Application of Siemens RFID technology in Müller supermarket chain warehouse
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Now in Europe, Müller Holding Co., Ltd. owns more than 700 supermarket chains. In order to avoid any errors in the transportation of medicines, the company adopted RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology from Siemens.
There is a saying in Germany, “I’m going to Müller”, which usually refers to not going to Müller’s house, but Müller supermarket. The company is a subsidiary of Müller Holdings. In the early Christmas period, as many as 25,000 trolleys were loaded with a large number of containers and loaded in these warehouses every day. Even if it is not during the peak period, due to the continuous growth of the company’s business, the loading and unloading volume continues to increase. But the problem that followed was: as the volume of goods increased, more and more errors occurred in the transportation process. For logistics project manager Uwe Lindner, with the continuous enhancement of loading and unloading capabilities, it has become necessary to establish a more efficient and transparent process in the company’s internal logistics system to minimize errors in the transportation process. This is a difficult and “ambitious” project, the core of which is to enable and implement Siemens’ customized radio frequency identification solutions. Mercatis Information Systems Co., Ltd., headquartered in Ulm, is responsible for connecting the solution with the existing “Lisa” warehouse management system.
Müller’s central warehouse uses RFID technology from Siemens
The biggest challenge of this project is that the frequently used loading door is the interface between the warehouse and the transportation system. In the initial stage of the project, for 50 loading points/loading doors, the Simatic RF600-based RFID radio frequency door solution was developed, implemented and optimized, mainly for the loading process and shipping operations (as shown in the figure). The technicians installed a Simatic RF650R reader at each loading door and equipped with two pairs of RF640A antennas to detect the passing trolley and control the direction. The loading process will be displayed on an IPC 477D so that the current transportation status can be checked on site at any time. The Simatic RF650R reader/writer establishes a connection with an industrial PC through local TCP/IP and XML messages, and the industrial PC is connected to the warehouse management system through an industrial Ethernet. By installing the RF630L made of durable plasticelectronic label, About 190,000 trolleys can be accurately identified. Damaged tags can be easily replaced at any time and registered in the warehouse management system. Reading quality will be continuously monitored. Design and debugging software plays an important role in rapid implementation and optimization, because through these software, an RFID radio frequency door system can be optimized and the configuration data can be directly transmitted to other RFID doors.
Next, the transmission equipment of the central warehouse and the newly built warehouse in the north of Ulm was also equipped with Siemens RFID technology. The Simatic RF680R reader installed on the conveyor line is equipped with two RF620A antennas, which can identify passing cars. Its outstanding advantage is that the RF680R reader has a special algorithm and high anti-interference, so it is especially suitable for metal environments. The performance of the RF620A antenna is also improved, ensuring fast and easy operation in the factory.
“The reading accuracy rate of the Siemens RFID system exceeds 99%. Compared with the previous visual control by workers, it greatly reduces or even eliminates delivery errors.” Lindner said. All commodity logistics in the warehouse management system are automatically recorded and documented, which makes it easier to further optimize tracking and identification. The advantages of the Siemens RFID system shocked the project team members and decided to apply the RFID system to more fields in the future.
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