An RFID-based remote monitoring system for enterprise internal production management

Abstract

The disconnected flow of inventory and information will lead to a lack of real-time information and a build-up of excess inventory to buffer uncertainties in supply and demand. In this paper, a radio frequency identification (RFID) based remote monitoring system over the Internet is proposed to provide a transparent and visible information flow for supply chain and enterprise internal resource management. RFID technology has been a hot technology to replace barcodes in supply chain management in recent years. Actually, it has been successfully applied by the US Army in military logistics in 1991. Recently, the superman of the supermarket, Wal-Mart, mandates that its top 100 suppliers must equip RFID tags on their supplied items. However, RFID technology is still not a standard form acceptable for global use. The first big problem is to select a global universal radio frequency (RF) for active and passive RFID systems, but because of the advantages of RFID technology, it is unassailable that it will be popularly used in various fields very soon, such as supply chain management, enterprise resources planning (ERP), sales management, and so on. In this paper, the RFID-based monitoring system for enterprise internal production management is introduced. The RFID technology, Bluetooth, and Internet technology are employed to form a remote system for the monitoring of the production status of a factory. Based on this system, the management department can transparently master and control the status of the production line and supply chain, including raw materials and outsourcing supply/consumption status, production status of parts and components, production status of the finished products, etc. This system will be of benefit to greatly improve the productivity and reduce the cost for the enterprise.