Automated Tracking System Using RFID for Sustainable Management of Material Handling in an Automobile Parts Manufacturer

Abstract

Sustainability is a major issue facing the manufacturing industries. To remain competitive, manufacturers need to ensure that all manufacturing activities carried out at all levels of the organization are efficient, innovative, prudent, and most importantly, sustainable. Implementation of green related technologies in work process supports sustainability with positive impacts on the society and the environment. Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) belongs to a class of electronic device that promotes sustainability to the environment, economy and social wellbeing of the people. This paper presents outcomes of a work performed in collaboration with an automotive parts manufacturer on design and implementation of UHF RFIDbased trolleys tracking system focusing on gains in efficiency related to speed of handling the receiving and dispatching of metal assets items between the parts manufacturer and its vendors. The system consists of tag, reader, antenna, and a host computer with SQL database server, reader connectivity program, and asset monitoring program. Results showed that the efficiency on speed of handling the receiving items and efficiency in dispatching the assets were increased by 9.4% and 34.8% respectively. In addition, the data handling efficiency were improved by 91.5% and 99.5% during loading and unloading processes respectively. Further enhancement of the system hardware is desired to improve system accuracy and performances.