RFID / ASSET TRACKING
Most companies lose “stuff” from as small as a torque wrench in a manufacturing facility to as big as a crane in oil & gas. No matter how good your process is to place items in specific locations, human error occurs, and items will be misplaced. Not having the right item at the right time costs money. This could be in the form of replacing the item, time spent looking for the item, not being able to continue the work order, or a late delivery to your customer.
In order to keep operations running smoothly, it is imperative that your company knows where everything is at all times. There are many options to keep track of assets by using technologies such as Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), Magnetic Loops, Ultrasound, Cameras with Machine Learning and more.
All these technologies have advantages and disadvantages, the details of “how” these tracking technologies work can be overwhelming. We like to keep things simple, ask yourself the following:
- What is the area I want to track and what purpose does it serve?
- What tracking accuracy do I need?
- What are the size restrictions on the tags?
These are some of the basic questions we ask when looking at a tracking solution as well as the client’s facilities. Answering these questions will start narrowing down available technologies based on your restrictions. Choosing the wrong technology can cost your organization a significant amount of time and effort.
At CREAN, we want to understand your business, use cases and roadmap before we implement any system. This way we can suggest a technology or multiple technologies that will satisfy your current needs as well as your Smart Transformations roadmap for years into the future.
RFID/Asset tracking is critical to increasing visibility throughout your organization and beyond. Knowing the precise location of your WIP, Vehicles, Tools, Equipment and personnel helps your organization become more effective in reducing waste and improve your overall operational efficiency.
VISIBILITY
Knowing where everything is at any point in time will allow your teams to work more efficiently by reducing wait and search times. This will also allow you to measure your reality against your standard work procedures. It will also assist you in managing compliance with certain regulatory and safety requirements you might have. This will also give you a more detailed view of your supply chain, not just inside your 4 walls but outside of your direct organization as well.
INSIGHT
Collecting data alone leaves your organization data rich but information poor. We use proven statistical models and machine learning to provide insight at every level of your organization. We have tools that will allow you to get started right away in translating data into information and give you better Insight into your operation.
CONTROL
Immediately know when someone or something requires attention is crucially important to the overall efficiency of your organization. Automated events are sent to control systems or operators to take action, which not only include the severity of the event itself and what the exact location this event occurred, but also what other processes will be impacted by this particular event. Which will allow to better control the financial impact as well as the duration of this event. Through the added Visibility and Insight you are now able to properly priorities this and every other event against each other.
SMART FLOW™ SOLUTIONS
Smart Flow™ provides visibility, insight and control over your WIP and your entire Supply Chain, internally as well as externally. The Smart Flow™ Solution will display real-time WIP location, activity, priority, actions required and wait times. This will provide operators, decision makers and executives with real-time information resulting in game-changing efficiencies/results.
SMART RACKS™
Smart Racks™ monitor WIP, internal and external inventory levels to deliver real-time visibility into the contents of your racks & Kanbans as well as the flow of your WIP through your factory. Smart Racks display priorities & alerts and will drive the most production behavior on your production floor. Data flows to decision makers' devices and information systems in real-time.
SMART BENCHES™
Smart Benches track the products currently being worked on, where and by whom. It will also track the time it takes to finish a particular task and compares it to the original work instructions. The system notifies QA, Supervisors, or other individuals when the product needs special attention.
MONITORING & REPORTING
Real-time alerts and signals ensure immediate action. Data analytics, including machine learning, significantly enhance and expedite your efficiency gains far beyond standard Lean, Six Sigma, and Theory of Constraints methodologies. These reports and signals can be easily delivered to any desktop or portable devices.
Start Your Path to Acceleration Today
Reach out to us and we'll work with you to find the right solution for your engineering or manufacturing needs.