Design of information factory based on RFID Technology

Information technology provides enabling tools and platforms for the manufacturing industry to implement advanced manufacturing strategies and improve competitiveness. Using information technology to transform and enhance the traditional manufacturing industry and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises and enterprises has attracted the attention of many enterprises. Using information technology to start construction and industrialization has become the goal pursued by the majority of enterprises in China. Ubiquitous computing technology represented by wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) and wireless sensor networks enables the computing world and the physical world to be closely integrated. In this way, the layer management software in the enterprise and the real situation of the bottom food industry operation can be closely integrated, so that the participants of the enterprise can get the real situation of the enterprise operation in time and accurately and make scientific decisions.

This paper proposes to use RFID technology and combined with the actual situation of the factory to build an efficient information factory. RFID technology is adopted to store the object information of each object in the information carrier, which is convenient for the data acquisition terminal to process its information. On this basis, the information-based factory management information system can automatically, accurately and in detail obtain the operation of the factory, so that the managers at all levels of the factory can obtain their own relevant information and make effective decisions, so as to improve the operation efficiency of the factory.

1. Introduction to RFID Technology

RFID, commonly known as electronic tag, is a non-contact automatic identification technology. It automatically identifies the target object and obtains relevant data through RF signal. The identification work does not need manual intervention and can work in various harsh environments.
A complete RFID system consists of reader, tag and application system. Its working principle is: the reader and writer sends the RF signal of specific frequency through the transmitting antenna. When the electronic tag enters the effective working area, the induced current is generated, so that the energy is activated, so that the electronic tag sends its own coding information through the built-in RF antenna; The receiving antenna of the reader / writer receives the modulated signal sent from the tag and transmits it to the signal processing module of the reader / writer through the antenna regulator. After de modulation and decoding, the effective information is sent to the background host system for relevant processing: the host system identifies the identity of the tag according to the logical operation and makes corresponding processing and control for different settings, Finally, an instruction signal is sent to control the reader to complete different read-write operations.

2. Overall design of informatization factory based on RFID Technology

2.1 informatization factory

With the help of modern information technology, an information-based factory stores the relevant information of factory employees, production equipment, product production and inventory into the corresponding information carrier, so as to integrate and process these information, provide an information system for managers at all levels, make them master the operation status of the whole factory at any time, and have data basis when making various decisions. Building an informatization f: the factory will help to improve the utilization rate of production equipment, reduce the inventory of the factory, save production raw materials, shorten the production time of the factory and reduce the production cost, so as to improve the economic benefits and competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises.

2.2 information based factory management information system

2.2.1 overall framework of information-based factory management information system

The framework of each level of information-based factory management information system includes software platform and Application module system, as well as the hardware platform on which the system depends. The basic core components of the software platform system include a series of components that realize various core logic and are encapsulated into different component packages: scheduling strategy component package, interface development component package, production process model component package, WIP (tracking of materials and work in progress) component package, SPC (statistical process control) analysis component package, equipment communication interface component package ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) interface component package, RFID terminal component package, etc. The application module system is based on the architecture of software platform and hardware platform to realize various specific management functions of the system, including: production process information management, production planning and production management, on-site data collection, material tracking query, product production tracking query, product life cycle file, quality and performance analysis query, production equipment information management Employee information management, inventory information management, etc.

2.2.2 hardware platform foundation of informatization factory management information system

1) RFID tag
RFID tag, as the information carrier of tag carrier, adopts contactless IC card, active tag, paper tag and so on according to different application occasions. For the selection of specific labels, please refer to the descriptions of various labels, such as label cost, whether labels are reused or discarded, reading and writing distance of labels, minimum label separation distance requirements, whether there is metal shielding, reading position, printing requirements of label surface, etc.
2) RFID data acquisition terminal equipment and its communication mode
RFID data acquisition equipment adopts fixed readers, card issuers, industrial readers, etc. according to different applications. The fixed reader can be used alone or integrated with the user’s system by using modules. It can connect multiple antennas at the same time, place them in different areas or angles, scan electronic labels in time-sharing, and connect with relevant equipment conveniently through serial interface (or other communication interfaces). Suitable for various industrial environments. Card issuers or card readers are mainly used to operate the specific contents of RF cards, including file establishment, consumption error correction, loss reporting, card replacement, information correction, etc. they are usually placed together with computers. In essence, the card issuer is actually a small RF card reading and writing device. Card issuers are often used in conjunction with card issuance management software. Compared with the reader / writer, the card issuer of the same manufacturer has the characteristics of small transmission power and short reading / writing distance. The industrial reader / writer has a fieldbus interface for easy integration into existing equipment.
The above three RFID data acquisition devices can choose RS-485 serial communication circuit and TCP / IP network communication interface circuit, and communicate with PC as one of the communication modes.

