RFID-based product manufacturing and lifecycle management

• US 20070063029A1
• Filed: 09/20/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Brandt, David, Pai, Ramdas
• Granted Patent: US 7,931,197 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 235/385
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management

Abstract

Architecture that utilizes RFID technology in product manufacturing and lifecycle management to track the depletion of inventory, verify the correctness of a part, monitor the completeness of an assembled product, and check a returned product to determine warranty procedure. An RFID reader, or reader/writer, can sense information of an RFID tag associated with an item at various stages of product life. The information can be compared with data associated with the RFID-tagged item, and appropriate action can be taken based on the comparison. A machine learning and reasoning component can be utilized to generate automatic action based on the information.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates item management, comprising:

an item receiving component that automatically detects a radio frequency identification (RFID) tagged item for processing;

a tracking component that tracks inventory depletion of the RFID tagged item during operation of an industrial process; and

a replenishment component that delivers additional RFID tagged items.

2. The system of claim 1, the item receiving component communicates information from an RFID tag associated with the item to the tracking component.

3. The system of claim 1, the receiving component comprises an RFID reader, a user interface, and one or more dataform readers.

4. The system of claim 3, the RFID reader is located on a container that includes the tagged item.

5. The system of claim 3, the RFID reader is located at a delivery area through which the tagged item passes.

6. The system of claim 1, the tracking component at least one of stores, manipulates, and analyzes information received from the item receiving component.

7. The system of claim 1, the tracking component comprises at least one of an inventory component, a defective part analyzer, and a work-in-progress module.

8. The system of claim 7, the inventory component determines whether to order another item based on consumption of the item during operation of the industrial process.

9. The system of claim 1, the tracking component communicates a replenishment request to inform the replenishment component to at least one of order more items from a supplier and deliver one or more items from another internal or external inventory area to facilitate continuous operation of the industrial process.

10. The system of claim 1, the replenishment component responds to a replenishment request by delivering additional RFID tagged items.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising a data collection component that records electronic data related to replenishment requests and data related to the operation of the industrial process.

12. The system of claim 1, further comprising an optimization component that employs a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis to prognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automatically performed.

13. A computer-readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for carrying out the system of claim 1.

14. A programmable logic controller (PLC) that employs the system of claim 1.

15. A method of managing item inventory, comprising:

receiving RFID tagged items;

reading data from the RFID tagged items;

tracking a quantity of the RFID tagged items during an operation;

generating a replenishment request when the quantity of RFID tagged items reaches a predetermined limit; and

delivering additional items based on the replenishment request.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising an act of reading data from the RFID tagged items via an RFID reader/writer.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising an act of employing a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis to prognose or infer an action that a user desires to be automatically performed.

18. The method of claim 15, the act of tracking is performed during an assembly process, which is the operation.

19. A system that verifies correctness of RFID tagged parts in a multipart product, comprising:

a feeder component that removes an RFID tagged part from a plurality of RFID tagged parts;

an RFID reader component that senses electronic data of the RFID tagged part; and

a verification component that determines the correctness of the RFID tagged part based at least in part on the electronic data.

20. The system of claim 19, the electronic data contains information associated with at least one of a part identification, a part identification number, part type, date of part manufacture, part cost, part supplier information, part color, and part composition.

21. The system of claim 19, the verification component determines at least one of if the RFID tagged part is a required part and if the RFID tagged part is a proper part among a set of options.

22. The system of claim 19, further comprising a removal component that removes the RFID tagged part if the RFID tagged part is not correct.

23. A method of verifying correctness of RFID tagged parts in a multipart product, comprising:

receiving a plurality of the RFID tagged parts proximate an assembly area;

monitoring the plurality of RFID tagged parts with an RFID reader;

removing an RFID tagged part from the plurality of RFID tagged parts for an assembly operation;

checking the RFID tagged part with the RFID reader for correctness as a part of the multipart product; and

removing the RFID tagged part from the assembly operation if the RFID tagged part is not correct.

24. A system that monitors final product completeness, comprising:

a completely assembled product that is composed of one or more RFID tagged parts;

an RFID reader that checks the completely assembled product for a correct set of parts;

a manifest generating component that generates a manifest of the one or more RFID tagged parts and associated part information for the completely assembled product; and

an archiving component that stores the manifest.

25. A method of monitoring completeness of a final product, comprising:

composing a completely assembled product of one or more RFID tagged parts;

checking the completely assembled product by reading information of the one or more RFID tagged parts;

compiling a database of information of the one or more RFID tagged parts; and

storing the database of information for future access.

26. The system of claim 25, the database of information is stored temporarily in a PLC, and thereafter transmitted to a remote database.

27. A system that facilitates processing of a warranty and repair procedure, comprising:

a returned product composed of one or more RFID tagged parts that was purchased under a warranty and repair policy;

an archive component that stores an as-built composition of the returned product;

an RFID reader/writer that determines an as-returned composition of the returned product by sensing data from the one or more RFID tagged parts of the returned product; and

a comparison component that compares the as-returned composition with the as-built composition to return a comparison result.

28. The system of claim 27, the archive component further stores information relating to one or more replacement RFID tagged parts used in authorized modifications made to the returned product before the returned product was returned.

29. The system of claim 27, the returned product is processed according to the warranty and repair policy and in view of the comparison result.

30. A method of processing a warranty and repair procedure, comprising:

receiving a product purchased under the warranty and repair procedure and composed of one or more RFID tagged parts;

using an RFID reader to determine an as-returned composition of the returned product;

comparing the as-returned composition to an as-built composition;

comparing the as-returned composition to a composition adjusted for authorized modifications;

returning the product if repair is unauthorized under the warranty and repair procedure; and

repairing the product if repair is authorized under the warranty and repair procedure.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising:

determining damaged or defective RFID tagged parts of the returned product;

providing a replacement RFID tagged part;

scanning the replacement RFID tagged part;

checking the replacement RFID tagged part for correctness;

replacing the damaged or defective RFID tagged parts of the returned product with the replacement RFID tagged part;

producing a completely assembled product manifest of a completely assembled product;

shipping the completely assembled product the consumer; and

storing the product manifest.

32. A system that facilitates processing of a warranty and repair policy, comprising:

means for receiving a product purchased under the warranty and repair policy and composed of RFID tags associated with one or more parts;

means for reading the RFID tags of the one or more parts to determine an as-returned composition of the product by scanning the product upon return to read the one or more RFID tags associated therewith;

means for comparing the as-returned composition to an as-delivered composition;

means for comparing the as-returned composition to an authorized composition adjusted for authorized modifications; and

means for processing the product by one of returning the product if repair is unauthorized under the warranty and repair policy and replacing the one or more parts of the product if repair is authorized under the warranty and repair policy.