Manufacturing in today's business climate is harder than ever. Organizations are being hit with multiple challenges from severe labor shortages and pandemics to massive supply chain disruptions.
In the middle of this turbulence smart organizations are recognizing the opportunity to embrace technology.
Manufacturers struggle with keeping track of the location of their critical assets, spare parts and components. Maintaining high levels of inventory visibility in the warehouse and also on the production floor is critical to keeping the operations moving efficiently.
Losing track of essential inventory is not an option in today's on-demand economy. The velocity at which modern businesses operate doesn't allow for organizations to have mediocre inventory accuracy.
Modern RFID technology is rising to this challenge and changing the way manufacturers operate. The benefits are huge. And the organizations that are getting it right are reaping enormous advantages – with improved inventory accuracy and better production efficiencies while reducing the strain on their workforce.
RFID adoption on the rise
RFID adoption has been gaining momentum for years now due to improved technology and lower costs. A study from Zebra Technologies reported that 91% of Manufacturers and Warehouses plan to invest in RFID by 2028.
There is a common misconception that RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is either too expensive or not practical for ordinary businesses. This may be true if you're not careful with the way you approach the technology. But over the years, we have found that when using a more common-sense approach that focuses on the frequent capture of an assets' "Last known location" the results are staggering - with inventory accuracy improving from a mediocre 65% to 95% or better.
RFID is providing tremendous benefits to manufacturing environments by providing increased accuracy and better visibility. The technology is also providing faster and more frequent data capture than barcode technology. Let's face it - barcode technology scans one item at a time while RFID can scan hundreds of items with the pull of a trigger.
Areas where RFID provide immediate value
Let's now take a look at where this technology might best apply in a typical manufacturing facility.
One of the areas where RFID is making a huge impact is in tracking raw materials. Maintaining high inventory accuracy levels when tracking your consumables or components of a final assembly, is critical to efficient production. Items can be tracked with RFID either at the item level, or at a bulk shipment level, providing fast and accurate inventories. It goes without saying that organizations with better inventory accuracy can run with a lower inventory and reduce their wastage.
Companies are also taking advantage of RFID during their Work in Process (WIP) applications in order to track projects as they move through each of the production stages. Organizations that have taken advantage of this kind of RFID tracking have not only gained huge advantages with improved visibility – but have also been able to identify bottlenecks and areas that need improvement that they were previously unaware of.
And then of course, RFID technology is being used to track and inventory finished goods as they are being warehoused and staged for eventual shipment to customers. Having confidence in your inventory at this stage helps to facilitate the sales process and allows your team to be able to sell and ship items as soon as they become available.
Another big challenge for manufacturing facilities is maintaining their equipment at optimum levels in an effort to keep their machines running without major failures or unexpected maintenance. One thing that we know about tools in a manufacturing facility is that they will often move from one location to another. The ability to track items like this as they move through portals, doorways, or chokepoints, provides real time visibility into the last known location with a date and timestamp. RFID tracking provides fast and accurate access to equipment that needs calibration or maintenance cycles in a timely fashion.
RFID for manufacturers webinar
To learn more about how RFID can be a game-changer for your organization, register now for this live webinar on May 12th. This free session will dive more deeply into how modern RFID works and will share multiple ways that you can take advantage of the technology to reap the most benefit. Learn how to minimize disruptions during implementation and gain key strategies that will help you find success quickly. Sign up today.
