A Quick Tour of RFID in Manufacturing

Dennis Carmichael, President

Introduction

• Cimulus, Inc.• Data Collection and Management• Focused on using technology for efficiency and accuracy• Former member of EPCglobal, defining the EPC standard

• Me• Electrical engineer, co-founder of Cimulus and ERT Systems• Career in developing practical applications for technology

Dennis Carmichael of Cimulus, Inc.

What is RF-ID?

• The Technology: EvolutionaryJust another member of the Auto-ID family, alongside bar codes, OCR, image processing, thumbprint scanners, etc.

• Use-Cases: Revolutionary?No silver bullet, but offers some unique capabilities that open a few new doors

Radio-Frequency Identification

RFID is one of many Auto-ID Technologies

Applying RF-IDComparison of RFID vs. Bar codes

• Extremely Cheap & Reliable• Technically Simple• Large Existing Infrastructure

• Passive Read with No Line-of-Sight• More Data, such as Serial Numbers• Read/Write capability• Physical & Data Security

• Extremely Cheap & Reliable• Technically Simple• Large Existing Infrastructure

Applying RF-IDComparison of RFID vs. Bar codes

Applications

• Locating and TrackingDies, reusable containers, tools and inventory: watch them without expanding procedures

Putting RFID to Practical use

• Pack/Ship ValidationPortal readers to verify part type, quantity, and serial numbers, post-pack / pre-ship

• Washable Tags for TextilesRugged tags that can be read without careful positioning, auto-sorting at high speeds

• Liquid/Hazardous ChemicalsUnwieldy & heavy containers, meeting tracking & reporting requirements without system integration

ApplicationsPutting RFID to Practical use

• Read range & InterferenceDistance and orientation, materials, and “shadowing”

• Reliability & Costs“Off the roll” quality (<100%), damage in use, costs vary wildly

• EPCglobal, ISO, Local StandardsFrequency band allocations, signal strengths, even privacy

• Industry Adoption30+ years of semi-custom applications

Challenges

Think Win-Win… The Only Way It’ll Work

Thank You!

Dennis CarmichaelCimulus, Inc.

(734) 327-9532www.cimulus.com