Novel development of distributed manufacturing monitoring systems to support high cost and complexity manufacturing

In the current manufacturing environment, characterized by diverse change sources (e.g. economical, technological, political, social) and integrated supply chains, success demands close cooperation and coordination between stakeholders and agility. Tools and systems based on software agents, intelligent products and virtual enterprises have been developed to achieve such demands but either because of: (i) focus on a single application; (ii) focus on a single product; (iii) separation between the product and its information; or (iv) focus on a single system characteristic (e.g. hardware, software, architecture, requirements) their use has been limited to trial or academic scenarios. In this thesis a reusable distributed manufacturing monitoring system for harsh environments, capable of addressing traceability and controllability requirements within stakeholders and across high cost and complexity supply chains is presented. [Continues.

Iot-enabled supply chain management and logistics

Papers presented virtually at the 41st International Southern African Transport Conference on 10-13 July 2050Supply Chain Management (SCM) has evolved over the years, from mechanisation in the 1920s to intelligentisation in the 2000s. Major changes in supply chain are due to challenges in the environment, such as the fragmentation of SCM activities and the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT). The lack of visibility of assets and transportation management issues in SCM led to research being conducted to alleviate these challenges. In the South African context, the quality and competence of logistics operations, tracking and tracing of assets and management of activities are the main challenges identified in SCM, even though there are numerous companies involved in tracking assets. Effective management of supply chain activities requires the integration of technology into the SCM and logistics value chain. The supply chain value chain includes inbound logistics, outbound logistics, operations, sales, marketing, and supply services. Automating warehouse operations can help to address some of the challenges in SCM. This research paper addresses how the Smart Warehousing Management System (SWMS) and the Fleet Management System (FMS) developed aim to resolve asset tracking and tracing and improving logistics operations. Using the Internet of Things (IoT) in integrating sensors to track assets and improve warehouse operations can reduce SCM challenges. The FMS aims to resolve transportation management issues by tracking and tracing assets in logistics operations, while the SWMS automates warehouse operations, thus, improving SCM activities

Next Generation Auto-Identification and Traceability Technologies for Industry 5.0: A Methodology and Practical Use Case for the Shipbuilding Industry

[Abstract] Industry 5.0 follows the steps of the Industry 4.0 paradigm and seeks for revolutionizing the way industries operate. In fact, Industry 5.0 focuses on research and innovation to support industrial production sustainability and place the well-being of industrial workers at the center of the production process. Thus, Industry 5.0 relies on three pillars: it is human-centric, it encourages sustainability and it is aimed at developing resilience against disruptions. Such core aspects cannot be fully achieved without a transparent end-to-end human-centered traceability throughout the value chain. As a consequence, Auto-Identification (Auto-ID) technologies play a key role, since they are able to provide automated item recognition, positioning and tracking without human intervention or in cooperation with industrial operators. Although the most popular Auto-ID technologies provide a certain degree of security and productivity, there are still open challenges for future Industry 5.0 factories. This article analyzes and evaluates the Auto-ID landscape and delivers a holistic perspective and understanding of the most popular and the latest technologies, looking for solutions that cope with harsh, diverse and complex industrial scenarios. In addition, it describes a methodology for selecting Auto-ID technologies for Industry 5.0 factories. Such a methodology is applied to a specific use case of the shipbuilding industry that requires identifying the main components of a ship during its construction and repair. To validate the outcomes of the methodology, a practical evaluation of passive and active UHF RFID tags was performed in an Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) under construction, showing that a careful selection and evaluation of the tags enables product identification and tracking even in areas with a very high density of metallic objects. As a result, this article serves as a useful guide for industrial stakeholders, including future developers and managers that seek for deploying identification and traceability technologies in Industry 5.0 scenarios.This work was supported in part by the Auto-Identication for Intelligent Products Research Line of the Navantia-Universidade da Coruña Joint Research Unit under Grant IN853B-2018/02, and in part by the Centro de Investigación de Galicia ``CITIC,'' funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund-Galicia 2014_2020 Program) under Grant ED431G 2019/01Xunta de Galicia; IN853B-2018/02Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0

Sistema de búsqueda de objetos con UHF RFID en bodegas de almacenamiento, para mejorar los procesos logísticos en el departamento del Atlántico

