How RFID Technology is Beneficial for the Manufacturing Supply Chain?

In the multifaceted world of manufacturing, where the journey from raw material procurement to product distribution encompasses numerous stages, effective supply chain management becomes crucial. The deployment of advanced technologies like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) stands as a testament to the industry’s commitment to innovation, playing a pivotal role in streamlining supply chain operations.

How exactly can this technique help manufacturers with SCM? Let us explain inside our article.

How RFID Technology Works

Understanding RFID’s core is essential for integrating it into the manufacturing supply chain. If you’ve been leveraging ‘Barcode Technology,’ consider RFID as a significant advancement. 

Utilizing radio waves, RFID technology facilitates the automatic identification and tracking of objects and individuals. It involves RFID tags, which are attached to the item to be tracked, a reader or interrogator emitting radio waves to communicate with the tag, and a database system to store and process the collected information. Tags can be passive, activated by the reader’s signal, or active, equipped with their own power source. 

Since then, manufacturers around the world have tended to utilise them in many apps such as inventory management, supply chain management, access control, and contactless payment systems. It is visible that RFID technology enhances efficiency, accuracy, and automation in tracking and monitoring processes across industries.

Advantages of RFID in Streamlining Supply Chain Operations

1. Reducing Risk of Loss and Theft

In manufacturing plants and warehouse facilities, there is a high risk of your products getting lost or being robbed by unauthorised groups. This is a rising concern for the plan managers, and they are desperately in need of innovative solutions to this matter. 

Here is where RFID technology comes in as a strong way to stop these problems in your plant or warehouse. Let’s show you how it works. RFID technology helps prevent losing and stealing things by giving you a constant, real-time update and control over what your company owns.

Did you know that RFID has the ability to tag items with unique identifiers and integrate RFID readers? This happens all through the supply chain. By using both RFID and Blockchain technologies together, makers can watch over the movement of items from when they’re made to when they’re sent out. If something that shouldn’t happen does happen, the system quickly lets you know. This quick alert system is a big plus of using RFID technology because it helps you act fast.

As you can see, this clear visibility is a great way to keep theft away from your plant. It also makes sure things are tracked properly, reducing the risk of losing or having items stolen. Plus, with RFID technology for events, you’re all set to lower the chances of running out of stock or losing products.

RFID’s power to keep a close watch on everything and react quickly makes security stronger, easily transforming how inventory is managed.

2. Enhancing Visibility with RFID Tags

In this part, we’re talking about why RFID tags are better than old barcode methods. RFID tags let you see what’s happening in your manufacturing process by tracking and checking on things like materials and what’s being made, all in real time.

It’s easy to get how it works. Tags put on items send information without wires to RFID readers. This sending gives quick and correct details about where items are, how they’re doing, and how they move. Because your company knows the latest updates in your supply chain, you can make your operations better. It also helps you see problems coming and make smarter choices.

Yes, as we previously highlighted, this technology not only tracks assets but also traces the process movements. It’s like having a bird’s-eye view of everything that’s happening in the supply chain, as if everything is under one big umbrella. This helps manufacturers find and fix problems, make their work processes smoother, and deal with issues like delays or mix-ups between departments more effectively.

Using RFID in logistics and the supply chain helps everyone involved stay updated on product locations and movements. It makes things clearer between companies and customers and also makes operations more efficient.

3. Improving Accuracy in Product Picking

Product picking is one aspect that often goes wrong within the manufacturing plants with traditional picking methods. But if you have RFID tag technology, it can provide real-time tracking of items, which will lead to 100% accuracy rates for sure. 

RFID tags placed in products or their packaging have special codes that RFID scanners read automatically as products are being selected. This automatic process reduces mistakes that can happen when people scan barcodes by hand or use paper lists. This method greatly improves how accurately products are picked.

With RFID, workers can easily find and check the right items. This greatly lowers the chances of picking the wrong items, losing them, or getting them mixed up. Also, RFID works really well with inventory management systems, so you can quickly update how much stock you have and know when you need more.

It is a clear fact that companies that use RFID technology have outstanding records of picking operations, as the latter enhances order fulfillment efficiency and boosts overall customer satisfaction within the manufacturing supply chain.

4. Boosting Productivity

RFID technology in the supply chain acts like a multitasking tool that boosts productivity through every part of manufacturing. It automates jobs like keeping track of inventory, watching over assets, and completing orders. This cuts down on the need for manual work and mistakes, making everything run smoother and more efficiently.

A big plus of using RFID in managing supply chains is that it makes working together across different parts of the supply chain easy. This leads to smoother operations and quicker processing times. By making each step, from making to delivering products, more efficient, RFID technology helps cut down costs and speed up the whole process. This method speeds up the entire supply chain’s performance.

Magnifying Supply Chain Visibility with RFID Technology

Walking away from traditional methods, manufacturers can significantly enhance their supply chain operations with RFID technology. This innovative approach not only optimizes each link in the supply chain but also positions businesses for success in a competitive market. As manufacturers continue to explore and adopt RFID technology, its impact on supply chain management is bound to deepen, heralding a new era of efficiency and productivity in the manufacturing sector.