In today’s highly competitive and fast-paced global manufacturing arena, supply chains are becoming longer and more complex while consumers are demanding increased accuracy and speed.

However companies that use inefficient systems to identify, track and trace their products within the manufacturing and retail environments can hold up production and lead to costly downtime, overtime and wastage, not to mention running into non-compliance issues.

Effective and efficient identification systems collect the data needed to track inventory, expose operational bottle necks, misplacement and temperature control.  Without it, product quality can be compromised and a product recall can wreak havoc.

With businesses needing the ability to track hundreds of thousands of products, they simply can’t afford to think twice about implementing innovative technologies for accurate product identification that will enable them to efficiently and effectively manage and protect their inventory until it reaches the end user.

The ifm system integration difference

Radio Frequency Identification systems (RFID) combined with effective code readers do exactly that; deliver efficient and accurate product identification in order to ensure financial and operational benefits to businesses.

Yet businesses commonly run into operational restructuring difficulties when integrating new technologies with their existing systems.

To combat this, ifm offers vision based code readers along with a complete range of RFID technology for product identification, including all hardware and software (MES) needed for system integration. Their software solutions are fully modular and customisable to suit individual business applications.

Ifm code readers can communicate to a PLC using Ethernet/IP or TCP/IP, one of the most cost effective units in the market. This enables quick and easy integration into higher level automation or process control. They are also able to read multiple types of codes with the same code reader at the same time.

Ifm also provide all 3 RFID technologies – low frequency, high frequency and ultra-high frequency (UHF) – each of which is applicable to various field reading ranges. This means customers can be assisted not only with low range identification applications but with applications where a code can be read at up to distances of 10 metres. Equipped with robust housing and an industrially compatible protection rating of IP65/IP67 and a wide temperature range, these readers are designed to sustain harsh industrial environments.

After a free consultation from ifm to assist customers with initial design options and integration solutions, the successful integration of these systems can deliver major benefits in accurate product identification, tracking and traceability for businesses in the manufacturing and retail industries.