Integration the key to effective RFID

IMAGINE a man walking into a Seven Eleven and putting different items in his pockets. A security guard watches him closely, until finally the man turns to walk out of the shop. The guard stops him and says, “Excuse me sir, you forgot your receipt”.

This story, told by IBM, describes a world where RFID technology allows one simple act to trigger other events, such as a credit card purchase and the updating of stock fields.

Although it’s clear that RFID is set to change supply chain and warehousing operations, one of the traps that businesses can fall into in the rush to implement the technology is adopting the old “slap and ship” mentality, where tags are placed on products simply for the sake of complying with retailer requirements.

Mark Dingley, manager of Matthews’ Identification System Group, says that what matters more than getting a tag on a pallet is deriving a business benefit from the system.

“Some retailers are requesting, even demanding, RFID tags on goods into DCs, but just implementing the technology for this sake won’t improve supply chain efficiency.

“Companies must find ways to benefit from the technology, other than just being able to get their goods into customers’ doors,” said Dingley.

Connecting back to ERP

Crucial to finding benefits is connecting RFID back to the ERP system. According to Geoffrey Ramadan, MD of Unique Micro Designs, for an RFID label on a pallet to have any value, a network of IT systems or ‘middleware’ software is needed to act as a translator between the sensor which reads the label and the ERP core.

“In a warehousing environment, the RFID reader is constantly polling the data, so when it reads all of the barcodes, it’s actually getting multiple reads of the same thing.

“It’s therefore not just about collecting the data, but also processing it before you pass it on to the enterprise system,” Ramadan told Manufacturers’ Monthly.

“Part of the middleware software’s function is to filter that data, but it may also do other things.

“For example, operators don’t want to have the RFID reader on all the time, so they may have electronic switches or photoelectric detectors to detect when boxes or pallets are present, which in turn switches the system on,” he said.

Support from IT systems and software is also important in light of the current trend towards more location based services.

Ramadan believes that RFID is moving towards a more intuitive wireless sensor system which provides not just an ID and location, but also temperatures, pressure, movements and positioning.

“Like the promotional story told by IBM, the mere act of a warehouse operator doing his/her job triggers the sensors to pass information into the ERP system, such as the reception of stock, updating of stock fields and so on,” said Ramadan.

There is also a move towards intelligent RFID readers in the future, with some device management and data filtering abilities built into the reader to minimise data overload, as well as an agent to rout the data to the correct point. Both these trends raise the challenge of device management for IT systems.

“There could be hundreds and thousands of devices in the field, collecting data. Issues arise, such as how to you talk to the devices? How do you collect the data? How do you set it? What group does it belong to? What do you call it? All those things are to do with one key challenge: device management,” he said.

Software steps up

Many of the major software vendors that are involved in supply chain have started to develop software to meet these challenges, specifically dealing with device management, data management and filtering.

Like any other business software, manufacturers need to have a clear idea of what the software is required to do and measure its value on a cost performance basis.

According to Dingley, this doesn’t necessarily mean having to purchase all new software.

“Companies don’t need to get rid of their existing system; they need to integrate. There are some great specific packages on the market, and a competent supplier will integrate your legacy systems with the new system.

“However, that’s after they’ve worked through with you what your business needs are – maybe it’s data on individual SKUs, plants, warehouses, customers, time periods, delivery times, the list goes on,” said Dingley.

Matthews has worked on a wide range of installations into existing software to achieve what Dingley calls “seamless integration”, including a Citect plant at Don’s Smallgoods, a database implementation at emergency beacon manufacturer GME and the development of an interface with a recent end client’s middleware on a project with a SAP services partner.

“All these examples show that it’s more than just providing a label on to a pallet load; it’s about connectivity back to the ERP systems, in a nutshell – integration,” said Dingley.

Matthews Intelligent Identification 1800 333 074.

Unique Micro Design 03 9582 7000.

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