What can perfect identification technology offer for consistently efficient processes in every sector?

Transcription

1 What can perfect identification technology offer for consistently efficient processes in every sector? SIMATIC Ident: The comprehensive portfolio of RFID and code reading systems for industrial identification today and in the future. Answers for industry.

2 The range for maximum transparency and consistently increased efficiency: SIMATIC Ident Increasing competition, stricter standards and legal regulations, shorter product life cycles, more individual customer requirements, and increasingly globalized value creation: To succeed in increasingly dynamic markets, companies must increase the efficiency of their value-added chain in production control, asset management, and tracking and tracing. By using innovative identification technology, companies gain a key advantage. But should I use RFID or optical code readers? Which technology is right for which application? Where are the alternative uses, where is shared operation possible, and how flexibly can we react to changing demands? Here, Siemens can support you. With SIMATIC Ident, we can offer a uniquely comprehensive industrial identification portfolio that provides the perfect solution to your needs and makes you flexible for the future. Identification systems: RFID and optical codes 4 Production control: Efficient processes for economical, multi-variant production 6 Asset management: Optimized use of resources for increased performance 8 Tracking and tracing: Maximum transparency across the entire product life cycle 10 Supply chain: Intelligent control of complex networks 12 The right partner for pioneering industrial identification tasks 14 Systematic and professional: A look at the SIMATIC Ident portfolio 15 2

3 Profit all down the line with industrial identification When is which product or which individual component where, and in what condition? Who delivered what where? Industrial identification gives you the answers. Machine-readable, automated, non-contact identification systems synchronize the virtual data streams of IT systems with real product flows and make both internal production and external logistics processes highly transparent. This results in enormous benefits along the entire supply chain. This allows you, for example, to meet quality requirements, make production more flexible, reduce manual effort, and promptly identify and eliminate potential sources of error. In all cases, you will benefit from greater efficiency in logistics, materials management, production, and service. Radio or optical the technologies Two principal technologies are primarily used in an industrial environment, depending on the application: RFID (radio frequency identification) based on radio waves or optical codereading systems for recognizing 1D codes (bar codes), 2D codes such as data matrix codes (DMC), and plain text OCR (optical character recognition). These highly reliable technologies ensure the complete traceability of products and components throughout the entire production, procurement or shipping process. As the world s leading provider, Siemens offers a comprehensive SIMATIC Ident portfolio for industrial identification from code readers and RFID systems to integration software. Industrial identification your advantages at a glance: Seamless traceability Increase in quality Compliance with legal regulations Faster time to market More flexible production Just-in-time and just-insequence logistics Optimized stocks, thus lower costs Fast delivery 3

4 Identification systems: RFID and optical codes Whether bar code, DMC, RFID, or OCR: Each technology has its specific strengths. Plain-text recognition is used where information must also be readable for people, such as expiry dates. 2D codes and RFID stand out due to their high data security and have proved themselves even in harsh industrial environments. The decisive criterion for an identification system: Your individual application. Verification, identification: Code reading systems When higher performance is required, 2D codes are recommended as an alternative to the bar code, as they offer a higher storage capacity and a better read rate. They can be applied cost-effectively, e.g. together with shipping labels. They also allow direct part marking (DPM) on the product by means of laser, printing, or pins, making them particularly resistant to external influences. 2D codes can be read with absolute reliability even from an oblique angle or in difficult lighting conditions. With SIMATIC code reading systems, we provide an ideal solution for reading and verifying 1D and 2D codes offering reliable traceability from the production batch to the production plant and beyond. Identification, mobile data storage: RFID RFID is used if there is no visual connection between the detecting device and the marking, large amounts of data or large distances are needed, or stored information must be changed. Here, the product or item is provided with a wirelessly programmable and readable memory chip. With attractively priced smart labels for logistics, robust data storage units for assembly lines, and transponders with a long range, RFID is ideally suited for a wide variety of applications. Our intelligent SIMATIC RF system family offers complete transparency. Data is thus available at any time throughout the entire production and distribution chain for perfect control and optimization of material flows and logistics. 4

