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by Chris Chiappinelli, MA Editorial Staff Posted on Friday, September 12, 2008 4:53:23 PM   | Abstract: | The deployment of WhereNet's material replenishment system is aimed at a sizable increase in efficiency. |
| Keywords: | material replenishment system |
In pursuit of a materials replenishment system to complement its lean manufacturing efforts, an unidentified carmaker has deployed WhereNet's Material Flow Replenishment RFID system, according to a recent release from the RFID specialist, a unit of Zebra Technologies.
The system uses RFID tags and software to coordinate the distribution of materials to the line, and interfaces with the company's ERP system to keep the master data record up to date. The replenishment system can track the time of each part request, prioritize the requests, and alert material-handling drivers via vehicle-mounted WiFi terminals, furnishing them with instructions on what parts to retrieve, where to locate them, and where to deliver them.
"After realizing more than 12% efficiency gains from implementing the Material Flow Replenishment solution in one part of our factory, we expanded use of the solution so that we now manage 750 parts across a span of more than 1.5 million square feet," said Nathan Pearson, project manager for material flow at the automaker, in a WhereNet statement.
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