Low cost and high return: RFID technology in small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in the practice of landing
In the wave of digital transformation of manufacturing industry, small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises are often faced with the dilemma of “high technology threshold, large investment costs”.RFID technology, by virtue of its flexible deployment, cost-controllable, short payback cycle characteristics, is becoming a small and medium-sized enterprises of the “digital leverage! RFID technology is becoming the “digital leverage” for SMEs by virtue of its flexible deployment, cost control and short return cycle.
First, the small and medium-sized RFID technology suitability analysis
- Core advantages
Low-cost hardware: basic UHF RFID tags have been reduced to 0.3-0.8 U.S. dollars (bulk purchases), and can be reused;
Rapid deployment: no need to transform the existing equipment, through the “tag + handheld terminal” can realize the key node control;
High return scenario: focus on inventory management, process tracking, quality traceability and other pain points, 6-12 months to recover the investment.
- Typical ROI data
An auto parts factory invested 50,000 yuan to deploy RFID systems, saving 280,000 yuan in annual losses of errors and omissions;
A food processing plant through RFID batch tracking, recall cost reduction of 65%.
Second, phased landing path and cost control strategy
Stage 1: Pilot validation (3-6 months)
Focus on core pain points: select high-value, high-frequency scenarios (e.g., key process workpiece tracking);
Minimize hardware investment: adopt “mobile reader + detachable tag” to avoid fixed infrastructure costs;
Case: an injection molding company in Zhejiang only 200 tags + 1 handheld terminal to achieve accurate statistics on the number of times the mold is used, mold life extension of 30%.
Stage 2: Digitalization of key links (6-12 months)
Extension to the whole production flow : Embedding RFID tags in products, tools and equipments, and opening up the MES system;
Cost optimization: the use of localized tags (such as a manufacturer in Shenzhen, metal-resistant tags, cost reduction of 40%);
Case: Dongguan, an electronics factory through RFID real-time monitoring of PCB board flow, production cycle time shortened by 18%.
Stage 3: full chain synergy (1-2 years)
Supply Chain Extension : Require suppliers to pre-post RFID tags on raw material packaging;
Data on the cloud : the use of SAAS-based RFID management platform (such as AliCloud Link) to reduce IT investment.
Third, low-cost practice of innovative models
- Shared labels and recycled packaging
With upstream and downstream enterprises to build a pool of pallet / crate labels, single-use cost reduction of 70%;
Case : a machinery factory in Jiangsu to share RFID trays with suppliers, annual savings of 120,000 yuan in label purchasing fees.
- Open source software + customized development
Based on open source RFID middleware (e.g. Fosstrak) to develop lightweight systems, saving 80% of software license fees;
Case: a hardware factory in Foshan independently developed RFID work order tracking system, the development cost is controlled within 30,000 yuan.
- Edge computing lightweight deployment
Deploying edge computing module on industrial control machine to avoid the cost of data transmission in the cloud;
Case : A chemical plant in Shandong reduces network traffic costs by 90% through localized data processing.