Long heralded as the next big thing in supply chain visibility, RFID technology has plodded down the runway to acceptance like an overloaded C-130.
Manufacturers that found themselves under the thumb of retailer mandates to place RFID tags on their products have struggled to recoup the costs associated with those efforts. Meanwhile, companies that operate beyond the long arm of Wal-Mart and its fellow retailers mostly have taken a wait-and-see approach to RFID.
The problem, as I see it, is that we’re not yet at the inflection point for cost-effective RFID deployments on a wide scale — at least not within a manufacturer’s own operations. The capital expense involved in deploying the needed wireless infrastructure, buying/installing the tags and the governing applications, and paying a consultant to configure the optimal process solution still gives budget managers heartburn.
But what if the costs were shared by your customers? I don’t mean the traditional pass-along in the form of price increases without customer value-add. Instead, what if both you the manufacturer and your customers were able to use the RFID technology, and you could charge your customers for that privilege?
One company that is doing just that is Bairstow Lifting Products, an Atlanta-based outfit that makes slings, hoists, rigging hardware, and other products that get people and things into the air (and keep them there).
Starting this month, Bairstow will add RFID tags to all the products it ships, enabling end customers to perform inventory and inspection processes more efficiently by scanning the tags on the products. Bairstow employed technology from UPM Raflatac and Marnlen RFiD to deliver the offering to its customers.
According to a statement, Bairstow’s customers “can use handheld RFID readers to scan tags in the field, streamlining the certification process and eliminating the physical paperwork and human error associated with manual processes.”
It’s a classic bundling strategy — incorporating a technology into your products and delivering it to customers with only an incremental cost increase. It may be the way the RFID C-130 finally gets off the runway. And who better to try it than a company dedicated to getting things off the ground?
What’s your opinion on RFID these days? Are you still on the sidelines? Do you see opportunities to deliver the technology to your customers?
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We have seen an uptick in the number of companies that are implementing RFID as a means to track and control tooling assets and data on the shop floor of manufacturing facilities. Typically information relative to the geometry, life, use, and destination for the tooling is stored at the time of assembly, in the RFID tag implanted in the tool. When the tools are installed in the machine tool for use, devices such as our iTool System can read the information from the tag and insure that the tool is being loaded in the required location on the machine for the correct machining program. Vital data regarding the tool’s geometry as well as usage limits are also loaded into the machine.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gerry_ERP_Pro: How to Make RFID Pay Off for You: http://bit.ly/c6vPon via @addthis #erp #manufacturing #crm http://www.scc-co.com...