Mar 14, 2014U.K. software and engineering firm Red Ledge reports that a large restaurant chain is about to begin piloting an RFID-based solution to track food from processing plants to several restaurants in the United Kingdom. The solution, which aims to track food and thereby ensure its location and subsequent freshness when used at the restaurants, will be the latest deployment of Red Ledge's RFID Manufacturing & Logistics system, an end-to-end solution for logistics and manufacturing applications. Following the pilot's conclusion, the restaurant could opt to expand the solution's use to other locations throughout the United Kingdom, as well as to other parts of the world, says Andy O'Donnell, Red Ledge's managing director. (O'Donnell declined to provide details regarding the pilot or the company's identity.)
Red Ledge's solutions differ from other RFID-based logistics systems, O'Donnell says, because the RFID hardware is built directly into automation equipment manufactured and provided by Red Ledge, with the RFID data managed by the company's own automation software. Red Ledge has been building RFID technology into some of its automation equipment since 1998, he adds, and its other recent installations include RFID-based solutions for the automotive, chemical and food industries.
One example is a Red Ledge automated sorting and processing system installed by textile firm Minova Ltd., the U.K. production division of French high-value fabric company Dormeuil. Three years ago, O'Donnell says, the firm began working with Red Ledge to develop an automated system for filling custom orders destined for tailors and garment companies worldwide. Minova's fabric is used in high-fashion clothing. The company sells thousands of unique types of fabrics—based on thread count, colors, patterns and weaves—that it sells for use in manufacturing suits, ties and handkerchiefs.
Prior to the automated solution's implementation, the company employed a manual process for filling custom orders. Workers had to walk through the storage area to visually locate and identify the kind of fabric requested, and then manually cut off a piece in the correct size to fill that order.
With the Red Ledge solution in place, the company now uses Red Ledge's automation machinery to unroll fabric from the bolt, measure the length, gently clamp the fabric and then cut it. The solution also requires radio frequency identification technology, however, to ensure the identity of the fabric being used. Each bolt has an off-the-shelf ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) EPC RFID tag affixed to its end. (Red Ledge works with a variety of RFID tag and reader vendors, including Impinj, Intermec, Motorola Solutions , Nordic ID and Xerafy.) The unique ID number encoded to the tag is then linked to that fabric type in Red Ledge's automation software.
When an order is placed for a specific fabric, workers access the software, which lists the fabric's location within the storage area, and use a handheld Motorola MC3190-Z reader to interrogate the tags in that area, ensuring that the correct fabric is being removed. The reader can also be placed in Geiger mode to locate the fabric on the shelf. Staff members then place the bolt on a carousel that starts the automated process of opening, measuring and cutting the fabric on the bolt. A Balluff BIS-U 6027 RFID reader and a BIS-U 302-CO-TNCB antenna, built into the cutting machinery, read the bolt's tag, and the software links the ID number to that specific order, thereby ensuring that the proper fabric is being cut. The software can automatically shut off the machinery if it identifies an error. "It is impossible to cut the wrong cloth to an order," O'Donnell states. "The unique properties of the RFID tag ensure this always matches the order."
Once the fabric is cut, another UHF RFID tag is applied to the finished end. The ID number for that piece of cloth is also stored in the software, linked to that particular order.
A third reader (also a Balluff BIS-U 6027 model) is used within the shipping area, where the tags of all cut pieces of cloth are captured, in order to verify that the correct fabric pieces are being shipped for each order. The goods are first placed on a scale that weighs them, and the built-in reader captures the fabric tags' ID numbers. If the software determines, based on the tag reads, that the order is incomplete, the system alerts the user that the order cannot yet be shipped. If it is complete, however, shipping paperwork is automatically generated, along with courier labels. Since the system's installation three years ago, O'Donnell says, Minova has reported to Red Ledge that it has increased its efficiency and reduced labor costs by 30 percent.
Six months ago, Red Ledge also installed an RFID-based solution at BorgWarner's Bradford facility, where the automotive company manufactures turbo-chargers for cars produced in the United Kingdom. BorgWarner wished to track the movements of its collapsible stillages (reusable containers) that its suppliers utilize to ship materials to BorgWarner's factory. Passive UHF RFID tags applied to each stillage can be read via a BALLUFF BIS-U 6027 reader built into a swing arm portal at BorgWarner's site, in order to determine when empty stillages leave, and when loaded stillages return from the supplier. A BorgWarner forklift driver transports the outgoing empty stillages through the portal, and a touchscreen on the swing arm displays details regarding what is being delivered to the loading dock—based on the read data—as they are shipped. The system also tracks what arrives from the opposite direction, as stillages loaded with materials are received from suppliers. In this way, the firm ensures that the pallets are shipped and received in a timely manner, and that suppliers do not run out of pallets when they are needed.
According to O'Donnell, every installation is unique and Red Ledge applies the appropriate RFID hardware to each use case, such as the correct reader and antenna to build into a specific type of machinery. Red Ledge also works with partner The Fairfield Group, which helps identify the appropriate RFID tag for each installation.
Red Ledge is currently developing a system for tracking hospital assets through cleaning, sanitizing or maintenance processes. The end-to-end solution will include UHF RFID readers and passive tags able to sustain autoclaving and other rigorous processes.
