From Traditional to Intelligent: How RFID Technology Reshapes Compressor Production Lines

Driven by Industry 4.0 and the Made in China 2025 strategy, the compressor manufacturing industry, a core component of air conditioners, is accelerating its transformation from traditional production models to intelligent ones. Compressor production, characterized by high precision and high volume, has long faced industry pain points such as discontinuities in production data, insufficient flexibility, and difficulty in quality traceability. The introduction of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, with its advantages of contactless identification, strong environmental tolerance, and large data storage capacity, offers a new solution to these challenges and is a key driver in driving the intelligent upgrade of compressor production lines.

Pain Points in a Compressor Factory's Production Model

First, there are production data discontinuities and difficulties in quality traceability. In key processes such as welding the compressor's upper and lower covers, as well as its base, key process parameters such as current intensity, voltage stability, and welding time are managed using paper records or discrete spreadsheets. This approach suffers from three major drawbacks: data recording lags, failing to reflect production status in real time; manual data entry is prone to typos and even data tampering; and it is difficult to accurately link process parameters to specific compressor serial numbers. Once welding quality issues arise, the root cause cannot be quickly traced, resulting in long troubleshooting cycles and high costs. Second, flexible production bottlenecks and process loss of control. Air-conditioning compressors generally utilize a mixed-flow production model, with the same production line alternating between different product models. However, in traditional production, Tooling switching relies on manual identification and equipment parameter adjustment, often leading to process mismatches due to model identification errors. Furthermore, the spraying process renders traditional barcode labels ineffective (with a failure rate exceeding 80%), leading to misassembly and missed inspections. Even more serious is the lack of control over repair product management, with some employees failing to label or register defective products and arbitrarily releasing them to the production line. This distorts quality data and lacks a reliable basis for process improvement.

Proposed Solution

A strategy integrating high-frequency and ultra-high-frequency dual-frequency technology is employed to adapt to the complex scenarios of compressor production lines. Specifically, high-frequency metal-resistant and high-temperature resistant tags are installed on production line trays (hooks) to record production process information. However, since the hooks on the compressors are 500mm long and cannot be reached by high-frequency signals, ultra-high-frequency, small-volume metal-resistant tags are instead installed on the compressor covers. During the three welding steps before the compressor is installed (top cover, bottom cover, and base), key parameters such as current, voltage, CO₂ flow rate, and AV flow rate (30 bytes each), along with a stamped serial number, are written in real time onto an UHF tag, creating a product "electronic ID Card." This allows for complete production data recording, even during demanding processes like washing, painting, and drying, ensuring full lifecycle traceability. At the system integration level, the RFID system deploys reader/writer devices at each Library-borrowing-machine-touch-query-intelligent-terminal-all-in-one-machine.html target='_blank'>workstation, seamlessly integrating with PLC and MES systems to create a closed-loop control system. For example, at the critical automated welding station, once the compressor is installed, an RFID Reader/writer immediately reads the pallet tag to determine the welding parameter template corresponding to that model (e.g., current range 150-170A, voltage pulse frequency 2.5Hz). During welding, sensors collect real-time current fluctuations, voltage stability coefficients, and heat-affected zone temperatures. This data is then synchronously written to the tag chip via the workstation controller, enabling millisecond-level timestamp binding. This integrated capability breaks down traditional equipment data silos, enabling unified management and analysis of operational data from equipment throughout the entire process, including welding, painting, and inspection.

Improved Economic Benefits and Management

First, quality improvement and precise traceability. The completeness of data collection for key process parameters (such as current and voltage) has increased from 67% before the transformation to 99.2%, and data is linked to products with 100% accuracy. When after-sales service reports indicate a poor seal on a particular batch of products, the quality team can retrieve the original welding parameters using the unique serial number in the MES system to quickly identify whether the defect is caused by abnormal current output or insufficient cooling time. This significantly shortens the troubleshooting cycle and reduces quality losses. Second, flexible production and resource optimization. The RFID system supports seamless mixed-flow production, automatically adapting the corresponding process parameters when switching between different compressor models. This has reduced the factory's two dedicated lines and increased capacity utilization by 22%. In material management, an RFID-linked end-of-line full-frame detection system has increased empty frame turnover efficiency by 40%, reducing material backlogs. Third, data-driven continuous improvement. Based on RFID-collected metrics such as welding current stability and torque compliance, the process team established an SPC process control model. For example, analysis revealed that base weld defects were concentrated during the lunch shift change. This was traced back to grid voltage fluctuations, and the subsequent installation of a voltage stabilizer significantly reduced the defect rate. This data-driven improvement increased the overall line OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) from 71% to 89%.