RFID for Automation Inspection Systems
Aurora, IL client builds and installs industrial vision systems for conveyerized inspection, packaging and sortation. When customers do a changeover it can take a human operator 20 minutes or more to manually reconfigure the inspection system: cameras need to be repositioned, scales recalibrated, conveyer gate spacing adjusted, scanners re-pointed. Because of Fotel’s pioneering work in AIT, client’s engineers were confident we could help them integrate RFID into their inspection system and automate the changeover.
Fotel recommended an HF system which operates well the conveyer’s near-field read environment. This is important because multiple packaging and sortation lines often operate in close proximity. We specified ruggedized harsh-environment tags to survive product spillage and wash-down. We also recommended an integrated controller-antenna configuration that made the installation very simple, easy and neat.
In this installation the 125 byte tag is used to send a command to the host computer, to reconfiguring the sensors via their servos. Larger capacity tags are available with the ability to store the entire reconfig data stream on board.
The use of RFID in manufacturing processes is all about return on investment. What took a human operator about 20 minutes to do manually the RFID-enabled system does in about 1 minute. If client’s customer reconfigures the packaging line three times in every 8-hour shift, the RFID-enabled line saves them about an hour per shift. In addition, the RFID tag data, like a barcode, is always correct, unlike keyboard-entered data. If the line is run two shifts per day, five days a week, client estimates that RFID-enabled functionality on each line pays for itself in under six months. Client company-wide savings are greater for more lines, and faster with three shifts and more production days.
For more information about RFID-enabled manufacturing processes, contact Fotel.
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