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Cimko Cement Plant Loads Up on RFID
With the new system, the driver no longer must leave his cab. What's more, a record is created for the truck in the company's Microsoft SQL database that stores customer information, including the type of cement purchased (packaged or free-filling) and the quantity.
When the truck approaches the factory, the gate opens and the vehicle drives into the facility and onto a set of scales, where a Siemens RF600 reader is activated and begins searching for the tag. Once the tag is identified, the truck is automatically weighed and its empty weight is displayed on an LED visible to the driver. Once a truck is successfully weighed, the driver receives a green light to drive forward and into the cement-loading silos.
Once the truck has been identified at the scale, a series of large LED panels directs that vehicle to the proper loading bay, where it can accept either packaged or free-filling cement. Siemens RFID interrogators at the loading bays read the truck's tag to determine whether the vehicle is authorized to enter the bay. If so, the system opens the barriers and the truck is allowed to drive in.
After loading is completed, the truck drives out and goes through another set of scales. The vehicle is again identified in the system via its RFID tag, to make sure it was loaded with the proper quantity of cement. The truck's empty weight is compared with its loaded weight, which is crosschecked in the database with the amount that vehicle was authorized to load. If the amount is correct, the truck receives a green light and is allowed to leave the facility. While pulling out, the driver drops off the RFID tag.
"We've now improved the site's capacity by 15 to 20 percent," Tokat says. "The factory now operates at full capacity, 24/7." In particular, he notes, the weighing process is now up to 10 times faster than before.
According to Tokat, implementing the system took just over three months from start to finish, with operations commencing on Jan. 10, 2009. It took the work of 10 Cimko employees and five Meyer RFID staff members to get the system operational.
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When the truck approaches the factory, the gate opens and the vehicle drives into the facility and onto a set of scales, where a Siemens RF600 reader is activated and begins searching for the tag. Once the tag is identified, the truck is automatically weighed and its empty weight is displayed on an LED visible to the driver. Once a truck is successfully weighed, the driver receives a green light to drive forward and into the cement-loading silos.
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| If a loading bay's RFID interrogator verifies an approaching truck is authorized to receive a load of cement, the gate raises automatically. |
Once the truck has been identified at the scale, a series of large LED panels directs that vehicle to the proper loading bay, where it can accept either packaged or free-filling cement. Siemens RFID interrogators at the loading bays read the truck's tag to determine whether the vehicle is authorized to enter the bay. If so, the system opens the barriers and the truck is allowed to drive in.
After loading is completed, the truck drives out and goes through another set of scales. The vehicle is again identified in the system via its RFID tag, to make sure it was loaded with the proper quantity of cement. The truck's empty weight is compared with its loaded weight, which is crosschecked in the database with the amount that vehicle was authorized to load. If the amount is correct, the truck receives a green light and is allowed to leave the facility. While pulling out, the driver drops off the RFID tag.
"We've now improved the site's capacity by 15 to 20 percent," Tokat says. "The factory now operates at full capacity, 24/7." In particular, he notes, the weighing process is now up to 10 times faster than before.
According to Tokat, implementing the system took just over three months from start to finish, with operations commencing on Jan. 10, 2009. It took the work of 10 Cimko employees and five Meyer RFID staff members to get the system operational.
