Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

introduction

With the rapid development of the international logistics industry, a large amount of information technology has been adopted to improve the service efficiency and quality of the industry. However, there are still many tasks that are still mainly completed manually, such as the counting of goods, inventory and data entry, etc. Because this method of data collection is difficult to standardize, it leads to reduced warehouse space utilization and low labor productivity, which ultimately affects corporate efficiency.

As an identification technology, RFID has its own unique aspects compared with barcode technology, another technology widely used in the Logistics industry. Promoting RFID technology and allowing this technology to exert its powerful role in promoting the logistics industry as soon as possible is a major trend for domestic logistics companies to join the application of RFID technology as soon as possible.

1 Introduction to logistics center and RFID technology

1.1 The main functions and development trends of logistics centers

The main functions of the logistics center include transportation, warehousing, loading and unloading, packaging, circulation processing, logistics information processing, etc., and the functions of the logistics center should be extended upwards and downwards according to the situation. The most critical thing in the actual design is to determine how to The extent to which a situation extends upwards, downwards, and extends. The development trends of modern logistics are:

The systematic trend of logistics;

The informationization trend of logistics;

Social trends in logistics centers, wholesale centers, and distribution centers;

The trend of modernization and comprehensive systemization of warehousing and transportation;

The trend of integration of logistics, business flow and information flow;

It can be clearly seen that among the five major trends in logistics development, informatization is very prominent. Therefore, under the premise of the development of modern logistics, the development trend of logistics centers requires special attention to the development and application of information technology [4].

1.2 Introduction to radio frequency identification technology (RFID) and its characteristics

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a non-contact automatic identification technology. It automatically identifies target objects and obtains relevant data through radio frequency signals. The identification work does not require manual intervention and can work in various harsh environments. Compared with traditional barcodes, magnetic cards and IC cards, labels are non-contact, fast reading, non-abrasive, not affected by the environment, long life, easy to use and have anti-collision functions, and can handle multiple cards at the same time. . RFID technology can identify high-speed moving objects and identify multiple tags at the same time, making the operation quick and convenient. Abroad, radio frequency identification technology has been widely used in many fields such as industrial automation, commercial automation, and transportation control management.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

2 Logistics center warehousing process analysis and efficiency optimization plan

2.1 Existing warehousing process:

◆Enter warehouse plan:

Enter the basic information of the goods into the warehouse, including quantity, size, weight, estimated time, etc., and some can also provide barcode sequences;

◆Delivery vehicle registration:

This link controls the vehicles entering the receiving area to prevent overcrowding and lower efficiency;

◆Tallying:

Count goods and record specific goods information, including scanning, palletizing, etc.;

◆ Storage:

Moving goods into the warehouse for storage requires goods status, warehouse location management, mechanical dispatch, etc.;

◆Completion:

The goods warehousing operation is completed.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

Figure 2 Warehousing flow chart

2.2 Analyze weak links in the process

From the perspective of operational efficiency, data collection efficiency is crucial. Barcodes need to be scanned one by one, and it takes 2-3 seconds to scan each barcode on average, which will greatly reduce efficiency;

From the perspective of accuracy, if the corresponding barcode is known in advance before the warehousing operation, it can be proofread during scanning, thus reducing the error rate;

In order to ensure accuracy, the warehouse door should further check whether the goods passing through have corresponding storage plans. If so, they will be released, otherwise they will be blocked, thus effectively preventing errors.

2.3 Links that need to be transformed and optimized

◆Warehouse planning link:

Connect with customer data, unify standards, and obtain relevant barcode numbers or RFID in advance to improve the efficiency of subsequent operations.

◆Actual warehousing information collection link:

Use RFID batch identification to improve the efficiency of the collection process;

◆ Warehouse door data inspection to check whether there are any mistaken warehouse operations to prevent such errors from occurring:

Read the RFID information of the goods at the warehouse door, and there will be release in the corresponding warehouse plan, otherwise an alarm will be issued.

2.4 Design specific optimization measures

◆Establish RFID database:

When the standards are not unified, customers should be solicited for their opinions and try to unify the standards with long-term stable customers.

◆Place RFID tags on goods:

The most ideal situation is that manufacturers place RFID tags in advance when producing goods. If there are no RFID tags that can be temporarily affixed and hung in the warehouse during the collection of goods data.

◆Use smart tray:

The manufacturing of plastic pallets is a good example of RFID PCB application. The PCB is placed in the plastic pallet prior to the ultrasonic welding stage of the plastic pallet manufacturing cycle. In this way, the PCB turns the pallet into a "smart pallet", and data can be read and written to the pallet throughout the entire logistics chain.

◆Install RFID reading and writing device on the warehouse door:

Taking into account the operating efficiency and operating environment, a gate-shaped RDID antenna reader can be used, so that when goods enter the warehouse, they can enter directly without stopping to scan, thus improving its efficiency.

◆Warehouse management staff are equipped with handheld RFID Readers:

This can be used not only to search for goods, but also to take stock of goods. When the warehouse manager walks around the warehouse, he will know clearly the storage status of the goods.

2.5 Design and optimize the warehousing process

◆Import of warehousing plan

Directly import the basic information of the goods to be Stored into the database, including quantity, size, weight, estimated time, RFID information of each piece of goods, delivery truck information, etc.