2.2.3 subsystem design and function of informatization factory management information system

The data acquisition terminal based on RFID technology is not only the physical basis of the information-based factory management information system, but also the main information acquisition unit of the factory information center, which will run through the whole process of the information-based factory management information system.
The information-based factory management information system consists of five subsystems: registration information subsystem, production equipment information subsystem, employee information subsystem, product production information subsystem and inventory information subsystem. The following describes the design and functions of each subsystem.
(1) Registration information subsystem
It is used to register the information of label carriers such as factory employees, production equipment, products and production raw materials, and assign labels to them. If the information of the above label carriers changes, the corresponding information on their labels shall be updated in time. In addition, the system can also increase or reduce the information of registered label carriers according to the needs of users.
When hiring employees, register their relevant information and configure them with corresponding IC cards. When employees leave, withdraw their IC cards and cancel the association between the IC cards and employees for future use. Input the relevant information of products and production raw materials into the information center. According to the input information, it outputs the information of the corresponding label to the on-site management computer. The label printer prints the label and pastes it on the corresponding object. According to the nature of production equipment, it is equipped with active labels, which is conducive to real-time monitoring.
Labels are carried on employees, production equipment or pasted on products and production raw materials to mark each different management object. When the tag enters the working area of the reader, it receives a specific electromagnetic wave and generates an induced current. Then the tag is activated and communicates with the reader.
The relevant information of various label carriers is as follows:

• a) Production equipment: label code, ID, name, manufacturing date, type, technical performance, operation status, etc.
• b) Employee: tag code, ID, name, age, gender, type of work, attendance record, work completion, etc.
• C) Production raw materials: label code, ID, name, place of origin, production date, production company, purpose, etc.
• d) Products: label code, ID, name, production date, production raw material information, production personnel information, ordering information, etc.

The inner code of the label refers to the unique code set when the label leaves the factory. ID refers to the ID number used inside the factory, such as employee ID number, production equipment ID number, production raw material ID number, product ID number, etc. Other information of various label carriers can be determined according to the actual situation.
The registration information subsystem is the basis of the information-based factory management information system. When entering information, it is necessary to ensure the correctness of relevant information. In addition, it is necessary to ensure the security and stability of the registration information subsystem, because it affects the security and stability of the information-based factory management information system.
(2) Production equipment information subsystem
It is used to manage various production equipment in different areas of the factory and improve the use efficiency of production equipment. At the same time, monitor the operation of production equipment in real time and repair the faulty production equipment in time. If the information of production equipment changes, relevant information shall be updated in time. In addition, the system can also increase or reduce the tag carrier information according to the needs of users.
(3) Employee information subsystem
It can easily realize the functions of employee access management, attendance data collection, statistics, information query and plant location. The management structure is simplified and improved. The concentration of factory management enables the management to know the relevant situation of employees in a centralized, comprehensive and at any time. In addition, the transformation from scattered static manual data to centralized dynamic information data not only improves the management level and management efficiency, but also provides a reference basis for the post inspection of the factory, the investigation of individual employees and the formulation of the overall human resources policy.
(4) Product production information subsystem
According to the application environment of RFID in automatic production line and its EPC (product electronic code) protocol, under the complex environment of Rician Fading and AWGN (additive Gaussian white noise), an RFID system framework, namely product production information subsystem, is designed by using pulse width coding and quadrature amplitude modulation, which are widely used in mobile communication.
Product production information subsystem includes production process modeling, automatic optimization and management of production plan, and product production management. Production process modeling is mainly used to set the production related information data of various products. The automatic generation and management of production plan ensures that the allocation of production resources reaches the optimization goal, and provides real-time query of production situation, which is convenient for timely adjustment of the plan. Through the reading and writing recognition of the labels carried on the product raw materials flowing through each production process stage, as well as the interaction with the on-site staff through voice equipment, we can timely understand the on-site conditions, so as to monitor the production management process of the whole factory products in real time and dynamically, including the execution and completion of each batch of orders, product production progress tracking and control, production quality control Calculation of workers’ piece rate wage, etc. The implementation of dynamic automatic product production management and quality control can be perfectly combined with other existing systems in the factory, which can significantly improve efficiency and reduce cost.
(5) Inventory information subsystem
The inventory information subsystem realizes the automatic, transparent and orderly management of warehousing and warehousing, and eliminates human errors.
In addition, it can quickly and accurately realize the management of purchase control, multi warehouse collaborative operation, warehouse receipt and delivery operation, first in first out, shortage alarm, unsalable goods statistics, sales statistics, commodity allocation, return and exchange control, etc.

3. Conclusion

This paper uses RFID technology and combined with the actual situation of the factory to build an efficient information factory, which can improve the operation efficiency of the factory. Take effective anti-interference measures when building an information-based factory to improve the stability and safety of the system. In addition, the system has the advantages of low design and manufacturing cost and convenient debugging, which is conducive to the popularization of the system.
At present, the overall solution of enterprise informatization is still in the exploration stage. There are still a lot of problems to be studied in its planning, design, implementation, organization, process reorganization, construction of integration framework and integration platform, system integration, system maintenance and so on. This paper is only a preliminary study on the construction of an information-based factory. Through the application and information feedback in practice, its hardware framework and software design will be continuously improved.

Source: China RFID Information Factory Solutions Provider – Actility Technologies Company Limited (www.tractility.com)

Actility provides powerful security solutions for retail store management to prevent asset and property losses, improve transaction security, and provide intelligent analysis. We produce AM/EM/RFID systems, EAS tags, EAS soft tags, EAS safer, lanyards, detachers and all kinds EAS accessories products. Infrared people counter and camera people counter is available. If you want to have more information about the article or you want to share your opinion with us, contact us at [email protected]