot, manufacturers still look more like the tortoise than the hare when it comes to RFID adoption. Time Domain’s Clawson concedes that manufacturers have a limited view of the technology’s prospects. “It’s been a while since they’ve done much new with RFID,” he says. Simon Holloway, practice leader for process management & RFID at Bloor Research, believes that RFID in manufacturing has hit a lull mainly because people aren’t thinking broadly enough about its possibilities. “They are still thinking within the box,” he says, even as they’re operating “in a collaborative world.” Two new waves of globetrotting RFID tags may yet chase them out of the box, Holloway says, although he admits it could take some time. In one scenario, tags connect original equipment manufacturers to the suppliers that serve them, and in the other scenario, to the customers that support them. As evidence of the first of these developments, Holloway cites Airbus’ ambitious plans for RFID, including the company’s collaboration with tiered suppliers to deliver parts with integrated RFID tags. This kind of RFID-based network allows Airbus to be informed when the wheels for its jumbo jet, for instance, have come off the line at a suppli- er’s plant and are on their way to Airbus’ final assembly facility. On the flip side, some manufacturers are brainstorming the roles that an RFID tag can play at a customer location, an exercise that inevitably leads to a discussion of smart services. Holloway sees RFID-enabled service management as a potential gold mine. Nevertheless, he says that “no one seems to be progressing it very far.” He relates the example of a broken washing machine. Like most appliances today, the washing machine is an intelligent device. If the manufacturer could remotely query an RFID chip on the machine for preliminary diagnostics, a repairman wouldn’t waste a customer’s time trying to identify the problem and then declaring that he doesn’t have the right parts to fix it. “If he’s done [diagnostics] remotely, he knows what all the parts are, he knows what the faults are, and it’s ser viced there and then,” Holloway says. That kind of arrangement could mean higher sales for the manufacturer, which could sell extended service packages including RFID, as well as greater labor efficiency. ODIN’s Sweeney relates a scenario that’s already at work today. In Hewlett-Packard’s Sao Paulo, Brazil, manufacturing facility, the computer maker places RFID tags on empty printer frames as they begin their journey through the assembly process. Throughout that process, the tags relay information that helps HP monitor work in process, quality control, and inventory control on the line. When the finished server is shipped to the customer, the tag stays in place and contains an advanced shipping notice that end users Bloor Research’s Simon Holloway sees RFIDenabled service management as a potential gold mine, though “no one seems to be progressing it very far.” Photo courtesy: Bloor Research 33 March 2009

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

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.