RFID

The automatic identification of workpieces is a compulsory step towards the Digital Twin and for a consistent life cycle file of products. Because different technologies exist, companies often face the challenge to find the right solution which meets their requirements. Especially the high level of prominence of some technologies lead to premature decisions without a profound selection process. This in turn might lead to sub-optimal solutions in the end. In order to support especially industrial companies in this process, a selection algorithm for Auto-ID technologies was developed as part of an industrial project at the department Factory Planning and Factory Management of TU Chemnitz. The selection process has been implemented in a Microsoft Excel-based tool.

The targeted curing of glass fiber-reinforced plastics (GFRP) is important to ensure the advantageous material properties. The use of RFID for curing monitoring is a completely new approach. This paper presents an experiment in which an RFID transponder has been integrated into GFRP and the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) has been measured during the curing process. The result shows that the RSSI can be used as an indicator for curing GFRP. The advantages of RFID technology compared to conventional methods for cure monitoring are the wireless application as well as the benefit, which an integrated RFID transponder generates in the further product life.

Based on the specification of the European Pallet Association (EPAL) and GS1 the Pallet-Tagging-Robot (PaTRo) was developed. Special about the patented robot is that it can climb pallet stacks without additional equipment and can attach two RFID transponders to each pallet. During the whole process for tagging each pallet of the stack PaTRo is just supported by the stack. That is why PaTRo is very flexible and mobile for being moved to the location where the tagging should take place. For realizing the described features the construction of the robot is based on lightweight design.

The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) is progressing rapidly and is seen in today‘s economic action as a key driver of innovation. Future industrial production is characterized by a high degree of customization of products and a strong production flexibility. The rapid development of the Internet has contributed especially in recent years in the private life of merging the real with the virtual world and will get stronger in the future of industrial sector. This paradigm shift is referred to as Industry 4.0. This paper gives an overview of the Industry 4.0 and represents the potential of the transformation process.

The KWS SAAT AG have implemented and automatic identification system (Auto-ID) for corn. The main reasons for this were the logistic challenges and legal requirements concerning the traceability of seeds. With this system, the aim is to increase the efficiency of logistic processes in the supply chain. Before its implementation, a research project was conducted, in which the requirements that must be met by the Auto-ID system in this specific environment were examined.

During the last decades, automotive manufacturers have outsourced many processes. Hence, complex networks consisting of automotive manufacturers, suppliers and logistics service providers have grown in the automotive industry. The resulting transports of components in these networks often require special load carriers. Consequently, companies nowadays face the challenge to handle a growing number of load carriers. For improving the load carrier management a higher transparency is required regarding the load carriers in the whole network. Transparency can be assured by the application of radio frequency identification technology. However, especially logistics service providers have to invest in this technology, which can be implemented in different ways. In this paper, some application possibilities are described and analyzed regarding economic and energy efficiency.

In the research project LUPO a hybrid simulation laboratory is build up. This combines the advantages of the computer simulation with those of a model factory. For the systematic recording, mapping and analysis of various production processes a procedure model has been created that responds to the special requirements (quick, flexible, effortless determination of informative results) of the project. A library of production objects facilitates the reutilisa tion of existing machines and hereby a reduction of simulation effort.

In a world of steady change, manufacturing companies face major challenges. They have to react quickly to an increasing competition and more and more individual customer requests. New technologies and organisational structures like RFID or decentralised and real-time based production control can deal with this issue successfully. The specific realization of selection and analysis of each production process of the company often approves to be difficult and cost intensive. Previous simulation approaches are frequently combined with high efforts in order to state credible propositions regarding suitability and economic efficiency. The present paper shows a new opportunity towards managing these disadvantages. Additionally, the advantages are combined with computer-based simulations of the model factory. A fast and flexible illustration of the analysed production processes is achieved.

So-called chaotic storages get increasingly important in commercial use. Their high dynamics and resulting uncertainty about storage levels result in high requirements on logistic processes. The project presented in this paper combines methods to meet these requirements by the use of an autonomous stocktaking robot. It uses approaches from the field of cognitive inspired Artificial Intelligence, enabling the robot to act purposefully in an unknown environment. Even if the environment is constantly changing, the robot is able to acquire robust information about the current state of e.g., storage areas, their position and goods stored in them. The information gathered is of coarse granularity but is still be a valuable basis for the analysis and optimisation of intra-logistic pro-cesses.

The cooperation between BLG LOGISTICS GROUP and the UNIVERSITY of BREMEN by the topic self-motoring in logistics exists since the composition of the collaborative research centre 637 “autonomous cooperating logistic processes - a paradigm shift and its limitations”. This research centre was founded by the “Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)” in 2004. Since then the BLG provides the research case studies and real data from the industry. This builds the basis of the research analysis in the form of autonomous cooperating processes and simulation studies and allows the verification and evaluation of the complied work results. On the other hand are the results of the collaborative research centre 637 case studies very important for the development of the processes at the BLG. This article presents the contemporary issue of autonomous control, the insight of projects between BLG and Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH (BIBA) and moreover a future scenario of ...