Special issue on ‘RFID-Enabled Manufacturing: Insights and Lessons from Industrial Cases’

Radio frequency identification (RFID) has received a great deal of attention for its potential ability to perform non-contact object identification and to provide visibility at the point of use in a variety of different industries. Over the last several years, we have seen various applications in the manufacturing industry ranging from inventory monitoring to tool tracking to automatic collection and processing of real-time production data aiming to reduce and avoid the error-prone, tedious manual activities. We have seen that RFID data can be used to generate valuable information, which can reduce inventory levels, cut down lead times, and facilitate enterprise-wide operational visibility throughout the entire product lifecycle across the supply chain. Real-time operational visibility and traceability closes the loop of production planning and control facilitating adaptive decision making.

There have been companies who have initiated exploratory efforts for RFID-enabled manufacturing solutions for their day-to‐day operations, some on a small scale and some as pilot implementations. Many equipment vendors have developed their RFID solutions and introduced them to the market. Worldwide efforts are in place to develop standards for RFID development and deployment. In spite of all these focused efforts, the progress of achieving the potential benefits of RFID in manufacturing has been slow.

The aim of this Special Issue is to solicit and collect valuable insights gained and lessons learned through real-life experiences, including success stories and failures. Eight papers have been selected for inclusion in this Special Issue. It is hoped that this Special Issue inspires more interest and draws more attention to researchers and practitioners in the field.

The first paper by Zhu et al. presents a case study on RFID application in a typical household appliance manufacturing environment, in parallel to the barcode technology. While benefits have been reported, several practical issues have also been recognised for those who are considering similar applications.

The second paper by Wang, Kowk and Ip deals with the application of RFID for quality evaluation system design for the wine industry. A method of using RFID-enabled real-time data to provide quality evaluation of the final wine has been discussed. The quality evaluation system can discover accidents in time to reduce losses and prevent counterfeit.

One-of-a-Kind-Production (OKP) is a non-repetitive manufacturing mode that produces customised products with unique components. Due to the varying production requirements and inadequate operation experience, the unique components and related operations often cause great dynamics in the workshop execution process. The third paper by Wang et al. presents an easy-to-deploy and simple-to-use RFID-enabled manufacturing execution system (MES) to achieve such real-time control for typical OKP workshops. Through the case study in a mould and die manufacturing company, technical, social and organisational issues have been reported.

The fourth paper by Chen employs a modular design to develop a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) cell controller based on RFID. This article discusses the feasibility of applying this method to a real production line. It is intended that the proposed method of developing a cell controller could serve as a reference template for tracking and control, facilitating the rapid introduction and application of RFID technology into industrial FMS in the future.

The fifth paper by Dai et al. reports on an industrial case study about the RFID implementation project at a typical small-and-medium sized (SME) engine valve manufacturer. The company adopted RFID-enabled shop-floor manufacturing solutions across its entire operations with little experience in the use of information systems/technology. Based on RFID-enabled real-time shop-floor data, the company has extended the efforts in setting up and integrating MES and an enterprise resource planning system. The success of this case company demonstrates that RFID is not just for automotive giants but also practically useful for typical SME automotive part suppliers.

The sixth paper by Huang et al. reported on the development and application of RFID-enabled real-time monitoring system (RRMS) to improve visualisation and controllability of the painted body storage (PBS) in a Chinese multi-purpose vehicle manufacturer. RRMS improves the efficiency of operation and makes PBS into a transparent, open and controllable system. Moreover, integrated with MES, RRMS provides a longer deterministic list of about-to-be-trimmed car-bodies for assembly sequencing and material delivering, which doubles the time in advance for production supervisors and material deliverers. This article also discusses some non-technical issues in the system designing and implementation.

The seventh paper by Liu et al. discusses the design and development of a production management system (PMS) integrated with an RFID-enabled real-time data capture system for a motorcycle assembly line. RFID technology is employed to enhance the visibility, track ability and traceability of items including raw material, work in process (WIP) and staff. RFID-enabled real-time PMS is used to facilitate the dynamically changing manufacturing activities. Moreover, the explorers of PMS for operators and assembly line supervisors show how to manage and execute production. The application results show that the productivity and quality are obviously improved.

The final paper by Saygin and Tamma presents a study on dynamic resource allocation (DRA) policies for aerospace maintenance operations, enabled by deployment of RFID technologies via simulation. Similar to a typical aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) type of flow line (i.e. pulse line), each station in the simulated model consists of operation sequence alternatives, as well as resource alternatives for each operation. The simulation study investigates station selection rules for real-time resource sharing, resource selection rules among alternative resources at station level, and a number of resource duplicates available in a manufacturing flow line in terms of their effect on system throughput, manufacturing lead time, resource utilisation levels and process wait time for resources.

The editorial team would like to thank all the authors for the time and effort in contributing their papers and in incorporating the referees’ comments in revising their manuscripts. Thanks are especially extended to the referees for giving their valuable comments to the papers, which are most essential for this Special Issue to come into being.

Finally, the guest editors would like to express their heartfelt thanks to Professor Stephen T. Newman, Editor-in-Chief, and his editorial office for their advice, help, and support, to make this compilation of the Special Issue a success.