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German Baker's RFID Application Is Recipe for Success
The data transfer from the reader into the software system is made via a "profi bus," or a data hub that directs information via cable to the system's programmable logic controller (PLC). Today, most such data transfers happen over wireless LAN.
Data is fed into Hermos' Proline software, which has been updated to run on Windows XP and was customized to work together with Lebkuchen Schmidt's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
Workers continue around the factory floor to all stations needed for each recipe until each kettle of dough is complete. Workers don't necessarily go from Station 1 to Station 8; the first reading of the transponder usually takes place at the flour or sugar station, though from a technical point of view, a baker could start at any point on the factory floor. The order of mixing varies with each recipe, with up to nine different recipes being produced at one time. If a kettle misses a mixing station, the system will notify the worker, who can then wheel it to the appropriate location. At the end of the mixing process, workers receive a notice that a batch is done.
Separately, Lebkuchen Schmidt has three "hand transponders," encased in the same white plastic but not mounted to a particular mixing bowl. When a small order needs to be filled or a small batch needs to be made, a worker carries a hand transponder and a smaller mixing bowl, moving from one mixing station to the next, as guided by the screens. This system allows personnel to work on small, separate orders without interrupting the flow of mass production.
When the system was implemented, Lebkuchen Schmidt faced no problems with the technology but did have to invest time to retrain workers on the new process, Schmucker says. Now, everything reportedly runs smoothly.
Via RFID, Lebkuchen Schmidt benefits from a more precise mixing process but has also collected valuable information about its overall production cycle. The system can generate reports that show how much of each ingredient was used for which recipes and when. This data can be used to produce a report on the origins of each batch in case Lebkuchen Schmidt is ever investigated under a European law requiring food producers to be able to trace all products.
Schmucker says it isn't able to quantify the exact return on Lebkuchen Schmidt's RFID investment because the company calculates the benefits qualitatively—i.e., improvement in the quality of finished products—rather than monetarily. Still, he does say it has incurred fewer expenses linked to batches gone wrong. As an early RFID pioneer, the company says its implementation has cost it about 400,000 German marks, or 204,500 euros ($262,000). Each year, the company invests about 5,000 to 6,000 euros ($6,400 to $7,700) to maintain the system, with assistance from Brooks Automation's RFID division. Some 19 of the original 20 transponders are still in use.
Despite its long-standing positive experience with RFID, the company has no immediate plans to expand its RFID system. It has considered using RFID to track raw materials when they are delivered to the factory, or to trace the movement of pallets around the factory floor, but it has not yet acted on those plans.
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Data is fed into Hermos' Proline software, which has been updated to run on Windows XP and was customized to work together with Lebkuchen Schmidt's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
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| Workers push the wheeled kettles from mixing station to mixing station. |
Separately, Lebkuchen Schmidt has three "hand transponders," encased in the same white plastic but not mounted to a particular mixing bowl. When a small order needs to be filled or a small batch needs to be made, a worker carries a hand transponder and a smaller mixing bowl, moving from one mixing station to the next, as guided by the screens. This system allows personnel to work on small, separate orders without interrupting the flow of mass production.
When the system was implemented, Lebkuchen Schmidt faced no problems with the technology but did have to invest time to retrain workers on the new process, Schmucker says. Now, everything reportedly runs smoothly.
Via RFID, Lebkuchen Schmidt benefits from a more precise mixing process but has also collected valuable information about its overall production cycle. The system can generate reports that show how much of each ingredient was used for which recipes and when. This data can be used to produce a report on the origins of each batch in case Lebkuchen Schmidt is ever investigated under a European law requiring food producers to be able to trace all products.
Schmucker says it isn't able to quantify the exact return on Lebkuchen Schmidt's RFID investment because the company calculates the benefits qualitatively—i.e., improvement in the quality of finished products—rather than monetarily. Still, he does say it has incurred fewer expenses linked to batches gone wrong. As an early RFID pioneer, the company says its implementation has cost it about 400,000 German marks, or 204,500 euros ($262,000). Each year, the company invests about 5,000 to 6,000 euros ($6,400 to $7,700) to maintain the system, with assistance from Brooks Automation's RFID division. Some 19 of the original 20 transponders are still in use.
Despite its long-standing positive experience with RFID, the company has no immediate plans to expand its RFID system. It has considered using RFID to track raw materials when they are delivered to the factory, or to trace the movement of pallets around the factory floor, but it has not yet acted on those plans.
