Sensors

The implementation of object-identification without contact by Radio Frequency Identification technology (RFID) is in the meantime taken into consideration by many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to enhance on the one hand their internal workflows in production and logistics and on the other hand to satisfy customer demands. However, in the last years only little or superficial knowledge of this technology has been acquired. Hence, qualified and certified training for dealing with RFID is highly necessary. Process security shall thus be guaranteed internally and uniform standards within the supply chain regarding the implementation and application of RFID, can be substantiated.

Sensor und RFID technologies are increasingly shaping the logistics processes in production and in the service industry. In order to fully exploit the potential of these technologies, a paradigm change must take place where closed and monolithic company structures are transformed into value networks where a multi-faceted exchange and cooperation between companies is the rule. To make this transition attractive for all (or most) participants, the resulting cooperation relationships must be restructured with technical, economical and organizational aspects in mind.

When transporting or storing chemicals or other hazardous materials, certain storage regulations need to be observed to avoid incidents that could cause damage to humans or the environment. In principle, wireless sensor networks can be used to implement a fully automatic monitoring of all storage regulations. However, for the introduction of the technology into real-world applications, some practical problems have to be solved first. Making local decisions within an intelligent network offers many operational benefits, but it also complicates the management and the supervision of the whole system. A service-oriented approach is one possible solution: Business logic is defined in the form of services that can be deployed to individual sensor nodes based on the specific application requirements.

The international exchange of goods and products is growing steadily. Information technologies now in use are unable to sufficiently organize the flows of goods both more securely and more reliably: Losses from misdirected containers, pallets and luggage run in the tens and hundreds of millions. Modern solutions not only have to provide the capability to positively identify mobile objects of different kinds and in changing environmental conditions but also to localize them, communicate with them, navigate them and control them.

In efficient process chains, economic advantages can be accomplished by the use of reusable loading devices. Due to their outer shape they allow a standardized handling of different goods using the already available equipment. Adequate design and a modular structure provide the opportunity for efficient loading and unloading processes of various goods. Keeping in mind the amount of loading devices currently in use (a few million), their economic relevance becomes apparent. The Institute for Mechanical Handling and Logistics (IFT) at the University of Stuttgart is currently working on two different research projects that involve the construction and thus optimisation of standardized loading devices for different industries and purposes.

The assignment of transponders in the field of automobile logistics is currently confined to few applications in closed circuits. The main reasons are high costs as well as insufficient standardisation and performance of RFID-systems. Combined with other new information and communication technologies RFID becomes increasingly important for positioning and communication tasks. Based on the processes of an idealised E.H.Harms Automobile-Logistics terminal this article describes the basic options of utilizing transponders in this specific industry and introduces a potential solution to cope with unsatisfactory cost-benefit ratios.

Transportation and sortation of bins and similar units in conveyor systems have reached a high level of automation. Nevertheless the combination of state-of-the-art technologies can breed innovative solutions for typical problems arising in planning and operation of such installations. The source of upcoming developments is an increasing distribution of control functionalities.

RFID systems are yet waiting for their breakthrough in logistics. Today, radio-based identification systems are restricted to closed-loop supply chains and selected high-value applications. Mass applications are still tested in first pilot projects. The article describes the state-of-art in RFID and the foreseeable technology roadmap. Today’s and future applications of RFID are discussed with a focus on retail and manufacturing logistics. Finally, the most important issues of standardization and privacy are addressed.

Coordinating and optimising the logistics of special containers within the production plants and the container flows between manufacturing facilities of the Volkswagen AG is task of the plant related logistic unit. The complexity of this task and the potentials for optimisation and economisation are made visible and measurable by the use of transponders.

Increasing competition in product costs leads worldwide to the need of process improvement - especially in small and medium-sized enterprises. Projects of production and logistics, with the aim of optimising process organisation and manufacturing control are assumed to have the knowledge of decisive system parameters and adequate possibilities in interference. Against this background the efficient use of the resource information is very important in future. Precisely because the use of RFID in production control has even more rationalisation potentials, when the process monitoring of production process must be fast, safe and efficient real time close controlled.