RFId systems for moveable asset management: an assessment model

Management of moveable assets is a key issue in most industrial manufacturing companies. With the increasing complexity of production systems characterised by numerous and heterogeneous machining centres, it becomes quite hard to carry out an effective and cost-efficient management model of the tools and fixtures needed for ensuring a correct and timely execution of the planned production cycles. A prerequisite for a proper management of moveable assets is the adoption of identification systems to support the traceability and data collection of the most relevant pieces of information along the life cycle of an asset. The aim of this paper was to provide an assessment model for evaluating the benefits and costs related to the adoption of RFId tags as identifications systems for moveable assets, and in particular in managing machinery tools in a production premise. In order to present a practical example of applicability of the model, an industrial application is reported with an in-depth analysis of the potential benefits and issues derived from the implementation of RFId tags.