La implementación de los sistemas de identificación por radiofrecuencia (RFID) UHF ha estado incrementando en los últimos años. Estos sistemas son considerados tecnología de alto impacto en aplicaciones del sector logístico, particularmente en la gestión, seguimiento y control de inventarios. Perder productos durante el almacenamiento retrasa los procesos logísticos, incrementan los tiempos de entrega, genera molestia en los clientes, sobrecostos en la utilización del talento humano y pérdidas en la utilidad de la empresa. En esta investigación se propone un método empírico simple que permite buscar objetos etiquetados con RFID en bodegas de almacenamiento, utilizando variables como el indicador de señal recibido (RSSI - Received Signal Strength Indicator) y la tasa de lectura (TL). Con la implementación del método se logró determinar la dirección de la etiqueta en el plano de azimuth y elevación de la antena. Con la variable RSSI se logró un error en la dirección de la etiqueta de 9.1° en azimuth y 9.9° en elevación. Por otro lado, con la TL se logró una precisión de 13.1° en azimuth y 13.8° en elevación. En el trabajo también se desarrolló una plataforma stand-alone que en conjunto con el método propuesto, permite mejorar las tareas de búsqueda de objetos perdidos en bodegas de micros, pequeñas, medianas y grandes empresas. Los resultados indican que del total de búsquedas realizadas en el laboratorio de Logística del Departamento de Ingeniería Industrial de la Universidad del Norte, el 96% de las etiquetas fueron encontradas. Con la detección de la etiqueta, el sistema realiza el proceso de búsqueda en 4.99 minutos con la variable RSSI y 7.77 minutos con TL.MaestríaMagister en Ingeniería Electrónic

Reference Model for Management of RFID System Implementations

Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology is adopted in supply chain as it possesses high potential for optimization. However, the adoption is constrained with management and technological issues for certain domains. Applicability and profitability of the technology and implementation approaches as well as maturity of the technology and data integration are few of the concerns in this regard. Therefore, many enterprises are still skeptical about investment in RFID technology. Rightly, for instance, there are no appropriate approaches for management of the RFID system implementations at present that consider specific concerns of preparation of the food manufacturing enterprises. This research suggests a reference model for the purpose. The model is a result of extensive literature reviews and practice-oriented research aiming practical solutions to the problems of the respective domain. The model, which involves planning, organization and realization of RFID system implementation activities, considers multiple facets of RFID system implementations in order to increase understanding of RFID technology (i.e. knowledge development), ease decision making of an RFID implementation (i.e. willingness), and reduce cost and complexity of RFID system implementations (i.e. effectiveness and efficiency). It is an artifact of design-oriented information system research and includes a frame of reference, a process model, input and output templates, and tools and techniques. The model is applied in ‘real life context’ in order to achieve objectives of the involved enterprises. Similarly, the model aims effectiveness and efficiency in the future use, for example, by providing free of cost acquisition and appropriateness for manufacturing industries of food businesses of Saxony-Anhalt. However, adaptation efforts (e.g. by instantiation or specialization) may vary depending on the skills of users of individual enterprises. The reference model provides flexibility in terms of independence from specific vendors, openness by complying with available standards (e.g. PMBOK), and relationship to RFID system development artifacts during technical work realization

