RFID in the chemical industry
Explicit tracking of production instruments with the PANMOBIL scanner at EVONIK industries (Degussa AG).
The requirements
With the complex production of qualitative high quality raw material for different application in the field of skin and hair care as well as washing cleaning material and special cleansing material liquid raw materials are pressed by complex filtering operations to powder at EVONIK. For filtering there are approximately 10000 filter with a diameter of 2x2m operational. The endurance of the very expensive filter depend on the manufacturer, press pressure, location as well as the maintenance. Constant damages and wear demand the exchange of the filter panels out of the assemblage of the press panels which are joined together to huge compressions. The exchange delays the production time and causes significant expenses. In collaboration with PANMOBIL there has been a development of expense and cost saving solution which also has been realized. For the security of the investment the life duration of all of the 10000 filter panels will be followed. As a basis of a meaningful statistics all filter need to be registered explicitly. In the chemical field with a high humidity and under the influence of different materials the application of labels is not possible. The labeling cannot be glued and has to be rough and also resistant and competitive with the filter.
The Solution
Under consideration of the difficult production environment all 10000 filter are equipped with glass transponder. The assembling is competitive and simple: in every filter panel a hole has been drilled, there a glass tube with the transponder immersed and closed with silicone. With the help of the mobile RFID scanner of PANMOBIL out of the product series SCANNDY the staff member of EVONIK capture the data of the transponder of each filter panel on a tour always at the beginning and ending of a press alley. So a clear assignment and tracing of the filter panel is possible. The scanner of PANMOBIL with their industrial suitability are specially made for the rough requirements in the production environment in the chemical industry. Whenever the capturing is finished the data transfer via charging transfer unit or wireless to the management computer.
The benefits
For the company EVONIK the application of RFID technology generates for the production of the raw material in the short amount of time a calculable financial success. Through the recording and exact assignment of the filter panel production delays are strongly reduced and processes optimized. An analyzing tool also from PANMOBIL delivers exactly the information of the quality of the filter panels as well as of the reliability and warranty claims of the suppliers, whereas a qualitative high quality statement can be reached of the made investments. Simply at a push of a button the tracing and the statistically evaluation of life duration of the filter panels and the mode of operation of the presses are possible. The scanner of PANMOBIL manage the amount of filter units per press station to exclude incorrect entries during the capturing . For different routines the scanner is preconfigured for filter stocks, inventory and random sample surveys up to filter reacquisition. The expenses for the complete application repaid in 4 month already. EVONIK achieved logistic and financial advantages through the RFID implementation and recorded interdepartmental successes.
