RFID (radio frequency identification) Tags - Inventory and WIP Tracking

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Interesting item:
Social Security Administration experiments with RFID
Two key paragraphs may interest some and rankle others (privacy issues, Big Brother, etc.)
" 'If we knew who the person was, we wondered if we could track assets into the offices,' Orem says. 'You match the person with the receipt, and then you know that those particular items left with that person.'
During the tests, the SSA scanned RFID badges to verify shoppers, as well as scanning some high-volume items. The item tags included product number, price and description. The test application generated receipts, modified stock availability, and automatically placed orders to the warehouse management system based on pre-programmed reorder levels."

Anyway, I'm curious to know if this strikes a response from any of my fellow Covers.
 

Mike S.

Happy to be Alive
Trusted Information Resource
I guess I'm a dummy, but my first thought is what does the SSA have to do with shoppers, stock availability, wherehouse management, etc.?

But my second thought comes from my slowly developing "politicial issue sniffer" and tells me I had better stay away from commenting on this issue lest something I say get me in even more trouble around here. :eek:
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
That may be precisely, the point, Mike. Click on the link to read the whole article.

Companies and governments are gaining ability to monitor more and more activity of everyone. Good thing? Bad thing? Are there limits? How can we "opt out"?
On the other hand, it's a GOOD thing to be able to keep track of inventory and to make in and out activity of goods in inventory as error-free and hassle-free as possible.

SSA, like most large organizations, deals in a lot of "things" within its environment. Everything from pens and paperclips used by office personnel up to pamphlets and manuals distributed to individuals, employers, and service entities (CPA's, banks, etc.)
Think about how many pallet loads of SSA pamphlets get printed in a year!

The particular paragraphs quoted were about dealing with the SSA's own employees who took office supplies (and how many company logo pens do YOU have at home?)
 

CarolX

Trusted Information Resource
Wes Bucey said:
two key paragraphs may interest some and rankle others (privacy issues, Big Brother, etc.)
Wes,

I am trying to follow what this post is about. I agree with Mike that the "political sniffer" is out, especially with this line quoted from your post. When you invite a conversation about privacy and "Big Brother", how can you keep it from going political?

Perhaps we need to turn this conversation to the devices described in the article.

Is anyone out there using RFID devices? How? How well is it working?

Comments from the group?

CarolX
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Yep. Carol. You are on my same page. This is a topic which is difficult to discuss without getting mired in emotions (forget politics - how about ethics? What difference does it make whether it is a political party or a company that intrudes beyond the privacy line?)

I LOVE Gee Whiz stuff like RFID. I'd love to talk about how it works and how to implement it to best advantage. The problem is being able to implement it and not let it be abused for nefarious (my thinking) purposes. The paragraph I quoted shows how quickly and easily people think about it for spying purposes.

I have a similar problem with data mining. I LOVE being able to analyze data to discover trends and point the way to improving products and services. Amazon.com can be helpful when it suggests other books, but don't you have a little tingle in the back of your neck when you consider how such info could be twisted against you?

Maybe I know too much about how the database systems work and how easy it would be to step over my own "line in the sand."
 
If you read the whole article the politics kind of goes right out of it. Darn straight I want SSA employees tracked to see if they take 1,000,000 pens out of the SSA warehouse and give them to their friends.

Anyway, the RFID stuff comes in really handy when operating medium to large data collection operations. For example, say I really need to collect a whole lot of vibration data on a whole lot of points in my factory to support the "preventive and predictive maintenance" stuff under TS2 Section 7.5.1.4. In addition, this program allows me to schedule downtime, prevent unscheduled line down situations, and save a ton of money on preventive maintenance. Unfortunately, making sure the data flowing into the vibration database for Point X was actually taken from Point X becomes supercritical. Enter RFID. You put an orange RFID tag on every point, give your data collection person a map to all the points, hand them the data collection equipment, and turn them loose. The RFID tag tells the data collection box, "I am Point X", the person pushes the collect data button, the box says, "Point X data collected", the person moves on the the next point with perfect data! No more Point Y data screwing up your Point X trendlines and standard deviations.

As the article said, somewhat expensive per tag, but so is downtime in many high-volume factories.
 
C

Craig H.

I have been "keeping an eye" on RFID for some time now. We just have pallets of stuff, and nothing going straight to consumers, so the "issues" mentioned really don't apply to our business. Having a better handle where pallet 6 of lot 000112345 is does interest me however.

I was surprised to hear that WalMart was scaling back its RFID effort, but the technology has such potential for applications like ours that I am sure we will see it eventually.
 

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Craig H. said:
I have been "keeping an eye" on RFID for some time now. We just have pallets of stuff, and nothing going straight to consumers, so the "issues" mentioned really don't apply to our business. Having a better handle where pallet 6 of lot 000112345 is does interest me however.

I was surprised to hear that WalMart was scaling back its RFID effort, but the technology has such potential for applications like ours that I am sure we will see it eventually.
Do you currently use bar code labels and scanners to keep track of inventory? What price point would make the RFID technology worthwhile for your application?

I feel RFID is really just a "touchless" extension of bar code ID, and cost of tag is limiting usage now to high ticket items or bulk (pallets and other multi-item bulk packaging)

With RFID, package orientation is not important, and one package being hidden behind another is not a factor. Certainly helps to find a package stored in the wrong aisle or bin.

I can see the technology making sense for toll roads, addition to license plates for ID purposes in parking garages (where's the car? click the handheld RF)

For pets, children, senile oldsters - where did they wander off to?
 
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C

Craig H.

Hi, Wes

No, we do not use bar codes currently, for just the reasons you mentioned - our pallets are usually stacked next to each other, 2 - 3 high and 5 to 15 deep, so having just the front pallets available wouldn't help much. Being able to "ping" a label to locate it would be way cool...

As far as price point goes, I have not really put much thought into it because I am waiting for the technology to mature some. That's why I was sorry to see Wally World pull back from what had started to be a pretty big project. Once the technology is fairly stable concerning hardware and bug removal I will see what it will cost us and put together a list of needed equipment/software and related costs. If it looks good, I'll throw it upstairs and see what happens.

Craig
 
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