Engineering e deployment of an RFID pilot in the apparel supply chain

Il progetto descritto nel presente lavoro di tesi nasce dagli studi iniziati nel 2008 presso il centro di ricerca RFID Lab dell’Università degli Studi di Parma riguardanti l’uso della tecnologia RFID nel settore dell’abbigliamento. I risultati ottenuti hanno fornito ai membri del Board of Advisors Fashion, composta da diverse aziende del settore, di conoscere i benefici e le problematiche insite nell’implementazione di un sistema RFID applicato alla Supply Chain dell’abbigliamento, ottenendo pertanto know how specifico, benefici e vantaggi competitivi dal trasferimento tecnologico. Una delle attività di ricerca ha dimostrato che, in certe condizioni, è possibile ottenere un ROI significativo da un investimento in tecnologia RFID. Da ciò, e dalla formativa esperienza del progetto RFID Fashion Store, alcune aziende hanno deciso di verificare i risultati trasferendo le proprie conoscenza dal laboratorio al campo attraverso l’implementazione di un progetto pilota. Il progetto, denominato “RFID Fashion Pilot” è il primo progetto pilota di supply chain italiano. Esso è focalizzato nella valutazione dell’impatto della tecnologia RFID nella logistica dell’abbigliamento. Pertanto più di 10.000 capi della stagione primavera/estate 2010 sono stati identificati con tag RFID e tracciati dal centro di distribuzione al negozio abilitando la visibilità in tempo reale dei flussi logistici. Il progetto ha un obiettivo duplice, da un lato misurare quantitativamente i benefici operativi ai processi di magazzino e punto vendita della tecnologia RFID, dall’altro valutare l’impatto economico di dati più accurati e disponibili in tempo reale. Le aziende che hanno deciso di sperimentare hanno condiviso pertanto sia i costi che i benefici: mentre una di loro, Miroglio Fashion, è stata direttamente coinvolta fornendo i siti e i capi per la sperimentazione, tutti i partecipanti sono stati coinvolti nella progettazione dei processi, sia lato tecnico sia lato operativo, e della campagna sperimentale condividendo i risultati finali e il know how ottenuto. La supply chain scelta coinvolge due attori: il centro di distribuzione (CeDi) di Miroglio Fashion sito in Pollenzo (CN) a il punto di vendita (PV) “Elena Mirò” situato nel centro outlet “Fidenza Village” vicino Parma. Essendo un negozio outlet, esso riceve i capi invenduti della stessa stagione dell’anno precedente, preventivamente ricondizionati e ricartellinati nel CeDi di Pollenzo. L’analisi As Is condotta ha permesso di individuare i processi attualmente svolti e potenzialmente impattabili dal progetto. Essi sono: (i) Labelling e (ii) Shipping press il CeDi, (iii) Receiving, (iv) Replenishment, (v) Fitting, (vi) Check-out and (vii) Inventory presso il punto vendita. Ogni processo è stato re-ingegnerizzato in modo da abilitare l’uso della tecnologia RFID al fine di raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati. Successivamente all’installazione del sistema e al “fine tuning” dei dispositivi è stata condotta la campagna sperimentale che ha coinvolto i prodotti della stagione primavera/estate 2010. Per quanto riguarda il centro di distribuzione il processo di Shipping ha visto un aumento della produttività del 80% con una miglioramento dell’accuratezza dell’8,6%. Ciò significa che il tempo necessario, e costo, può essere ridotto con un conseguente aumento dell’accuratezza. Per quanto riguarda il punto vendita il progetto ha evidenziato la fattibilità operativa di un inventario giornaliero di 5 minuti dell’area vendita con una accuratezza superiore al 97%. I dati provenienti dal sistema di lettura installato nei camerini hanno permesso di ottenere nuove informazioni di marketing adattando la presenza delle assistenti alle vendite alle effettive necessità. In fine il progetto ha dimostrato che la maggiore accuratezza ottenibile mediante i processi RFID e la disponibilità dei dati in tempo reale ha determinato un incremento del fatturato di oltre l’8%.The project described in the present thesis comes from studies begun in 2008 at the research centre “RFID Lab” of University of Parma concerning the application of RFID technology to the apparel supply chain. The results achieved have helped the members of the Board of Advisors Fashion, composed by various fashion companies, to recognize the benefits and the problems concerning the implementation of a RFID system in the supply chain, obtaining know how, benefits and competitive advantage from the academic technology transfer. One of the studies, conducted by the RFID Lab researchers, have demonstrated significant ROIs both at warehouse and apparel store level using theoretical business cases. In this way, after the formative and practical experience of the RFID Fashion Store, some of those companies, and their partners, chose to transfer their knowledge from the lab to the field implementing a project pilot. The name of the project is “RFID Fashion Pilot” and it is the first supply chain pilot in Italy focused on the evaluation of the impact of RFID technology in the fashion industry. More of 10,000 garments of the spring/summer 2010 season have been RFID tagged at the distribution center and tracked to a store, enabling real time visibility of logistics flows. Project goals are two: 1. measure the quantitative benefits of RFID technology on warehouse and apparel store processes; 2. evaluate the economic impact of more accurate and real time data for the apparel supply chain. Some of the most important company of worldwide fashion shared benefits and costs of piloting. Although only one of them, Miroglio Fashion, was directly involved in providing the locations and garments, all participants were involved in project engineering, both from a technical and from an operational point of view, in the experimental campaigns, and in the sharing of the resulting know-how. The supply chain pilot deployed involves two players: (i) the distribution center (DC) of Miroglio Fashion located in Pollenzo (CN) and (ii) the point of sale (PoS) "Elena Mirò" located at the outlet district ‘Fidenza Village’ near Parma. This is an outlet store, that receives garments of the same season as the previous year. Therefore the garments came back from the normal store, they are reconditioned and, after that, they can be shipped to the outlet store. An ‘As Is’ analysis is conducted in order to define the relevant processes, operations and activities currently performed. This phase has revealed the following processes: (i) Labelling and (ii) Shipping regarding the DC, (iii) Receiving, (iv) Replenishment, (v) Fitting, (vi) Check-out and (vii) Inventory regarding the point of sale. Each of them has been reengineered in order to apply the RFID technology and achieve the aims of the projects. The experimental campaign has involved the products belonging to the spring/summer 2010 season (originally 2009). In regard with the DC, labor efficiency and accuracy has increased by 80% and by 8.6% respectively. That means that the time, and costs, needed to perform the shipping activities can be reduced with a concurrent increase of the accuracy. In regard with the store processes the project has shown the technical feasibility of a five-minute daily inventory process with an accuracy more than 97%. The data provided by the fitting rooms monitoring system can be used to obtain new marketing information and to adapt shop assistant presence to the effective needs. Finally, the project has demonstrated that the more accurate and real time data provided by the RFID technology can help the shop operators to increase the sales by more than 8%

