Radio frequency identification-enabled real-time manufacturing execution system: a case study in an automotive part manufacturer

Automotive vehicle manufacturers have been at the forefront of employing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology for their manufacturing logistics management. They have benefited from RFID-enabled shop-floor visibility and traceability, which have in turn facilitated the implementation of advanced manufacturing strategies such as just-in-time lean manufacturing and mass customisation. Initial successes have attracted attention and interests from small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) involved in automotive part and component manufacturers down the automotive vertical. However, high levels of capital investments and technical skills have created practical hurdles for automotive SMEs to gain RFID benefits. This article reports on an industrial case study about the RFID implementation project at a typical SME engine valve manufacturer. This company manufactures a large variety of engine valves with a mixture of large and small orders. Work-in-progress items across the company have accumulated to an extreme level for human operations and decisions. The company adopted RFID-enabled shop-floor manufacturing solutions across the whole operations with little experience in the use of information systems/technology. Based on RFID-enabled real-time shop-floor data, the company has extended the efforts in setting up and integrating manufacturing execution system and enterprise resource planning system. The success of this case company demonstrates that RFID is not just for automotive giants but also practically useful to SME suppliers. The article presents a framework that has been followed by this case company with a hope that experiences and insights are useful to other automotive SMEs.