Distributed monitoring system for material handling

Reliable manufacture depends among other aspects on the supply of correct parts to the different manufacturing processes. In this paper a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system used for material handling in harsh environments is presented. The system enforces business rules to guarantee that only correct parts are supplied to the assembly line also registering unexpected manual overrides of the system (e.g. Operator manually retracting the solenoid at the entrance of the lane at the assembly station). Resulting benefits allowed include an ergonomically smoother loading operation and a reduction in misbuild levels in a flexible manufacturing environment.