Vehicle Tracking at Audi with UHF RFID
Audi has opted for a uniform concept for vehicle tracking in finishing and shipping processes at all production sites.
The vehicles produced are registered via RFID in the factory parking lots and in the production areas of the assembly.
Audi operates two factories of its own in Germany and one each in Hungary, Belgium and Mexico. Furthermore, Audi vehicles are manufactured at other global locations of Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat as well as in cooperation with FAW in China.
Process Requirements
Scattered parking spaces and a changing infrastructure at Audi production sites lead to high costs in the search for vehicles. The vehicles are not assigned to the production lines. Manual systems require paperwork from the drivers and barcode scanning at certain locations.
This approach is labor-intensive and provides limited visibility into the management of the finishing and shipping processes.
Objective
- Creation of continuous transparency in the finishing and shipping processes
- Optimal use of parking spaces
- Reduction of time and costs in existing control processes
Solution
For identification purposes, each vehicle receives an RFID tag on the inside of the front bumper after assembly. The RFID tag is described on the production line with the vehicle identification number (VIN) and another ID number that is used at the assembly stations.
When passing an RFID reader, the ID number of the transponder of the corresponding vehicle is recorded. The ID is transmitted to the back-end system together with direction recognition data. The CrossTalk software installed on each reader interprets the reading events, filters unnecessary data or incorrect readings and forwards the relevant information to the IT systems. In parallel, the CrossTalk software manages and monitors the status of the RFID hardware at the installed reading points.
RFID detection takes place in the factory parking lots and in the production areas of the assembly. When parking a vehicle, the driver can also optionally use a handheld reader to manually register the vehicle's transponder and parking space, or to correct data. At some production sites it is possible to record the GPS coordinates and thus report the exact position of the vehicle to the IT systems.
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Hardware & Software
Advantages
- The transparency of vehicle management processes is increased.
- Reduced time expenditure for locating a sought-after vehicle realized.
- Available resources and parking spaces are used optimally.
- The complete elimination of manual scanning processes reduces throughput times.
- Work processes in finishing and shipping are efficiently designed.
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