Barcodes vs RFID for Work-in-Process Tracking

This white paper by Dr. Peter Green looks at whether the use of barcode or RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) scanning is best for tracking work-in-process in manufacturing plants. He concludes that use of a combination of barcode and RFID scanning is best in most cases.

Approximately 80% of all mid-sized manufacturing plants in the USA are still using paper forms and Excel spreadsheets to track the progress of customer orders through work centers on the factory floor. They then need expediters and managers to track and schedule the customer orders to try to ensure that customer orders get made on time.

Many are reluctant to adopt barcode scanning to track the orders because of the complexity of implementing a barcode tracking system and the need to train and supervise their people in how to use these barcode tracking systems.

As one plant manager said to Dr. Green "I want to see where all my customer orders are at a glance but I don't want to have my production workers do any barcode scanning or other data entry."

This white paper examines the alternative of using RFID to automatically track work-in-process without the need for people to manually do barcode scanning.

To learn more about this topic, please download and read the whitepaper "Barcodes vs RFID for Work-in-Process Tracking" by Dr. Peter Green.