Radio frequency identification system for tracking and managing materials in a manufacturing process
A process management system uses a radio frequency identification (RFID) detection system in the form of, for example, a phased array antenna based RFID detection system to track and manage material storage and flow in a manufacturing process or plant. The process management system operates in conjunction with the various machines that implement manufacturing stages or steps of the manufacturing process to assure that the correct materials and processing procedures are used at or on the various production machines of the process to produce a particular product as defined by a job number or job order. The process management system is thereby able to increase the efficiencies of the plant and to increase the quality of the plant production by reducing or eliminating waste, manufacturing errors and shipping errors in the production facility.
1. An inventory tracking system, comprising:
one or more radio frequency antennas disposed within an inventory tracking region and configured to use a beam to scan a portion of the inventory tracking region to detect a current physical location of one or more radio frequency tags within a scanned portion of the inventory tracking region; and
a command system configured to:
control an operation of the one or more radio frequency antennas and to calculate the current physical location of the one or more radio frequency tags as a position within a region less than the coverage area of the one or more radio frequency antennas, the position defined by two respective coordinate units in a multi-dimensional coordinate system, the two respective coordinate units being calculated based upon radio frequency signals emitted by the one or more radio frequency tags and received via the one of the one or more radio frequency antennas;
generate indications of and the current physical locations of the one or more detected radio frequency tags within the scanned portion of the inventory tracking region;
store inventory item information for one or more inventory items, the inventory item information including (i) an inventory item radio frequency tag identifier, (ii) inventory item identification information defining the identity of the inventory item, and (iii) an indication of the current physical location of the inventory item within the inventory tracking region;
provide at least a subset of the stored inventory item information for the one or more inventory items to a user for determining the current physical location of the one or more inventory items within the inventory tracking region; and
update the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more inventory items based on the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more detected radio frequency tags associated with the at least one inventory item.
2. The inventory tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the subset of inventory item information includes the indication of the current physical location of the one or more of the inventory items within the inventory tracking region.
3. The inventory tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the inventory item identification information includes a type of material associated with the inventory item, a source of the inventory item, or an amount of material associated with the inventory item.
4. The inventory tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the command system is further configured to determine if the one of the plurality of inventory items is at a desired location, the desired location being associated with a location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items within a manufacturing process that is executed during a manufacturing job.
5. The inventory tracking system of claim 1 , wherein the command system is further configured to compare the current physical location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items to a desired location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items as defined by a job identifier that is associated with a manufacturing job that uses the at least one of the one or more inventory items.
6. The inventory tracking system of claim 5 , wherein the command system is further configured to cause a warning signal to be produced when the current location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items that is associated with the job identifier is not at the desired location for the inventory item as defined by the job identifier when running the job.
7. The inventory tracking system of claim 5 , wherein the command system is further configured to detect movement of the at least one of the inventory items and to compare the movement of the inventory item with a desired movement of the inventory item as specified by the job identifier.
8. A computer-implemented method of tracking inventory, comprising:
scanning, via one or more radio frequency antennas disposed within an inventory tracking region, a portion of the inventory tracking region to detect a current physical location of one or more radio frequency tags within a scanned portion of the inventory tracking region;
controlling, via one or more processors, an operation of the one or more radio frequency antennas;
calculating, via one or more processors, the current physical location of the one or more radio frequency tags as a position within a region less than the coverage area of the one or more radio frequency antennas, the position defined by two respective coordinate units in a multi-dimensional coordinate system, the two respective coordinate units being calculated based upon radio frequency signals emitted by the one or more radio frequency tags and received via the one of the one or more radio frequency antennas;
generating, via one or more processors, indications of and the current physical locations of the one or more detected radio frequency tags within the scanned portion of the inventory tracking region;
storing, via one or more processors, inventory item information for one or more inventory items, the inventory item information including (i) an inventory item radio frequency tag identifier, (ii) inventory item identification information defining the identity of the inventory item, and (iii) an indication of the current physical location of the inventory item within the inventory tracking region;
providing, via one or more processors, at least a subset of the stored inventory item information for the one or more inventory items to a user for determining the current physical location of the one or more inventory items within the inventory tracking region; and
updating, via one or more processors, the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more inventory items based on the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more detected radio frequency tags associated with the at least one inventory item.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the subset of inventory item information includes the indication of the current physical location of the one or more of the inventory items within the inventory tracking region.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the inventory item identification information includes a type of material associated with the inventory item, a source of the inventory item, or an amount of material associated with the inventory item.
11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining, vie one or more processors, if the one of the plurality of inventory items is at a desired location, the desired location being associated with a location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items within a manufacturing process that is executed during a manufacturing job.
12. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
comparing, via one or more processors, the current physical location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items to a desired location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items as defined by a job identifier that is associated with a manufacturing job that uses the at least one of the one or more inventory items.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
producing, via one or more processors, a warning signal when the current location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items that is associated with the job identifier is not at the desired location for the inventory item as defined by the job identifier when running the job.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
detecting, via one or more processors, movement of the at least one of the inventory items; and
comparing, via one or more processors, the movement of the inventory item with a desired movement of the inventory item as specified by the job identifier.
15. A command system for inventory tracking, comprising:
a radio frequency identification (RFID) module configured to:
control an operation of one or more radio frequency antennas that are disposed within an inventory tracking region, the one or more radio frequency antennas being configured to use a beam to scan a portion of the inventory tracking region to detect a current physical location of one or more radio frequency tags within a scanned portion of the inventory tracking region;
calculate the current physical location of the one or more radio frequency tags as a position within a region less than the coverage area of the one or more radio frequency antennas, the position defined by two respective coordinate units in a multi-dimensional coordinate system, the two respective coordinate units being calculated based upon radio frequency signals emitted by the one or more radio frequency tags and received via the one of the one or more radio frequency antennas; and
generate indications of and the current physical locations of the one or more detected radio frequency tags within the scanned portion of the inventory tracking region;
a database configured to store inventory item information for one or more inventory items, the inventory item information including (i) an inventory item radio frequency tag identifier, (ii) inventory item identification information defining the identity of the inventory item, and (iii) an indication of the current physical location of the inventory item within the inventory tracking region; and
an access system configured to:
communicate with one or more computing devices to facilitate the presentation of at least a subset of the stored inventory item information for the one or more inventory items to a user for determining the current physical location of the one or more inventory items within the inventory tracking region; and
update the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more inventory items based on the indication of the current physical location of at least one of the one or more detected radio frequency tags associated with the at least one inventory item.
16. The command system of claim 15 , wherein the subset of inventory item information includes the indication of the current physical location of the one or more of the inventory items within the inventory tracking region.
17. The command system of claim 15 , wherein the inventory item identification information includes a type of material associated with the inventory item, a source of the inventory item, or an amount of material associated with the inventory item.
18. The command system of claim 15 , wherein the access system is further configured as part of a tracking system, the tracking system being configured to determine if the one of the plurality of inventory items is at a desired location, the desired location being associated with a location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items within a manufacturing process that is executed during a manufacturing job.
19. The command system of claim 15 , wherein the access system is further configured as part of a tracking system, the tracking system being configured to cause a warning signal to be produced when the current location of the at least one of the one or more inventory items that is associated with a job identifier that is associated with a manufacturing job that uses the at least one of the one or more inventory items is not at the desired location for the inventory item as defined by the job identifier when running the job.
20. The command system of claim 15 , wherein the access system is further configured as part of a tracking system, the tracking system being configured to detect movement of the at least one of the inventory items and to compare the movement of the inventory item with a desired movement of the inventory item as specified by a job identifier that is associated with a manufacturing job that uses the at least one of the one or more inventory items.