Utilizing an RFID tag in manufacturing

摘要

Data associated with supply chain events for a manufactured assembly is automatically stored. In preferred embodiments the supply chain events for the manufactured assembly are stored on an RFID tag attached to the assembly as it travels through the supply chain to insure the data concerning the assembly is readily available and not separated from the assembly. In other embodiments, the supply chain events or characteristic data is stored on the RFID tag in a hierarchical structure beginning with the original state of the assembly and with additional entries for each step in the assembly process. In other embodiments, as the product undergoes rework, conversion to a different assembly, or personalizations, the new state of the assembly is stored in the RFID tag. In other preferred embodiments, other information is also stored on the RFID tag such as country of origin, failure data, cycle times and a quality status indicator.

主权项

1. A method for utilizing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag in manufacturing comprising the steps of:
a first vendor storing data for an initial manufacturing event in an as built history on the RFID tag associated with a manufactured assembly; a second vendor storing additional data for a second manufacturing event into the as built history on the RFID tag, wherein the step of storing the additional data for the second manufacturing event comprises a micro-controller on the RFID tag processing commands from an RFID reader to append the data of the second manufacturing event to the data for the initial manufacturing event in the as built history that creates a history of the manufactured assembly; wherein the step of storing the data for the initial and second manufacturing events comprises storing a different part number and serial number for each sub-assembly installed into the manufactured assembly, and storing a vendor ID for each sub-assembly to reflect a changing nature of the assembly as sub-assemblies are added to the assembly; and wherein the commands include initialize the data storage, add data to head of the list, read head node, read a node at a list location, and clear the list.