1. The University of Hong Kong Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering 12 Receiving Shippin g WIP Replenishment Product Labeling & Tracking Inventory Management Work-in-Process Quality Assurance Labor Tracking Secure Access Time & Attendance Tool Crib Asset Tracking Wireless Manufacturing RFID-Enabled Real-Time Shop-floor Visibility and Traceability George Q. Huang gqhuang@hku.hk

2. IMSE Dept, HKU 2 Outline 1.Why do we focus on RFID-enabled manufacturing? 2.What is meant by RFID-enabled Wireless Manufacturing? 3.What are recent Developments in Wireless Manufacturing? 4.What do we do with Wireless Product Assembly Line? 1.Products and Assembly Line 2.Smart Objects 3.Visibility and Traceability Explorers 5.What Solutions are we developing for Wireless Manufacturing? 6.What have we learnt from what we have done?

3. IMSE Dept, HKU 3 RFID-Enabled Supply Chains 1 67452389

4. IMSE Dept, HKU 4 Processing Trade Enterprises in GPRD 珠三角國際加工貿易企業的重要性 PP rocessing Trade Enterprises (PTEs) II mport raw materials, parts VV alue-adding production EE xport finished products to overseas markets ww ith tax exemption ll ow-cost but highly skilled labour OO ver 100,000 PTEs in Guangdong OO ver 40,000 PTEs are Hong Kong-invested MM any are Taiwanese. SS ources and Destinations of Global Supply Chain 1 67452389

5. IMSE Dept, HKU 5 Bottleneck Problems in Manufacturing Data collection is Non-value adding, Error- prone, Tedious, Time consuming. 數據採集費時而不增值、易出錯。 Manual data sheets are frequently damaged, lost, or misplaced. 手工紀錄經常受損、丟失、誤報。 Shop-floor data are not real-time, inaccurate, incomplete, inconsistent. 製造信息不及時、不準確、不一致、不完整。 1 5624 3 879

6. IMSE Dept, HKU 6 “Garbage in, Garbage Out” 信息是企業決策的關鍵 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) / Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Machine status (e.g. breakdown running) WIP & material stock information Operator information Scheduled information (e.g. dispatch list) + Shop order instructions Shop floor (e.g. Plant) MRP/ERP need accurate timely data to make decisions. Plans and schedules cannot be executed accordingly. Operators are too busy with jobs, no time to collect data. 1 5624 3 879

7. IMSE Dept, HKU 7 Wireless Devices in Manufacturing Bar Code Printers including RFID Access Points For Indoor and Outdoor Coverage Fixed Mounted RFID Tag Reader/Writers Windows Based Fixed/Vehicle Mounted Computers & RFID Hand-held Computers & RFID Interrogators Hand-held Computers With WWAN and GPS Solutions & RFID Pallet Tags Scanners 2 56341879

8. IMSE Dept, HKU 8 Automotive “Bolt Tag”: common media to link supplier manufacturing data to end product  Supplier may or may not be company owned  Environment is extremely dirty (Oil / cutting fluids)  Data needed in multiple, non-synchronous processes 2 56341879

9. IMSE Dept, HKU 9 - Forged part is born -Cubing and primary machining completed -“Bolt tag” installed on part -Data recorded on “bolt tag” regarding S/N, Lot #, and Machine ID -Detailed machine cutting -Data regarding each step of the process recorded on the tag -Head and Cam assembly process -Finished head completed and ready for engine assembly -Data regarding each step of the process recorded on the tag - Head installed on engine final assembly - Bolt tag removed and lifting eye installed in its place “Bolt Tag” Integrates Car Engine Supply Chain 2 56341879

10. IMSE Dept, HKU 10 Wireless Manufacturing Next-generation advanced manufacturing technology  Deploy wireless devices and wireless networks  RFID or Auto-ID, Bluetooth, and ZigBee and Wi-Fi  to typical manufacturing resources  materials and their containers / packages, tools and fixtures, workstations, and human operators  to create so-called smart objects.  Smart objects play vital roles in  automatic collection, processing and synchronization of real- time manufacturing data. 2 56341879

11. IMSE Dept, HKU 11 Simplified Wireless Product Assembly Line Assembly Station Packaging Station Loading Station Smart Shelf Manager Office Smart Move 4 123 5 6 Customs Office 7 4 56281379

12. IMSE Dept, HKU 12 Active Smart Objects in Assembly Line - Where are the RFID readers?  RFID readers are deployed to “Value-adding points”  Working areas of All workstations  Which frequency should be used for Smart Objects and why?  We tried both HF and UHF. Balance between cost and performance  UHF readers are much more expensive, but reading range is a bit too large – cover the area that should not be covered in the Lab space.  HF readers are cheaper, but its reading range is limited.  Active Smart Objects are wirelessly networked. 4 56281379

