As the wave of digitalization and intelligence sweeps across all walks of life, the tobacco industry is also actively embracing change and promoting the industry's automation transformation by introducing advanced technologies. On May 27, Guangxi China Tobacco Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guangxi China Tobacco") issued a tender announcement, intending to conduct a domestic open tender for the RFID mobile car procurement project for information hardware network procurement from 2023 to 2026. It plans to purchase five RFID mobile cars to record the data associated with cigarettes and pallets when stacking in the same-city pallet intermodal system for cigarettes, and requires the equipment to be able to transmit the above associated data to the tenderer's industry control system. The tender documents will be available from May 27, 2024 to June 3, 2024, and the deadline for submission of tender documents is 9:00 on June 17, 2024.
Why does Guangxi China Tobacco want to bid for RFID mobile carts?
RFID mobile carts can be seen as a fusion of RFID technology and AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle). In tobacco production management, the advantages of RFID mobile carts are mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Realize automation and intelligence:
RFID mobile carts can automatically identify and read information on RFID tags without human intervention, thus realizing automated material handling, tracking and positioning functions. Through integration with intelligent systems, RFID mobile carts can perform intelligent path planning according to preset instructions or algorithms, and autonomously navigate to designated locations, improving work efficiency and accuracy.
Ensure data accuracy and real-time performance:
RFID technology has high-speed, large-capacity data reading capabilities. RFID mobile carts can obtain and update the location and status information of items in real time, ensuring data accuracy and real-time performance. Compared with traditional barcodes or QR codes, RFID technology has stronger anti-interference capabilities and longer reading distances, allowing RFID mobile carts to accurately identify tag information in complex environments.
Reduce labor costs:
The automation and intelligent features of RFID mobile carts can replace traditional manual handling and recording work, reduce labor costs and improve work efficiency. In some scenarios with high labor intensity and harsh environment, RFID mobile carts can reduce the burden on staff and improve work safety.
Improve management efficiency:
RFID mobile carts can help companies achieve real-time tracking and monitoring of materials, assets, etc., and improve management efficiency. Through data analysis, companies can understand the flow of items, inventory status and other information to provide support for decision-making.
Not only in Guangxi, the degree of automation of tobacco production in many places is getting higher and higher.
Not only in Guangxi, but also in many places, tobacco departments have integrated RFID with other automation technologies and applied them to multiple links of tobacco production management.
The Sichuan Liangshan Tobacco Factory has achieved a high degree of automation in tobacco production by using RFID AGV carts. In this factory, each frame of tobacco leaves will be tagged with RFID tags when entering the warehouse, and information such as nicotine value will be recorded. When production is required, the computer will automatically calculate the required tobacco leaves and send instructions to the RFID AGV cart. The cart automatically identifies and finds the specified tobacco leaves, grabs them with a robotic arm and transports them to the production line. This unmanned stacking and unmanned picking work mode has increased production efficiency by more than 50%.
In the Baoji Cigarette Factory, the RFID AGV cart is combined with RFID tags to realize the fully automated storage and warehousing operations of tobacco leaves, tobacco stems, tobacco accessories, and finished cigarettes. By attaching RFID electronic tags to the bottom of the pallet and tobacco stem box, and setting up RFID readers at key locations, the system can automatically identify and process the cargo information. This not only improves the efficiency of material storage and warehousing, but also reduces the error rate and saves labor costs.
A large tobacco warehouse in Yunnan uses an RFID mobile cart system for inventory management. The RFID mobile cart automatically patrols the warehouse, reads the RFID tag information on the shelves, updates the inventory data in real time, and improves the accuracy of inventory information. Compared with manual inventory, the RFID mobile cart greatly improves the efficiency of inventory counting and reduces labor costs. With real-time inventory data, warehouse managers can formulate inventory strategies and replenishment plans more accurately.
In a tobacco logistics center in Henan, RFID mobile carts are used for automated handling and distribution. When an order is generated, the central management system automatically calculates and assigns the handling task to the RFID mobile cart. The cart finds the specified goods according to the instructions and moves them to the specified location. The automated operation of the RFID mobile cart greatly improves the efficiency of handling and distribution. Compared with manual handling, the RFID mobile cart has higher accuracy and lower error rate. Automated handling reduces manpower requirements and reduces labor costs.
With the continuous integration of RFID and other advanced technologies, the digital transformation of the tobacco industry will continue to deepen. In the future, tobacco companies will pay more attention to the construction of automated and intelligent production, and realize automated and unmanned operation of production lines by introducing intelligent equipment such as robots and automated equipment. This will further improve production efficiency, reduce production costs, improve product quality and safety, and promote the transformation, upgrading and high-quality development of the tobacco industry.
This paper is from Ulink Media, Shenzhen, China, the organizer of IOTE EXPO (IoT Expo in China)
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