RFID USAGE IN RECONFIGURATION OF
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
Research by :
Farshad Tavallalinia
Siavash Emami
A production control system is used to plan and
control a series of manufacturing processes to
maintain the required quality level and delivery
schedule.
Most current production control systems include a
centralized database for production information and
production schedule information for relevant facilities,
and these systems provide an optimal scheduling plan
in a centralized way using this information.
Centralized control is effective when
product variety is low and when the volume
of production does not fluctuate much.
Change in production process plan
An RFID-based control scheme for production control
systems, one that solves these problems, has been
created based on the concept of holon.
So, each component of a product as a holon has been
considered , and this holonic component is controlled
by the RFID tag attached to the component, efficiently
works in the production control system.
Each component of product is controlled and supplied
autonomously by the FRID tag into product assembly facilities.
Each RFID tag contains the control information, called “lifetime
information” such as assembly facility and status information.
When any change in the production process plan is necessary,
the lifetime information in all the relevant RFID tags of the
components is immediately updated by this system.
Each RFID tag has the lifetime information necessary
for the production written by the system, such as
1) Universal identification number (UID) to identify
the attached component.
2) Parts number.
3) Production facility ID to be supplied for the
component.
4) Delivery deadline time.

Receives order information and makes initial
production plans

Generates lifetime information of RFID tags and
writes it into each RFID tag

Makes revised information based on order changes
and sends it to the controllers of production
facilities
R : RFID tag reader/writer
T1 , T2 , T3 : RFID Tags
1) A large piece of cloth with a single RFID tag is colored in
the dyeing process .
2) It is transported to the cutting process, where it is sliced
into pieces and where an RFID tag is attached to each
piece of cloth.
3) Wire props, each with one RFID tag and a piece of cloth
with a matching RFID tag, are processed into the final
umbrella product .
4) RFID tag readers/writers are attached to the front and rear of
production facilities to read RFID tags attached to the
components .
5) When each process is completed, the RFID tag reader/writer
in the rear side updates the current status in the tag. If the
order changes, the RFID tag reader/writer in the front side
modifies the status in the tag to indicate a cancellation or
increase or decrease in the number of products.
 It can flexibly accept change in orders during
ongoing productions without strict
rescheduling.
 The scheme is effective in reducing lead time
and costs associated with production and
that it is also effective in maintaining delivery
schedules.

Concurrent Engineering is a work methodology based on
the parallelization of tasks. It refers to an approach used in
product development in which functions of design
engineering , manufacturing engineering and other
functions are integrated to reduce the elapsed time required
to bring a new product to the market.
CrossFunctional
Team
Concurrent
Product
Realization
Incremental
Information
Sharing
Integrated
Project
Management

Integrating RFID technology with the
concurrent manufacturing model can
dramatically reduce response time to
customer inputs.
Truck
Let us imagine that a truck is to be assembled. The customer usually specifies the
engine, possibly the transmission, the tires, body paint and cabin accessories like the
stereo.
Designers and customers would have the flexibility to change specifications midway
through manufacturing with each part being RFID tagged. At any moment of time,
the specifications written onto the tag could be modified and production could
proceed normally. This would shorten response time because design and
manufacturing periods would have overlaps. Moreover, designers and process
engineers would be able to control the process changes using wireless signals to
directly update the RFID tags, thus reducing paperwork and human interference and
improving the efficiencies obtained through automation.
The computer-aided assembly line based on
RFID will improve efficiency in many kinds:
Saving Resources and Time
Preventing the Emergence of the Wrong
Assembly
Reducing The Processing Costs
Saving resources and time
By using RFID readers to read tag’s
information, the amount and detailed
information of parts can be rapidly collected
and input into the computer. It can save lots of
resources and time.
Preventing the Emergence of the Wrong Assembly
RFID readers are also fixed on the assembly line,
the information of the parts which will be
assembled on the assembly line could be read by
the readers. So the mating arrangement can be
checked and corrected by the computer. It can
prevent the emergence of the wrong assembly.
Right now two car companies use
RFID in their assembly line:

The BMW applies RFID to the assembly line, in order to
produce massively the customer-making car. The BMW’s
production is based on the style in which customs request
is first. The customer can select his favourite colour,
engine and tire style from the thousands of different
choices, therefore, there are hundreds of different kinds of
cars in the BMW’ s assembly line. Without a highly
organized and complex control system it is very hard to
complete the complicated task. In order to solve this
problem, the BMW fix its assembly line with RFID, and
they can use repeatedly tags with detail request of the car,
there are readers/writers in every work spot. That can
guarantee finishing the car assembly in each line without
any mistake.
RF Transponder Trials began at Ford assembly facility in Mexico in
1987 and Results looked promising but initial technology failed :

Track vehicles from final assembly to
shipment and ensure accurate loading to rail,
ship and truck.