Development of a customized RFID reader for a distribution centre with agent-based control

Distribution centers management is often a drawback for many companies in which delivery time is a critical factor. Especially for companies which have to send their products in small quantities to their customers, orders configuring and retrieving is a tedious and time consuming task. The use of mixed pallets formed with different classes of products is also a common practice for retailers. In order to improve performance of all this, this work proposes an experimental platform which represents the whole distribution center, and in which agents and RFID elements are used. Use of both RFID and agents is what is called here an RFID-Integrated Manufacturing System II. In addition to one virtual simulation, a physical model is being used in laboratory, composed of physical elements, which represents inputs and outputs of the warehouse in a distribution center. In this part is where physical RFID readers are included. They are in charge of taking information of loads getting in and out from the distribution center. The main target of this article is to show how these physical readers have been developed and what are the results of using them in the described physical platform.