Mixed-flow production refers to a production method where a company manufactures multiple products on a single production line within a certain period. A crucial question is how to enable each workstation to intelligently identify different products and issue corresponding process instructions.
RFID effectively solves this identification problem.
By combining
RFID with controllers (such as PLCs),
RFID significantly improves the level of industrial automation.
Each workstation is equipped with an
RFID reader. The reader communicates with the PLC via an industrial Ethernet network.
When the
RFID reader reads a tag, it can transmit the information to the PLC or write information to the tag via PLC instructions.
In mixed-flow production, products to be processed are placed on a turntable equipped with electronic tags. The PLC pre-writes the product's number into the electronic tag. When the turntable passes the
RFID reader, the reader immediately reads the tag information and transmits the corresponding information to the PLC. The PLC then issues accurate instructions to the workstation, ensuring that the relevant electrical equipment is assigned corresponding and conflict-free setpoints. During the process, the production line does not need to wait for all workstations to complete; it only needs to wait for one workstation to finish, saving time and improving efficiency, truly achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
Furthermore, the parameters of the turntable may differ for different products during production, such as height, position, and current status. In this case, the PLC needs to assign corresponding motion coordinates to the servo motors for dynamic adjustment. Therefore, we can pre-set the motion settings of all electrical equipment used in production at each workstation into the human-machine system, and intelligently select the appropriate settings based on the specific product during production.
Using
RFID readers to facilitate mixed-flow production, companies can easily handle the challenges of producing multiple varieties in small batches, while also making it easier to control the production cycle and avoiding the risks associated with inaccurate order delivery dates. For repetitive and complex operations, technology is more reliable than humans, and
RFID mixed-flow production is more stable than traditional production models. Currently, my country's level of intelligent manufacturing is still relatively low, but it is believed that more companies will introduce
RFID technology to achieve lean production in the future.
