UPM Raflatac’s RFID embedded electronic tags have improved and strengthened Hansgrohe’s kitchen and bathroom equipment assembly process
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German kitchen and bathroom equipment manufacturer Hansgrohe has used UPM Raflatac’s embedded electronic tags in its RFID-assisted assembly process. Hansgrohe uses RFID-enabled kanban (signal) cards to track the movement of containers between two production locations. Now, the company has benefited a lot from this project, including increased cargo receiving speed and knowing exactly that all the components needed for assembly are ready.
Hansgrohe uses containers to transport components such as shower parts and sink taps from the Schiltach plant to the production plant in Offenburg. When all containers carrying goods leave the factory, a bar code kanban card with embedded RFID embedded electronic tags will be affixed to the box. The data of each component in the container is recorded on the kanban card.
Subsequently, the container will be transported to Offenburg, where it will be assembled. After the assembly is complete, the personnel concerned take the kanban card out of the container and put the kanban card they collected into the RFID reader. The reader identifies the card by its unique ID number and collects data related to the components used into a back-end system.
A solution developed by noFilis collects the data and transmits it to Hansgrohe’s enterprise resource planning system. In this way, the real-time data of the used components and the assembled components can be easily collected into a database. As a result, Hansgrohe can receive accurate information and clearly know the parts that need to be shipped from the factory to the production site the next day.
The RFID solution also means that there is no longer a need to manually check the bar code number of each card. This saves time, and now each assembler can spend an extra hour a day to complete other tasks more efficiently.
Currently, Hansgrohe uses approximately 200-500 kanban cards with UPM Raflatac UHF EPC Gen2 Web embedded electronic tags every day. Mr. Mikko Nikkanen, Director of RFID Business Development of UPM Raflatac said, “Our Web embedded electronic tags can provide extremely high reading speeds and are durable in harsh environments. This has attracted everyone’s special attention.” So far, none of the RFID electronic tags Hansgrohe used on the kanban card has been damaged.
Hansgrohe’s case can fully illustrate that the company can successfully adopt RFID solutions without changing the way it operates. The above experience greatly encouraged Hansgrohe. The company said that they are considering the use of RFID technology to further improve the automation and transparency of the logistics process.
About Hansgrohe
Hansgrohe (www.hansgrohe.com) With a long history of 107 years, headquartered in Schiltach/Black Forest, Germany, it enjoys a high reputation in the sanitary ware industry and leads innovation in technology and design. Hansgrohe produces showers, accessories and shower systems. The products are full of originality and aim to improve the function, comfort and beauty of the bathroom. In 2007, the company sold products under its Axor, Hansgrohe, Pharo and Pontos brands and achieved sales of 661 million euros (2006 sales of 569 million euros), an annual growth rate of 16%. Due to its outstanding performance, the company has established many new jobs in Germany and abroad. Hansgrohe Group currently has more than 3,200 employees worldwide, two-thirds of which work in Germany. The company takes severe measures against counterfeit products and the theft of intellectual property rights, and currently produces products in six German factories as well as factories in France, the Netherlands, the United States and China.
About noFilis
noFilis was established in 2005 and its business locations are Munich, Germany and St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition to standard software packages, noFilis also provides professional services for RFID-related projects (hardware, software, implementation, concept, process management, project management, etc.). In order to meet these complex needs, noFilis has formed a partnership with Intel Solution Services. Together, we provide professional technology and knowledge for various problems related to RFID equipment, from sensors to network management, from reader firmware to RFID middleware, all of our services. We guide you through the entire life cycle-from concept to analysis, to testing, to trial, to actual use.
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