5 Management level Ethernet Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Industrial Ethernet Control level PLC HMI SIMATIC connection Connection to PC and third-party controllers SIMATIC RF-Manager PROFINET PROFIBUS Industrial Ethernet Field level ASM 456 RF180C RS232/R S422 MV440 RF620R MV440 MV420 MV420 RF340R MV420 RF670R Identification technologies complement one another: Integration takes place via standardized interfaces in the automation or IT environment. Both technologies form a system The appropriate identification technology depends on factors such as detection distance, lighting conditions, single or repeated marking, and environmental factors such as temperature and contamination. Depending on the application, optical and RFID systems can be used alongside each other as a hybrid solution in the same production line, e.g. DMC for direct marking on the product and RFID for pallets or workpiece holders. In this case, it is necessary that both technologies are connected seamlessly. With our SIMATIC Ident portfolio, we can offer the right solution for this purpose: Shared communication modules or function blocks permit the easy connection of optical and RFID systems to the SIMATIC control. This ensures a consistent software architecture and saves great effort and costs for engineering, commissioning, and maintenance. A partnership with Siemens: Your benefits With Siemens, you are choosing the highest flexibility, competence, and security for the future. With our SIMATIC Ident portfolio, we are one of the few suppliers to offer both identification technologies: RFID systems for production, logistics, and tracking as well as stationary and handheld code readers for 1D/2D codes and OCR and we offer technologyneutral application consulting. You benefit from over 25 years of experience in identification technology as well as comprehensive automation and integration expertise. And regardless of whether you will be gradually expanding your existing identification solution or wish to remain flexible to be able to easily exchange the technology later with us on your side, you can be sure of a future-proof identification solution. On the following pages, we give you a brief overview of how you can profit from industrial identification along the entire value-added chain. 5

6 Bette GmbH specializes in the production of high-quality shower basins and bathtubs in many individual variations. This requires the clear assignment of production data to each part or finished product in industrial job-order manufacturing. The solution: RFID from Siemens so that what the customer orders is exactly what is produced on time. 6

7 Production control: Efficient processes for economical, multi-variant production An ever-increasing variety of products and variants, shorter development and delivery cycles, and unpredictable fluctuations in demand: The manufacturing industry has to master numerous complex challenges to meet increasingly exacting customer needs and to remain consistently competitive. This requires universal manufacturing stations, flexible material flow control, and the unique identification of products in combination with product-specific plant parameters. The answer to increasingly efficient manufacturing processes With our identification systems, we pave the way for the economic production of customized series products. That is because with RFID and optical code reading systems, the challenges faced by the value-added chain can be met with great efficiency such as increased complexity and decentralization of planning, management, and control. Make-to-order production with SIMATIC Ident Here, the sequential delivery and unique identification of parts enables autonomous production steps in flexible manufacturing stations. Installation errors, delays, and high post-processing errors are thus avoided. With SIMATIC Ident, you can profit from significantly reduced complexity in automation systems and engineering. The high degree of automation and the most robust identification technology also reduce the vulnerability of the entire system to errors, thus minimizing unplanned downtime in all sectors. And rewritable data storage units allow the implementation of distributed automation architectures. Complete transparency is the prerequisite for absolutely reliable and economic make-toorder production and highly efficient manufacturing processes. And this is offered by SIMATIC Ident, e.g. in the automotive industry. A well-known automobile manufacturer was looking for an identification system to optimize the traceability of all body parts and eliminate the previous method of marking by hand and its potential for errors. They selected a dot-peened or lasered data matrix code and a part number in plain text. Code reading systems from Siemens were installed for automatic identification. The company is now benefiting from the unambiguous assignment of parts to individual vehicles, automated, error-free processes for mistake-proof assembly, and consistent data management and tracking all the way to final assembly. 7

8 The Siemens Power Generation Division was looking for an innovative identification system for its plant in Berlin to ensure regular maintenance for maintaining tolerances and high availability for 3,500 expensive special carriers in gas turbine production. These tasks are now carried out by means of RFID. This technology allows more accurate production planning, decentralized evaluation of test data, immediate error detection, and automatic evaluation without additional procedures. 8

9 Asset management: Optimized use of resources for increased performance Efficiency and cost-effectiveness are the highest priorities when reusable, returnable transport items (RTI) are used for the flow of goods. Indispensable for this: Accurate inventory and locating of all assets along the entire supply chain. Higher performance, lower costs When is which asset where and in what condition? SIMATIC Ident can tell you. RFID and optical code reading systems enable significantly more efficient asset management, because all relevant information is continuously available in real time. This allows the process chain to be perfectly controlled and optimized specifically in terms of performance, quality, quantity, and associated costs. Additional advantages: Dramatically reduced error rates, avoidance of wastage, and optimized maintenance processes. Unused goods can be identified and returned to the process or removed from it for an optimized inventory, and thus reduced costs and a significantly more productive plant. The multi-stage use of RTIs is also much easier, even in complex, farreaching logistical networks. One reason: The multi-site and company-wide standardization of data structures and interfaces. Perfect asset management Identification technology is particularly useful in closed circuits. The more valuable or maintenance-intensive the containers used, the greater the benefits. One example: In chemical plants, SIMATIC Ident allows the precise documentation of all maintenance work, directly at the unit. A leading producer of aluminum casting alloys delivers its liquid aluminum to customers in special containers. To achieve the required quality with the lowest possible use of energy and resources, it was important to have full transparency regarding the use of crucibles as well as delivery times which was solved perfectly with robust RFID technology from Siemens. The benefits: Immediate crucible status information, better scheduling at the factory, documentation of product and delivery quality in the outgoing goods department, and the use of EPCglobal standards for the entire supply chain. Identification technology optimizes service and maintenance processes for plants and machinery. 9

