ERP Systems Enhanced with RFID Technology in Furniture Industry

Abstract

RFID technology is being widely used in most areas that are supported by ERP systems. With the help of RFID tags and readers placed at various locations throughout a furniture company, the presence of various objects in the factory can be monitored in real time. Readers receiving information from RFID tags can transmit it directly into the system and create databases or initiate business processes. The basic resources that can be tracked using RFID are human and machine resources as well as warehoused inventories, spare parts, tools, semi-finished and finished products. The only condition that must be met by the tracked object is that it can be tagged. The furniture industry is continuously growing. With factories expanding to tens of thousands of square metres and employing thousands of workers, knowledge of who or what is where at any given time is very important for optimising plant operations. Being able to gain this knowledge in real time is very useful and saves a lot of resources over the long term. Monitoring of resources in an ERP system using RFID technology is very popular nowadays. The improvement of the implemented solution leads to an ever increasing degree of control. However, it is important to maintain it at an optimal level, because otherwise it may unnecessarily disturb employees in their daily duties or generate more work for them without returning a measurable benefit.