13. IMSE Dept, HKU 13 Passive Smart Objects in Assembly Line - What are tagged?  Reusable containers  Packing boxes  Trays (for raw materials and WIP items)  Shipping containers  Key components (Van body)  All workstations  Shop-floor operators Container Movement Vehicle Packaging Item 4 56281379

14. IMSE Dept, HKU 14 Smart In-Buffer Real-time status of raw materials stored in the in-buffer is tracked and traced. Information could be used for intelligent process control and timely material replenishment. Workcenter Gateway Provide universal connection to common smart objects in a plug-and-play manner. Together with the predefined object registry, workflow configuration toolkit and run-time repository, the entire assembly process could be easily established and executed with the collaboration of the plugged smart objects. Smart Out-Buffer The finished goods sent to the out- buffer are tracked and traced. Information could be used for intelligent process control and timely goods delivery. Monitor Show to operator the real-time assembly instruction, station status, emerged events, etc. Assembly Reader Track the items taken from in- buffer, and provide information to monitor and gateway server. Parts Assembly After assembly, all parts information is combined into the tag of the finished goods/key part. Smart Assembly Working Area Equipped with RFID, the assembly operations occurred in the working area become visible and traceable. Raw Materials RFID tag is attached to each key part and each tray containing the raw material items, offering them the capability of being detected. In-buffer Reader Track the amount of trays in the in-buffer. Binding information for tray and items could be retrieved from gateway server. Out-buffer Reader Track the amount of trays containing finished goods in the out-buffer. Finished Goods Finished goods are also contained in tagged trays, thus being detected in the unit of tray. :passive smart object :active smart object Stationary Smart Work-Cell: Assembly Workcenter

15. IMSE Dept, HKU 15 Mobile Smart Work-Cell: Forklift

16. IMSE Dept, HKU 16

17. 17 5 78241369

18. 18 Real-time “Work” explorers for shop-floor execution 6 58241379 Assembly Operators at Workstations Workshop Manager / Line Supervisor Manufacturing Execution Login Check Task Check Materials Execution Trace & Track Order Status WIP Information Operator Information Line Status Workstation Explorer Line Explorer

19. IMSE Dept, HKU 19 Shop-floor (planning) explorer Receive order from ERP Check WIP Determine “to-be-made” quantity Check station status Release work orders to stations 6 58241379

20. IMSE Dept, HKU 20 Real-Time Line (Monitor) Explorer 6 58241379 Total production demand and finished Current work in process Number of Scraps Wellness of each workstation Current location of Smart Move

21. IMSE Dept, HKU 21 Smart Assembly Workstation  Ensure empty tray at out- buffer  Ensure parts at in-buffer  Track assembly operations  Request and receive parts  Send finished products for packing 6 58241379

22. IMSE Dept, HKU 22 Smart Box Packing Workstation Container Movement Vehicle Unit Load Transport Unit Packaging Item 6 58241379

23. IMSE Dept, HKU 23 Box Packing Workstation  Request and receive finished products  Inspect quality  Pack two items in box  Send packed box for loading 6 58241379

24. IMSE Dept, HKU 24 Container Loading Bay Container Movement Vehicle Unit Load Transport Unit Packaging Item 6 58241379

25. IMSE Dept, HKU 25 Check arrival of container Request and receive packed boxes Load boxes E-Seal container Declare exports to customs Ready for export Container Loading Bay 6 58241379

26. IMSE Dept, HKU 26 Smart Shelf explorer  Audit  Receive  Retrieve 6 58241379

27. IMSE Dept, HKU 27 Real-time “Move” explorer - WIP Tracking 6 58241379

28. IMSE Dept, HKU 28 Uses of WM  Trace and track enterprise assets (Man, machine, materials and orders).  Record and carry real-time, accurate, complete and consistent shop-floor data.  Reduce/eliminate error-prone and tedious manual data processing activities.  In-advance warning on wrong arrival, departure, delivery of materials.  Discover bottleneck, diagnose process errors, adjust schedules for unexpected disturbances. 7 59241368

29. IMSE Dept, HKU 29 What have we learnt?  Affordable, adaptable and reconfigurable to different manufacturing environments.  “Plug and Play” Self-Configurable and Scalable smart objects.  Deployment of Sensor (Smart Objects) Network  Information/Communication Network.  Operation-specific behaviour management of smart objects.  There are differences between RFID solutions between manufacturing and supply chain applications.  Costs are a major factor, but RFID technology and solutions are more important! 8 57241369

30. The University of Hong Kong Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering 12 Q & A Session http://www.imse.hku.hk/wm/ 9 57241368