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Airbus recently revealed that the company requires its suppliers to use passive RFID transponders to mark all traceable items. Traceable items refer to items that are serialized, repairable, replaceable, and have a limited lifespan.Suppliers can choose to use RFID integrated nameplates to replace previous non-RFID nameplates, or they can choose to add a separateRFIDLabel. At the same time, Airbus will also strengthen its RFID training across the supply chain of the United States, Asia and Europe to support the company’s RFID strategy.
The company’s RFID project to improve traceability is divided into several phases. At the RFID Journal LIVE! conference and exhibition held last year, Carlo Nizam, the leader of the Airbus Group’s RFID project and value chain visualization, said that the company began to mark self-produced traceable items. At the end of 2014, the aircraft manufacturer further expanded its deployment and began marking traceable items from external suppliers. The company plans to complete these two tasks by the end of 2015 and 2016.
Nizam said: “Our deployment has entered a new stage. Over the years, we have been using new technologies within the Airbus Group, hoping to digitize the industrial production process. For the entire industry (including: supply chain partners, airline customers and Service provider) value creation has always been our vision. RFID marking of traceable items in the entire supply chain can bring value enhancement to the upstream and downstream of the industry.”
In 2012, Airbus traced 1.2 million items on its aircraft. In 2018, the company expects to trace more than 2.6 million items. The manual traceability task with pen and paper is too onerous, which also gave birth to the company’s demand for RFID technology.
Nizam is very aware of some of the problems faced by the retail industry that adopted RFID technology in the early days. Therefore, his goal is to provide flexibility and support for the company’s supply chain. Suppliers can choose to use RFID integrated nameplates (including RFID transponders) to replace the original non-RFID nameplates or use a separate RFID nameplate in addition to the existing nameplates. At the same time, Airbus will also improve the RFID experience of the supply chain engineering team to better support the use of RFID in the supply chain. In addition, the company will also share its RFID adoption experience and lessons to help supply chain partners make better use of this technology.
Nizam said: “We have seen the establishment and progress of RFID technology in the supply chain. In order to support the popularization of RFID technology throughout the supply chain, we will strengthen the training of RFID technology for supply chain teams, especially in North America.”
Aircraft component manufacturers Rockwell Collins and EAM have already used RFID technology internally. Nizam said that the company and a component manufacturer recently marked 600 key components of the A350 airliner.
It takes time for suppliers to mark parts and Airbus to receive these marked goods, and it takes some time for customers to receive the marked parts. Currently, Airbus has begun to install RFID tags on seats and life jackets. Some savvy companies realize that RFID technology can be used not only to trace parts, but also for logistics, tool management, aircraft configuration, and other activities. Airbus will also provide guidance and consulting services to help these companies better use RFID technology.
Nizam explained: “In the beginning, we wanted to develop a comprehensive plan to benefit everyone in the value chain. Hello everyone is really good. Therefore, we try to help the entire industry get rid of the traditional pen and paper records. Create a more streamlined, automated, and digital supply chain. RFID technology can help establish connections between components and promote the implementation of the Internet of Things.”
(Exclusive manuscript of rfid world network, please indicate the source author for reprinting!)
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