Case Study | Capturing the Flow of Goods in Real Time
Production & Supply Chain
Challenge
A manufacturer of sanitary products positions itself as an innovation leader in production and logistics. The objective was to use RFID tags within a Kanban process. With the pilot project, the manufacturer gains a development head start with the goal to be able to track the flow of goods across the whole company in real time.
Background
An exsisting Kanban process between the production in a plant and the shipping centre received the new RFID technology. A contactless identification and localisation by means of the RFID technology is implemented in the production practice. This project will stimulate the demand for RFID-supported processes within the manufacturer’s plants as well as off site.
Solution
Having seen several solution providers, the manufacturer opted for RFID applications from SAP. With the support of SAP consultants and RFID specialists, SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure has been implemented in an SAP ramp-up project. The SAP solution represents the Kanban processes for all finished products manufactured in the plant. Each of the 4,000 identification cards in circulation received an RFID tag. Gate-like reading devices recognise the goods when they leave the production site in the lattice boxes. The cards from the boxes are read in tunnel-like RFID readers. It is possible to identify even a pile with dozens of cards in a split of a second. SAP Auto-ID Infrastructure is linked with the functional areas of production planning and material management in the SAP ERP. The software translates the scanned chip data into informative business information.
Result
Higher production quality and less operational errors. Time and efforts for manual detection and control processes are reduced. The project gave the manufacturer a significant head start in development. More reading devices would capture the production and logistic processes without any gaps. The technology will also have the advantages for the trade. The tags and the end products merge into one entity and provide more information than before. The SAP software creates added value due to versatile RFID applications.
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Case Study (September 2017 | en)