STAY IN THE LOOP
Error-Proofing Gets Easy: You’ve got to check it, but every time you touch it, its cost increases. Now, an RFID system provides 100 percent reliable tracking of parts on pallets, totes, or in bins in many conveying applications – and you never have to touch them.
Posted: September 19, 2008
By using the Easy Loop system from Balluff Inc. in the manufacturing process, pallets carrying parts from one manufacturing or assembly station to the next can be tracked without the use of unreliable bar code methods. This allows error-proofing to be implemented in any production environment – even the largest production process can implement cost effective RFID tracking.
With multiple communication interface choices, this system provides the right interface for your control and tracking infrastructure, including deterministic response capability. Easy Loop products also offer flexible read head options to make mounting flexible and simple, even when replacing bar code systems in retrofit applications.
With multiple versions of read head hardware options, and read distances of up to 50 mm, the ID values on the Easy ID? tags can be used to track the location of the art or product bins and totes in and out of storage and retrieval systems or in production line applications, providing high process visibility. Connecting and interfacing Easy Loop products is simple with a single cable for power and communication and standard interfaces like RS-232, RS-422, or even Ethernet TCP-IP for fast and flexible communication options.
The extensive line of Easy Loop read-only RFID systems are designed to provide absolute data reliability and environmental ruggedness not found in Bar Code systems. Bar Code based pallet or process tracking systems are not suitable for many industrial manufacturing environments. Bar Codes are optical based in nature and are vulnerable to damage and interference, reducing the reliability in some cases to less than 90 percent.
Benefits to using Easy Loop RFID include: 100 percent data reliability, unlike other methods such as bar coding; significantly increased visibility and control of your process; process error proofing to reduce or eliminate errors; reduction of costly mistakes and rework; and faster return on your investment (ROI) compared to unreliable bar codes.
Balluff Inc., 8125 Holton Drive, Florence, KY 41042, 800 543-8390, www.balluff.com.
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