RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing operation management system for the assembly process of mechanical products

In real discrete manufacturing industry, task urgency, plan variation and other uncertainties make it difficult to communicate process information. The information gap between the enterprise management level and the process control level in workshop cause low productivity, unsmooth process flow, uncontrollable Work In Process (WIP) quantity and overstocked products. Aiming at this problem, a new RFID-enabled real-time manufacturing operation management system (RT-MOMS) is designed in this paper. In this system, RFID tags are used to mark assembly resources and monitor their status, RFID technology is employed to collect the real-time production information (e.g. equipment, material, WIP, operator, etc.), which can enhance the visibility, track ability and traceability of items of interest. Work-station and zone controller are united via the system integration interface to guarantee the information communication. Meanwhile, intelligent manufacturing resource is introduced to achieve the logical integration of management operation system and the real-time visual management during the assembly process. The interaction process among RT-MOMS, system topology structure and main functional modules are also addressed. The result of RT-MOMS system's application on XinRui automotive gearbox assembly line shows that the proposed system can improve the productivity and quality and promote the application of RFID technology.