Aston Martin Optimizes Manufacturing Processes With RFID

Luxury Automaker Aston Martin is using active RFID tags to monitor the locations of vehicles as they progress through the post-assembly test and verification stages of the manufacturing process. By capturing information like location and process dwell times, the movement of vehicles through the process becomes fully traceable, and location-driven business analytics can be used to enhance process performance and efficiency. Aston Martin uses battery-powered 6-8 GHz ultra-wideband (UWB) RFID tags to inject location information into its Smart Factory Offline application. Tags are attached to each vehicle’s windshield at the end of the assembly line before they enter the offline process. Each tag’s ID is then linked to the vehicle’s specific production information, including VIN, model and a logical process map specific to that vehicle. The location system then generates frequent and granular new locations for the vehicle, recording both its physical and logical progression through the area. Learn how employees access this data through a single online portal, and how they use this information to gain new insights into process performance.