The Challenge

This Tier 1 auto components supplier manufactures precision-engineered parts for three major OEMs in India. Operating 3 shifts across 4 production lines, the plant produces 12,000 components daily with extremely tight quality and traceability requirements from their OEM customers.

The core challenge was Work-In-Progress (WIP) visibility. With components moving through 8–12 machining stages, there was no reliable way to know the real-time location of work orders on the shop floor. Components would frequently get misplaced between stages, mixing up batches from different work orders — causing rework, scrap, and OEM shipment delays.

• 3.2% WIP loss rate — components misplaced, mixed with wrong batches, or scrapped due to traceability gaps
• No real-time visibility into which work order was at which machining stage
• OEM customer audit trail requirements not being met (IATF 16949 compliance risk)
• Cycle time analysis impossible — no timestamp data for individual components at each stage
• Tool management manual — calibrated tools being used beyond their service life undetected

The Solution

Identium deployed an on-metal UHF RFID system using industrial-grade hard tags that could withstand the harsh machining environment — coolant spray, metal chips, and high temperatures at certain stations.

Technical Considerations

Manufacturing environments present unique RFID challenges that require specific product selection:

• Metal interference: Standard RFID tags detune on metal pallets. Solution: on-metal tags with ferrite layer that maintains read performance when mounted directly on steel.
• Coolant & cutting fluid: IP67-rated tags selected to withstand continuous coolant exposure. Tags tested at 85°C coolant temperature.
• RF interference from CNC machines: Site survey identified interference zones. Fixed readers positioned to avoid null zones; directional antennas used at two stations.
• Read speed at line speed: Pallets move at 1.2 m/s on conveyors. Reader dwell time verified at >99.8% read rate during testing.

Results After 12 Months

"The RFID system gave us something we never had before — real-time visibility into exactly where every work order is on the shop floor. Our OEM customer auditors were impressed by the traceability data. We've since expanded the system to our second plant."

— Plant Manager, Tier 1 Auto Components Supplier, Chakan

Products Used in This Deployment