10 Tracking and tracing: Maximum transparency across the entire product life cycle No matter whether legal requirements must be met or a higher process quality is required: The seamlessly documented history of products, components, and systems is increasingly gaining in importance in all industries not least because tracking and tracing can make a decisive contribution to the optimization of the entire supply chain. Seamless product history Inconsistent product quality and defective products are critical production factors. But it is usually difficult to locate the weak point especially when there are several consecutive machining processes at various plants, and often even at different companies. SIMATIC Ident can ensure seamless product tracking and tracing. If the actual state or location changes, a digital trace is generated that points all the way back to the source of the product. If this also includes components or substances of a product, their properties and quality can be ensured and demonstrated reliably. Increased quality in manufacturing and logistics In manufacturing, complete data transparency allows fluctuations in product quality to be traced down to the individual machine errors can thus be detected and corrected at an early stage. In logistics, tracking and tracing enable weaknesses in processes to be detected, analyzed, and eliminated systematically. Consumers benefit from improved, consistently high product quality. A further motivation for tracking and tracing is compliance with existing legal regulations. Thus, for example, it becomes easier in the pharmaceutical industry to identify counterfeit drugs, reliably meet statutory requirements, and ensure maximum patient safety. Identification technology from Siemens permits the seamless identification of all product components. The Spanish company Leche Pascual, a leading company in the foods sector, was looking for an identification solution for the automatic assignment of the production location and batch of raw materials to finished products, as well as reliable quality control and regulatory compliance. RFID from Siemens ensures seamless compliance with statutory requirements and the high quality requirements. Additional advantages: Reduced losses due to unclear product documentation and maximum transparency across multiple locations. 10

11 An international tobacco concern was one of the first companies in the tobacco industry to institute a comprehensive tracking and tracing system in the fight against the illegal cigarette trade. By doing so, BAT met the requirements of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. This was made possible with optical code reading systems from Siemens. The comprehensive range of products and solutions from a single source enabled the rapid development and implementation of the solution without any significant interruptions in production. 11

12 Tetas AS of Izmir, a service provider for the textile industry in Istanbul, was looking for an identification solution to make warehouse logistics (over 25,000 different products) more efficient. Siemens provided the perfect solution with RFID. The benefits: Automated locating of items, inventory via mouse click, significant cost savings, rapid cost amortization, and numerous additional optimization options thanks to seamless transparency.

13 Supply chain: Intelligent control of complex networks More and more, supply chains are becoming highly complex, trans-company and transnational networks. But the challenges remain the same: Permanent availability, delivery in line with the market, etc. The prerequisite for efficient supply chain management: seamless transparency. Synchronization of complex networks Whether in procurement, production, or distribution: A transparent flow of goods at all times provides greater efficiency throughout the entire supply chain. With SIMATIC Ident, you have information on the flow of goods and the associated planning, management, and control information available at any time in real time. This allows even complex, multi-stage supply chains to be managed and synchronized much more easily. Just-in-time production and supply become a reality. Development and delivery cycles can be shortened, supply bottlenecks and downtime can be avoided, inventory levels can be optimized, and profit margins can be improved. Thanks to complete transparency along the entire supply chain, external processes can be better integrated into the actual production. Greater synergies between network participants and a higher degree of automation allow the optimization of plant control and system load for significantly reduced throughput times and error rates. Optimization of all processes Out-of-stock situations can be avoided with our identification solutions. Maximum data transparency makes it possible to detect any weak points and correct them. The risk of loss and forgery can be reduced to a minimum and the quality of logistics processes can be optimized. And in subsequent production and sales processes all the way to the end customer, you can benefit from unprecedented transparency, implement just-in-time delivery, and reduce costs. One example: In logistics, SIMATIC Ident permits item-specific tracking of goods flows in real time, lower costs, higher margins, increased inventory turnover, and shorter turnover cycles. Customers benefit from greater product availability, more choice, as well as quick service and more convenience. SECM GmbH & Co. KG in Leipzig wanted an identification solution that could ensure product quality and supply chain transparency, optimize internal and external business processes, and prevent unfounded service and spare parts claims. The company chose an RFID solution from Siemens and is now benefiting from more efficient logistical processes, faster commissioning of terminal devices, improved protection against plagiarism, and loss avoidance. 13

