RFID as an Enabler of Improved Manufacturing Performance*

Abstract

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) versus bar coding has been debated with little quantitative research about how to best use RFID's capabilities and when RFID is more advantageous. This article responds to that need by qualitatively and quantitatively analyzing how RFID facilitates increased traceability and control in manufacturing, which in turn enables the use of more lot splitting and smaller lot sizes. We develop insights about operating policies (RFID vs. bar-code tracking mechanisms, extent of lot splitting, and dispatching rules) and an operating condition (setup to processing time ratio) that affect the mean flow time and proportion of jobs tardy in a job shop. A simulation model is used to control factors in the experimental design and the output is evaluated using analysis of variance. The results show the following: (i) performance worsens when bar coding is used with extensive lot splitting, (ii) process changes such as extensive lot splitting may be required to justify RFID use instead of bar coding, (iii) the earliest operation due date dispatching rule offers an attractive alternative to other rules studied in previous lot splitting research, and (iv) the performance improvements with RFID and increased lot splitting are larger when the setup to processing time ratio is smaller. In a broader context, we fill a research void by quantitatively showing how RFID can be used as an advanced manufacturing technology that enables more factory automation and better performance along several dimensions. The article concludes by summarizing the results and identifying ideas for future research.

An exploratory analysis of hospital perspectives on real time information requirements and perceived benefits of RFID technology for future adoption

“…RFID barriers are the extent to which possible obstacles reject or delay the implementation of this technology. Previous studies identified the barriers associated with adopting the RFID based wireless technology (Bansler & Havn, 2010;Bendoly, Citurs, & Konsynski, 2007;Fisher & Monahan, 2008;Hossain & Prybutok, 2008;Hozak & Collier, 2008;Kapa et al, 2011;Reyes et al, 2012;Steele, Lo, Secombe, & Wong, 2009;Vijayaraman & Osyk, 2006). The typical barriers related to high investment cost of tags, software and interference issues, and user privacy and acceptance related concerns.…”

An RFID application in large job shop remanufacturing operations

“…Analysis of variance was used to evaluate the performance improvement that could be attributed to RFID in this simulation, and to indicate under what scenario this contribution was more significant. In the direct comparison between barcodes and RFID, the authors found that the performance improvement was negligible with large lots, but they observed a significant impact from RFID when each batch was split into very small lots (Hozak and Collier, 2008). In a follow-up, they modeled the impact of imperfect information collected from RFID in lotsplitting manufacturing environments (Hozak and Hill, 2010).…”

Empirical evidence of RFID impacts on supply chain performance

“…Manufacturing models include the use of RFID for mixed-model automotive assembly (Gaukler and Hausman, 2008), and for data collection, shop floor control and lot splitting (Hozak and Collier, 2008).…”

“…Manufacturing Gaukler & Hausman (2008) Use of RFID in mixed-model automotive assembly for process and quality savings. Hozak & Collier (2008) Use of RFID for data collection, shop floor control and lot splitting.…”