Controlling based on intelligent identification technology

In today's prevailing buyers market, enterprises are more and more facing the necessity to meet the increasingly high requirements on delivery lead time, delivery reliability, quality and costs. Thus, the illustration, analysis and interpretation of logistic production processes become more important. For fulfilling these requirements the production planning and control (PPC) can be supported efficiently by suitable controlling concepts. However, current concepts possess deficits. For a better coordination of information flows throughout the manufacturing level of the supply chain it is necessary to collect and optimize order-specific data. Currently the aquisition of these data is mainly accomplished manually by the machine operators. However, this method is very time-consuming, requires manpower and results in input errors. In order to guarantee a failure-free data traffic at low cost a system that is capable to deliver in real time the correct information is crucial. RFID technology (Radio Frequency IDentification) provides redress. By using RFID technology it is possible to identify and track products contact-free, nearly in real time and without visual contact. Therefore, the Institute of Transport and Automation developed an "intelligent" RFID device - called Pre-Processing Label (PPL) -, which is able to execute simple calculation operations on the product.