A performance evaluation method for radio frequency identification-based tracking network of job-shop-type work-in-process material flows

Abstract

With the rapid development of the modern manufacture, a radio frequency identification-based tracking network has been gradually established to monitor and track the material flows in a job-shop floor. Based on an event-driven graphical schema, this article puts forward a new method for modeling and analyzing the job-shop-type work-in-process material flows tracking network. The schema elements are mapped into the network nodes, and the association relationships among the elements are mapped into the network edges. Furthermore, corresponding measures and metrics are presented to evaluate the work-in-process material flows tracking network performance. Finally, a simple example is given to verify the feasibility of the proposed method. It is expected that this study will provide a systemic evaluation method for guiding and optimizing the radio frequency identification-based tracking configuration solution for job-shop-type material flows. © IMechE 2013.