Tracking and Visualizing RFID-driven Material Flows for Multistage Machining Processes

On the basis of physical layouts of human and manufacturing resources, RFID readers and tags, in this paper, a RFID-driven conceptual method to track and visualize material flows by using e-Kanbans is proposed. A graphical-schema “event-triggering time-state” model unit is used to create operation models respectively for multistage machining processes and inventory processes. At the same, such operation models are correspondent with the RFID data sampling points in terms of using proposed setup rule. Valid RFID tags can be identified with defined judging rules. In order to visualize material flows, ID-driven computing algorithms and template-based e-Kanbans are also presented. According to these models, algorithms and e-Kanbans, eight kinds of tracking functions of material flows can be realized.