Barcodes vs RFID for Work-in-Process Tracking

A new white paper by Dr. Peter Green examines the tradeoffs between using barcode and RFID scanning for tracking work-in-process in manufacturing plants

MILLBURY, MA, USA, November 4, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Approximately 80% of all mid-sized manufacturing plants in the USA are still using paper forms and Excel spreadsheets to track the progress of customer orders through work centers on the factory floor.

Many are reluctant to adopt barcode scanning to track the orders because of the complexity of implementing a barcode tracking system and the need to train and supervise their people in how to use these barcode tracking systems.

As one plant manager said to Dr. Green “I want to see where all my customer orders are at a glance but I don’t want to have my production workers do any barcode scanning or other data entry.”

This white paper examines the alternative of using RFID to automatically track work-in-process without the need for people to manually do barcode scanning.

Barcode scanning, whether the barcode scanner is embedded in a ruggedized mobile computer or is linked to a PC or tablet, is very precise. This enables scanning specific barcodes on a work order traveler or on work-in-process items or totes holding work-in-process parts even when many of these are in the same proximity.

An RFID antenna. on the other hand, can be mounted above each work center to automatically record every RFID tag in the work station at any one time. These RFID tags may be attached to each assembly, kit, or other item being made, or to totes holding sets of parts being worked on.

This enables an RFID tracking system to automatically record when an RFID tag arrived at each work station and when it left. Also, if we attach an RFID tag to each employee’s badge, the system can record who was in the work station at the same time.

We cannot, however use RFID to automatically record when an individual employee starts and stops work on a specific operation, or on a specific job.

Neither can we record what materials they consumed or link the materials consumed to the WIP or finished products produced by the operation. For these we need to use barcode scanning.

To learn more about this topic, please download and read the whitepaper “Barcodes vs RFID for Work-in-Process Tracking” by Dr. Peter Green from the White Papers link at the bottom of www.Knarrtek.com.

Peter Green
KnarrTek Inc.
+1 508-277-3353
pgreen@knarrtek.com
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