Bell Helicopter Uses RFID to Save $300K in Business Efficiency and Labor Costs. Aaron Druyvesteyn Manager of Logistics

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2 Bell Helicopter Uses RFID to Save $300K in Business Efficiency and Labor Costs Aaron Druyvesteyn Manager of Logistics 2

3 Background In May of 2007, Bell Helicopter consolidated 7 production stockrooms into a single production parts warehouse called the CDC (Central Distribution Center). The CDC is the hub of a hub and spoke logistics network supporting production manufacturing centers in Ft. Worth, Amarillo, & Mirabel, PQ. Plant 1 Composites Plant 2 Mirabel, PQ Bell Helicopter CDC Plant 5 Amarillo, TX Plant 8 Plant 6 Materials are ordered by each production center and delivered JIT via closed loop, internal transportation. On average, the CDC fills ~1200 production orders each day. 3

4 Problem Bell s Legacy pick ticket system produced paper pick tickets. Orders were not electronic, real-time tracking did not exist there was no control. Critical Order Milestones Order Placed Order Picked Scanned to MHE Depart CDC Arrive Customer Legacy (paper) Known???? Order Management 4

5 Lack of control caused Loss of production orders Disruptions to the production schedule Excess Inventory Additional work for the warehouse Expedites Research Displaced Assets Inspections Stock adjustments 5

6 Solution 1. Deploy a Warehouse Management System Launched the Pick Ticket Management System (PTMS) July 2010 Orders were sent to RF guns vs. the printer. Critical Order Milestones Order Placed Order Picked Scanned to MHE Depart CDC Arrive Customer PTMS No Additional Labor???? Known Known Known Order Management 6

7 Solution Continued 2. Integrate RFID tracking into PTMS RFID incorporated into PTMS June 2011 Gen2 Passive Tags, GRAI encoding scheme Critical Order Milestones Order Placed Order Picked Scanned to MHE Depart CDC Arrive Customer PTMS + RFID System Known PTMS Known Barcode Known Scans Known RFID Reads Known Order Management 7

8 RFID Project Strategy Establish RFID Strategy Council - Gen 2 Passive Tags - GRAI Encoding Scheme (EPC) - IT Architecture & Governance Policies Create a company standard and framework for future RFID projects. Partner with an RFID Integrator - OAT Systems Leverage industry expertise, deploy a solution based upon proven technology and best practices. Defined Project Goals - Requirements - Deliverables - Timeline Develop a clear, simple design requirement delivering the highest possible results in the shortest time. 8

9 RFID EPC Governance Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI) GRAI Encoding Schema Electronic Product Code (EPC) GRAI STD SAP Org Element Tag Type Unique Tag Number from OAT Enterprise Suite ###### Hexadecimal Maximum SAP Org Element Desc Tag Type Desc ###### Bell Fort Worth ###### Bell Amarillo ###### Bell Mirabel Part Tag Conveyance Tag Tool Tag Traveler Tag (TBD) 9

10 RFID EPC Governance START Centralized Management of EPC Numbers Center Pick is PTMS - Lots of potential RFID projects Orders executed in requests EPC a Part - Ensure RFID tracking PTMS integrity, no # duplicate from OAT EPC s - All EPC # s managed / issued by Xpress a single Server system OAT Xpress returns EPC to PTMS * Link is created between PTMS Order ID # and RFID EPC # which enable downstream tracking. PTMS sends print job to BarTender PTMS stores EPC for order * 10

11 RFID Testing Test Setup Typical Configuration (Tub w/parts) 35 Tags 2 Hard tags 33 Paper labels w/gen2 tag inlay Reader configuration & antenna position was optimized based upon manual movement through the test portal. Then, parts were passed through the portal using a fork lift. The result 100% read rate 11

12 RFID Portal Design New Challenge How do we duplicate this configuration across Bell? Each door presented different obstacles. Sprinkler risers Door & Leveler controls Fork lift barriers Needed a standard, repeatable approach. Good 1 st step BUT What about tightly spaced dock doors? 30 apart Visual obstruction (Dock lock lights) Safety concern also needed a lowprofile standard, repeatable approach. 12

13 RFID Portal Design Full Tower Low Profile Tower 13

14 RFID Deployed Infrastructure Plant 1 5 Readers OAT Server Composites 3 Readers Plant 2 1 Reader Mirabel, PQ 6 Readers Bell Helicopter CDC 8 Readers Plant 5 2 Readers Amarillo, TX 2 Readers Plant 8 6 Readers Plant 6 1 Reader 34 Dock Doors (i.e. Portals ) were equipped with Impinj Speedway R420 readers (4 antennas per door). Each reader was assigned a Static IP address & managed via the OAT Server. 14

15 RFID Tag & Track Process 1 Pick is completed in PTMS via RF Gun, RFID pick ticket label is generated. 3 Parts are scanned (associated) to RFID tagged MHE (Totes, Tubs, Dollies, etc.). 2 RFID label is applied to packaging. 4 Tags are read as they pass through the 34 strategic RFID Portals placed throughout the enterprise. The following data is pushed to an ORACLE Parts Tracking Table: EPC#, Date & Time, Portal Info PTMS matches on the EPC (Tag) # from the Parts Tracking Table. 15

16 RFID Results Critical Order Milestones Order Placed Order Picked Scanned to MHE Depart CDC Arrive Customer PTMS + RFID 04:34 05:30 08:04 09:01 09:43 Order Cycle Time = 5:09 16

17 RFID Benefit Warehouse Efficiency Lost Parts & associated stock adjustments Delivery Performance On-Time Delivery (OTD) to the Centers 27.6% Reduction 99.81% OTD Financials Return on Invested Capital (ROIC).83 Years / 120% 17

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