14 The right partner for pioneering industrial identification tasks No matter whether RFID or optical code reading systems: Siemens understands the strategic importance of industrial identification and has consistently pushed back the frontiers in this area for over 25 years. We offer a comprehensive and scalable portfolio of hardware and software rounded off by process consulting, system integration, and project management. Of course, we also implement all-in-one identification solutions from a single source. With us as your partner, you can draw on our comprehensive technology and industry expertise. Profit from future-proof solutions already today With Totally Integrated Automation (TIA), our open system architecture for company-wide automation, and its core component, SIMATIC, the comprehensive and integrated automation system, we can provide you with the complete automation portfolio from a single source rounded off with technologyneutral application consulting. The consistent use of proven standards and the implementation of open, expandable architectures allow the easy system integration of all components in the automation and IT landscape. And you can already ensure future-proof identification solutions today for constantly optimized and economic processes. SIMATIC Ident: Industrial identification from a single source More than 25 years of experience Wide range of identification systems (RFID, 1D/2D code reading systems, OCR), interface modules, and software for many different applications Fully automatic and high-speed identification, with 100% transmission integrity Components with high degree of protection for industrial use, insensitive to temperature fluctuations and contamination Broad range of data memories from smart labels to 64 KB transponders Flexible communication with the automation system: serial, via PROFIBUS, PROFINET or Ethernet Powerful integration with higher-level IT systems (ERP, MES, SCM) Seamless integration with SIMATIC ensuring reduced engineering costs Support for global standards 14

15 Systematic and professional: A look at the SIMATIC Ident portfolio SIMATIC RF300: Compact RFID system in the HF range SIMATIC RF300 is recommended for production and material flow control. The scalable, maintenancefree and rugged RFID system is primarily used for non-contact identification in a closed production circuit. Thanks to the compact enclosure dimensions of the transponders and write/read devices, it can also be used at (small) assembly lines where space is at a premium. Depending on the demands on the performance capability of the identification system, different system versions are available. SIMATIC RF600: Powerful RFID system in the UHF range For applications in production-related logistics and distribution, the long-range SIMATIC RF600 RFID system is a clear choice. The expanded range of UHF write/read devices offers vast possibilities and stands out due to especially high read rates so errors are minimized and processes accelerated. In addition to seamless integration with the SIMATIC and SINUMERIK control and PROFIBUS, PROFINET, and Ethernet communication networks, the system ensures an integrated system landscape in accordance with ISO and EPC standards. SIMATIC MV420/MV440: Flexible code reading systems No matter whether simple codes, high-contrast codes, or data matrix codes: The SIMATIC MV420 and SIMATIC MV440 stationary 1D/2D code reading systems can reliably read printed, laser-inscribed, dot-peened, drilled, and punched codes on many different surfaces even under difficult ambient conditions. The compact devices are highly flexible, reliable, scalable, and are ideal for product tracking, production control, and verification, as well as optical character recognition (OCR). They offer a variety of lighting options and stand out due to high reading reliability and speed combined with various communications and connection options. The perfect identification solution by working together At Siemens, experts from a variety of technological disciplines work closely together to create solutions that optimize your competitiveness. No matter whether for manufacturing, logistics, or distribution: We offer first-class identification solutions for all industries, across all company levels. Together with you, we will determine the individual target expectations and specific business circumstances and requirements so that we may develop a customized, integrated solution in the next step. Technical expertise, extensive project experience and software competence, and the fact that our entire hardware and software range is open and consistent and meets all the requirements of international standards ensure the successful implementation of identification technology at your site. 15

16 Siemens AG Industry Sector Sensors and Communication P.O. Box NUREMBERG GERMANY Subject to change 04/10 Order No.: E20001-A210-P871-X-7600 Dispo WÜ/26824 GI.SC.FS.XXXX WS Printed in Germany Siemens AG 2010 The information provided in this brochure contains merely general descriptions or characteristics of performance which in case of actual use do not always apply as described or which may change as a result of further development of the products. An obligation to provide the respective characteristics shall only exist if expressly agreed in the terms of contract. All product names mentioned may be trademarks or product designations of Siemens AG or their suppliers, whose use by third parties for their own purpose may infringe the rights of the trademark owners.