Stillage tagging idea could save firms millions
1 min read
A scheme to electronically tag metal cages (stillages) used to transport components could save firms millions of pounds in lost equipment and lost production by ending widespread stillage ‘disappearance’.
A typical car manufacturing process can have 300 stillages in a loop for each component. And with 350 components, on average per group of cars, this means that there can be over a 100,000 stillages in circulation servicing the production of just one group of cars in one factory.
Over seven years, a car manufacturer can expect to lose around 20 per cent of its stillages to ‘disappear’ equating to thousands of cages. Unavailability of stillages can also cause component/line supply/production disruption.
Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group are working with Ford's Premier Automotive Group to use RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identity Tags) to put an end to this problem.
By electronically tracking each stillage substantial savings can be made, while conflicts between supplier and manufacturer regarding stillage location will be eliminated.
This work forms one part of a £70 million research partnership funded by Regional Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands.
Should the current pilot project prove successful, the researchers aim to explore the possibility of developing intelligent pallets in which RFID tags also carry contents information.
Pictured is WMG's Phil Foster
