Application case analysis of Siemens RFID in automobile manufacturing industry
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one.Preface
After decades of development, China’s automobile industry has entered a stage of rapid development. Through the introduction of technology and independent research and development, large and small joint venture factories and private factories have continuously improved the level of technology and craftsmanship. At the same time, due to fierce competition, automakers and component suppliers are facing increasing pressure. On the one hand, it is necessary to continuously reduce costs, and on the other hand, it is necessary to ensure that its products meet the particularly stringent quality standards of the industry. In recent years, automobile manufacturers have spent a lot of their expenses on production logistics management systems, with the goal of achieving transparent and flexible production logistics and improving production efficiency. The role of RFID technology in material and product tracking has a great impact on automobile production logistics. By deploying the RFID system, the information visualization management of the production logistics process can be realized.
two.The necessity of applying RFID in the automotive industry
Due to the high degree of automation in the automotive industry, RFID technology is commonly used for process control and production information control in the production process to realize the synchronization of logistics and information flow. And because of the harsh industrial environment such as welding workshops and painting workshops, bar codes cannot meet the requirements of high temperature, high humidity and other environmental levels. Therefore, RFID has become the most suitable solution. In summary, the application of RFID in the automotive industry is necessary as follows:
1.Requirements of quality regulations in the automotive industry
Product expectations are getting higher and higher, the requirements for product quality around the world are becoming more and more stringent, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. These require efficient quality management systems (QM systems) in all areas of the automotive industry. Detailed regulations for obtaining and storing quality data are increasingly reflected in the requirements of the automotive industry’s quality specifications. Must comply with ISO 9000 certification standards, comply with relevant legal systems, and comply with the interests of automobile manufacturers.
2.Flexible production
In order to improve production efficiency, automakers are increasingly adopting flexible production lines. That is, multiple models are produced on one line, and one model is painted with several colors. In this case, the production information needs to be written into the RFID tag according to the production plan. In the corresponding process, the relevant production information is read out, and the production operation is carried out according to the pre-set arrangement. To produce multiple models on one production line, how to identify, color control, and distribute materials for different models? These processes are all controlled by RFID, through the read/write operation of the tags installed on the skid , All information is uploaded to the workshop production process monitoring system PMC through PLC for further processing and calculation, so as to realize the tracking and production process control of the entire workshop workpiece logistics.
3.Material pulling through MES manufacturing execution system
Before entering the paint shop from the welding shop, the body in white will be stored in the buffer zone of the WBS welding shop. There will be several lines in WBS, which store different car models. The management system needs to know the position and production status of various car bodies at any time, automatically arrange production according to the production plan, and notify the material pulling system to replenish the corresponding materials, so that the production can be carried out automatically, efficiently, and in an orderly manner. By installing RFID tags on the spreader or skid, installing RFID readers at the fork of the workpiece logistics, the entrance of the paint shop, etc., read the body information stored on the RFID tag, and then send this information The MES system realizes the management of materials.
Similarly, the painted car body will be stored in the buffer zone of the PBS paint shop before it comes out of the paint shop and enters the final assembly shop. RFID is also used to control the production process and manage the production information and status.
4.Requirements of harsh production environment in paint shop
The production environment of the paint shop is quite harsh, not only the splashing of metallic paint, but also the baking process with a high temperature close to +200 degrees. It is impossible to use bar codes in this environment, and RFID must be used to control the steps of the entire production process and trace production information. In order to meet the needs of flexible manufacturing, the car body recognition technology with RFID as the core is adopted to realize the following functions:
1) Realize the precise positioning of all car bodies in the paint shop.
Since the coating process includes pre-treatment, electrophoresis, painting, etc., the use of non-contact RFID radio frequency identification technology can fully meet the requirements of the harsh working environment.
For each car body that enters the paint shop, the system can track its current flow position and display detailed information about the car’s model, color, body, model, etc. When the data information is abnormal, it can be fed back immediately.
2) Allocation of painted bodywork. Allocating and managing vehicles in various temporary storage areas.
3) Monitoring of coating quality. Record the important process parameters and quality inspection parameters of each vehicle, and control the vehicles according to the paint batch.
4) PBS management. For vehicles that pass the quality inspection, control the temporary storage location for entering the color car body. Usually PBS uses horizontal and vertical moving machines. For vehicles entering PBS, it must be able to easily deploy the sequence. At the same time, according to the sequence of the final assembly, Enter a different location.
5.Engine assembly line
The engine assembly line uses the cylinder block as the basic carrier to assemble engine parts into an engine assembly, including the main assembly, preparation area, and inspection links. The focus of control is assembly accuracy, torque, test results and defects in the assembly process. Key components such as chains, generators, and starters are tracked in batches.
RFID is used to record important parameters of the assembly equipment, manage and control qualified and unqualified products in the assembly process, and realize the full-process tracking of production information.
three. SIEMENS is used in the characteristics of RFID products in the automotive industry
1. SIEMENS provides industrial-grade encapsulated RFID tags, which are strong and durable and can withstand the requirements of very harsh industrial environments. However, if ordinary barcode labels are used in industrial production environments, if they are contaminated and damaged, they are likely to cause information reading errors.
2. RFID tags are readable and writable, and the information can be rewritten repeatedly. Once the barcode label is printed, it can only be read but not written. In the real-time management and control of production information, the application of RFID labels is more flexible and can fully meet the requirements of automated flexible production lines.
3. The storage capacity of the RFID tag is large and can be selected according to the needs of the process flow. Therefore, the RFID tag is equivalent to a small mobile database that can store a large amount of production quality information.
4. According to the working principle of RFID, since the production information can be stored in the RFID tag, once the IT system fails, it will not affect the work of the RFID system, that is, it will not have an excessive impact on the production process. If a barcode is used, only the ID number of the container or pallet can be stored in the barcode. The information of the raw material and workpiece in the container or pallet is stored in the database system, and the ID number is associated with the information in the database. Once IT system failure occurs, it will affect the management of production information in the production process.
5. The SIEMENS RFID system can be easily integrated into the SIEMENS PLC, that is, the communication between the field level information and the control level is extremely convenient. Moreover, the operation of the control layer by the upper computer management system software is very easy. Therefore, the SIEMENS-based RFID and PLC and the upper-level MES management system constitute a complete set of fully integrated automation solutions without the need for the development of additional management systems.
Four. The current situation of SIEMENS RFID used in the automotive industry
SIEMENS’s RFID products have been widely used in the automobile manufacturing industry with their excellent performance and stability.
Foreign and domestic automobile manufacturers, large and small, widely use SIEMENS RFID products in the four process stages of automobile manufacturing, including stamping, welding, painting, final assembly, and engine assembly. Many auto parts suppliers and OEM equipment manufacturers also generally use SIEMENS RFID for manufacturing, which significantly improves production efficiency. For example, the AVI system with Moby I as the core is used in the coating of SGM’s three sites and four factories, the vehicle body distribution center, and part of the final assembly. Moby I is used in the coating workshop of Chery’s second factory.
The application of RF300 in the engine pump assembly line of Shanghai Hanpeng Technology Company, the application of Moby I in the assembly line of SAIC Roewe engines, etc.
The following introduces some typical SIEMENS RFID application cases in the automotive industry for reference.
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