Visible Light Positioning using Received Signal Strength for Industrial Environments

There is a forecast for exceptional digital data traffic growth due to the digitisation of industrial applications using the internet of things. As a result, a great need for high bandwidth and faster transmission data rates for future wireless networks has emerged. One of the considered communication technologies that can assist in satisfying this demand is visible light communications (VLC). VLC is an emerging technology that uses the visible light spectrum by mainly utilising lightemitting diodes (LEDs) for simultaneous indoor lighting and high bandwidth wireless communication. Some of the applications of VLC are to provide high data rate internet in homes, offices, campuses, hospitals, and several other areas. One of these promising areas of application is for industrial wireless communications. The research project will provide a review of VLC applications intended for industrial applications with an emphasis on visible light positioning (VLP). In this research work, a three-dimensional (3D) positioning algorithm for calculating the location of a photodiode (PD) is presented. It solely works on measured powers from different LED sources and does not require any prior knowledge of the receiver’s height unlike other works in the literature. The performance of the proposed VLP algorithm in terms of positioning error is evaluated using two different trilateration algorithms, the Cayley–Menger determinant (CMD) and the Linear Least Squares (LLS) trilateration algorithms. The evaluation considers different scenarios, with and without receiver tilt, and with multipath reflections. Simulation results show that the CMD algorithm is more accurate and outperforms the LLS trilateration positioning algorithm. Furthermore, the proposed method has been experimentally assessed under two different LED configurations, with different degrees of receiver tilt, and in the presence of a fully stocked storage rack to examine the effect of multipath reflections on the performance of VLP systems. It was observed from simulations and experimental investigations that the widely used square LED-configuration results in position ambiguities for 3D systems while a non-lattice layout, such as a star-shaped configuration, is much more accurate. An experimental accuracy with a 3D median error of 10.5 cm was achieved using the CMD algorithm in a 4 m × 4 m × 4.1 m area with a horizontal receiver. Adding receiver tilt of 5◦ and 10◦ increases the median error by an average of 29% and 110%, respectively. The effect of reflections from the i storage rack has also been thoroughly examined using the two mentioned trilateration algorithms and showed to increase the 3D median positioning error by an average of 69% in the experimental testbed for the areas close to the storage rack. These results highlight the degrading effect of multipath reflections on VLP systems and the necessity to consider it when evaluating these systems. As the primary consideration for positioning systems in industrial environments is for mobile robots, the encouraging results in this thesis can be further improved though the use of a sensor fusion method

RFID Technology in Intelligent Tracking Systems in Construction Waste Logistics Using Optimisation Techniques

Construction waste disposal is an urgent issue for protecting our environment. This paper proposes a waste management system and illustrates the work process using plasterboard waste as an example, which creates a hazardous gas when land filled with household waste, and for which the recycling rate is less than 10% in the UK. The proposed system integrates RFID technology, Rule-Based Reasoning, Ant Colony optimization and knowledge technology for auditing and tracking plasterboard waste, guiding the operation staff, arranging vehicles, schedule planning, and also provides evidence to verify its disposal. It h relies on RFID equipment for collecting logistical data and uses digital imaging equipment to give further evidence; the reasoning core in the third layer is responsible for generating schedules and route plans and guidance, and the last layer delivers the result to inform users. The paper firstly introduces the current plasterboard disposal situation and addresses the logistical problem that is now the main barrier to a higher recycling rate, followed by discussion of the proposed system in terms of both system level structure and process structure. And finally, an example scenario will be given to illustrate the system’s utilization

Applications of Antenna Technology in Sensors

During the past few decades, information technologies have been evolving at a tremendous rate, causing profound changes to our world and to our ways of living. Emerging applications have opened u[ new routes and set new trends for antenna sensors. With the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), the adaptation of antenna technologies for sensor and sensing applications has become more important. Now, the antennas must be reconfigurable, flexible, low profile, and low-cost, for applications from airborne and vehicles, to machine-to-machine, IoT, 5G, etc. This reprint aims to introduce and treat a series of advanced and emerging topics in the field of antenna sensors