Improvements: Try to avoid manual input links to reduce error rates; use electronic and automated methods of cargo data to improve data operation efficiency, which will help improve the overall process efficiency.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

Figure 3 Improvement of manual entry method

◆Delivery vehicle registration

Register the delivery truck, check whether there is a warehousing plan, and transfer it directly if there is one.

◆Tallying and warehousing

Use RFID batch identification technology to collect cargo information and compare it with the warehousing plan information in the database. If there is no abnormality, the goods will be loaded into the warehouse. When passing through the warehouse door, the system automatically collects the information through the reader and writer of the portal antenna. The RFID information of the moving pallet and the RFID information of each piece of goods placed on the pallet are recorded in the database in real time, and the storage is completed.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

RFID tag and antenna placement:

There are two methods for pallets: surface fixed and embedded. Surface fixation means fixing on the outer surface by pasting, etc., and embedding means placing it inside the wooden pallet. The reader's antenna can be made into a door-shaped antenna according to the shape of the door to ensure that goods can be read and written smoothly when passing through the door.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

Cargo identification process: After the goods are unloaded from the truck, they are placed on the pallet. When the forklift tranSports the pallet containing the goods to the warehouse door, the reader can read out the RFID information of the pallet and the goods on it in batches. Since the pallet and the The coding categories of goods are different, and you can tell which is pallet information and which is cargo information. The reader transmits the collected data to the information system processing unit to determine whether the goods have a storage plan. If not, an alarm is issued and the goods are prohibited from being stored. On the contrary, release it and let the goods enter the warehouse smoothly. Figure 6 reflects the three relationships between the cargo pallet and the reader.

State A is the state when goods with RFID tags are placed on the pallet with RFID tags and approach the warehouse door on the way into the warehouse. When the distance between the pallet and the warehouse door shrinks to a certain extent, it enters the effective reading and writing range of the RFID reader.

State B is: the portal antenna of the RFID reader placed at the door of the cutting warehouse is in motion. At this time, it has entered the effective reading and writing range of the reader. The reader will transmit the identified information back to the database, which will be analyzed by the inspection module of the warehousing link. Process and prompt error conditions through alarm methods.

Status C is: the cargo information has passed the inspection and is being transported to the designated location.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

◆Complete

The new process will be more effective for larger quantities of goods, and the system will automatically calculate whether there are overflows or shortages after the goods are put into storage. There are two judgment methods based on process design:

Inspection before warehousing: The goods are palletized on the platform, and then a handheld reader is used to read the RFID information of the goods, count, and compare it with the warehousing plan. If it does not match, an alarm will be issued.

Statistics after warehousing: The goods are put into the warehouse while being palletized. During the warehousing, the goods are identified, compared and counted, and finally the overflow and shortage are counted.

The latter method is more efficient and will have better results when the warehousing plan is relatively accurate.

Use RFID technology to optimize the analysis and efficiency of the inflow process of warehousing materials

3 Comparison and summary of processes before and after optimization using RFID technology

3.1 Comparison of warehousing process

Compared with the warehousing process before optimization, the more prominent ones in the optimized warehousing process are:

Change the manual entry plan to the electronic data import method, reducing the manual entry process.

The process of scanning goods one by one is reduced and replaced by RFID batch identification. This method is particularly suitable for large quantities of goods.

If a single piece is put into the warehouse, it can also be realized that the reader installed on the warehouse door automatically identifies and records the goods when they pass through the warehouse door.

The basic information of goods, including size, color, model, etc., can also be obtained through RFID storage, eliminating the need for inspection at the warehouse door.

The function of checking at the warehouse door has been added. This is a problem that was difficult to deal with in the previous process using barcodes, because if you want to check using barcode management, you must stay at the warehouse door for enough time to scan and verify, and doing so will undoubtedly increase the workload. time and reduce work efficiency. Now using the RFID system, using its characteristics that can be identified in motion, the goal of inspection and verification at the warehouse door can be easily achieved.

Due to the limitations of barcodes, surface contamination, temperature and other factors will affect its accuracy. RFID itself is not affected by such factors and can be built-in, which increases its stability and reliability.

3.2 Summary and outlook

Judging from the results of the analysis and optimization of the warehousing material inflow process, basically problems such as manual data collection, multi-tag batch reading, data collection in motion, and reading distance can be improved by introducing RFID technology, and there are still further problems. Optimization possible. At the same time, it should be noted that in order to make good use of this technology, it is very important to deal with some key issues.

The optimized process derived from the above work makes full use of the characteristics of RFID technology to improve work efficiency and quality from multiple aspects and achieve the expected goals. If adopted on a large scale, the effect will be more obvious, and the economic benefits of the entire industry will be considerable.

It is recommended that warehousing and logistics centers consider their own conditions and the external environment and adopt RFID technology as soon as possible to improve operating efficiency and quality, achieve the goals of strengthening management and improving services, and will have a profound impact on improving corporate image and expanding business areas. At the same time, it is also hoped that more relevant manufacturers will develop more cost-effective RFID products as soon as possible to promote the rapid development of the logistics industry.