Manufacturer Replaces Paper Build Books With E-Paper-Based Visual RFID Tags and System

By Doug

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As a manufacturer of large diesel engines, axles and transmissions for the trucking industry, Detroit produces a new engine every 2.5 minutes. To ensure quality and accuracy, when a new engine block is placed into the manufacturing process for the first time, a worker must match it to a build book. These 8.5″ x 11″ sheets of paper, containing 42 to 60 pages of instructions and checklists, are created specifically for each engine. An RFID system, including a 10″ e-paper-based tag and tracking software, has been implemented to replace the manual build book process, resulting in a number of cost and labor efficiencies. Learn how the system provides cost savings through complete paper replacement, as well as ensuring quality by providing accurate sequencing and matching of build books to engines through automation. Hear how the system is providing asset-tracking capability via the 55 to 60 assembly stations to which each engine travels.