US 20l30233922Al
`
`(19) United States
`
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2013/0233922 A1
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Sep. I2, 2013
`Schoening et al.
`
`(54) RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
`SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND MANAGING
`NIATERIALS IN A MANUFACTURING
`PROCESS
`
`Applicant: A-1 PACKAGING SOLUTIONS INC.,
`St. Charles, IL (US)
`
`Inventors: Kenneth F. Schoening, St. Charles, IL
`(US); VVilliam J. Greaves, lndianhead
`Park, IL GIS)
`
`Assignee: A-1 Packaging Solutions Inc., St.
`Charles, IL (US)
`
`Appl. No.2 13/857,616
`
`Filed:
`
`Apr. 5, 2013
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`Continuation of application No. PCT/USl3/29408,
`filed on Mar. 6, 2013.
`
`Provisional application No. 61/607,406, filed on Mar.
`6, 2012, provisional application No. 61/708,518, filed
`on Oct. 1, 2012.
`
`Publication Classification
`
`Int. Cl.
`G06Q 10/08
`U.S. Cl.
`CPC .................................. .. G06Q I0/087(20l3.0l)
`USPC ........................................................ .. 235/385
`
`(2012.01)
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A process management system uses a radio frcqucncy iden-
`tification (RFID) detection system in the fonn of,
`for
`example, a phased array antenna based RFID detection sys-
`tem to track a11d manage material storage a11d flow in a manu-
`facturing process or plant. The process management system
`operates in conjunction with the various machines that imple-
`ment manufacturing stages or steps of the manufacturing
`process to assure that the correct materials and processing
`procedures are used at or on the various production machines
`of the process to produce a particular product as dcfincd by a
`job number or job order. The process management system is
`thereby able to increase the elliciencies of the plant and to
`increase the quality of the plant production by reducing or
`eliminating waste, manufacturing errors and shipping errors
`in the production facility.
`
`10\
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 12, 2013 Sheet 2 of 7
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 12, 2013 Sheet 5 of 7
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 12, 2013 Sheet 6 of 7
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 12, 2013 Sheet 7 of 7
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`US 2013/0233922 A1
`
`210
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`/
`
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` 214
`
`START JOB ORDER
`
`OBTAIN INPUTS
`
`212
`
`216
`
`
`
`TRACK RFID TAGS OF
`INPUTS
`
`CORRECT
`RFID TAGS IN
`PLACE?
`
`YES
`
`
`
`RUN MANUFACTURING
`STAGE
`
`
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`
`ATTACH NEW OR UPDATE
`EXISTING RFID TAGS
`TO OUTPUT
`
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`MANUFACTURING
`STAGE
`REACH ED?
`
`YES
`
`LOAD AND SHIP
`
`FIG. 7
`
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`8
`
`

`
`US 2013/0233922 A1
`
`Sep. 12, 2013
`
`RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
`SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND MANAGING
`MATERIALS IN A MANUFACTURING
`PROCESS
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`[0001] This application is a continuation of PCT/US13/
`29408, entitled “A Radio Frequency Identification System for
`Tracking and Managing Materials in a Manufacturing Pro-
`cess,” filed Mar. 6, 2013 which claims the benefit under 35
`U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.
`No. 61/607,406, entitled “Automation Project,” filed Mar. 6,
`2012 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
`61/708,518, entitled “A Radio Frequency Identification Sys-
`tem for Tracking and Managing Material Flow in a Manufac-
`turing Process,” filed Oct. 1, 2012, the entire disclosures of
`which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to using
`radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to advan-
`tageously track, manage and control the flow and or positions
`of material, such as inventory items, within a manufacturing
`process or an inventory storage facility, to make the tracking
`and retrieval of inventory items more automatic and efiicient.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`[0003] Many manufacturing processes today are highly
`automated. However, in some industries, manufacturing pro-
`cesses still require manual operation and/or human interven-
`tion. An example industry with manually intensive manufac-
`turing processes is the corrugated packaging industry, which
`typically produces corrugated boxes, point-of-purchase dis-
`plays, and other kinds of paper based protective and distribu-
`tion packaging.
`[0004]
`In a typical corrugatedplant, the manufacturing pro-
`cess can be generally divided into four stages. In the first
`stage, rolls of paper material, called rollstock, are received
`and stored in a rollstock inventory area. In the second stage,
`the paper rolls are transferred to a wet end area of a corrugator
`or corrugation machine where the rolls are converted into a
`continuous corrugated board by gluing multiple layers of
`paper together in some manner, such as gluing a layer of
`corrugated paper with one or two layers of smooth paper. At
`the end of the corrugator machine, the corrugated board or
`paper is cut into sheets which are stacked before being placed
`in a work in process (WIP) area to wait for further processing.
`In the third stage, the stacks ofcorrugated sheets are delivered
`from the WIP area to a finishing area where machines typi-
`cally called folders and gluers convert the sheets into boxes
`and other packaging or display products through operations
`such as die-cutting, printing, stapling, folding and gluing.
`During this stage, the boxes or other packaging and display
`products may be printed using, for example, printing plates or
`may be painted to provide graphics on the products. In the
`fourth stage, finished goods coming off the finishing area are
`banded and are palletized to get these finished goods ready for
`either storage in a warehouse or dispatch and delivery to
`customers.
`
`In each stage of the manufacturing process, various
`[0005]
`manual operations are typically performed. These manual
`operations are labor intensive and are generally prone to
`human errors, thereby creating many problems and inefii-
`
`ciencies in the corrugated plant. Such problems occur in
`inventory management where each received roll must be
`manually labeled to be registered in the rollstock inventory.
`The location of a roll in the rollstock area needs to be recorded
`so that the whereabouts ofthe roll can be tracked. However, if
`a worker forgets to record the location of a roll or makes an
`error in the recording ofthe location ofa roll, then the roll may
`become lo st in the inventory. Poor inventory management
`may also cause a worker to transfer a wrong roll from the
`rollstock area to the wet end area of the corrugator machine.
`If the error is not recognized, then the wrong roll will be used
`in the manufacturing process resulting in the production of
`the wrong type ofcorrugated material orpaper, increased cost
`and poor quality. If the error is recognized, then the worker
`must go back and spend additional effort to manually search
`for the correct roll. Moreover, if the correct roll carmot be
`found, then the worker may be forced to make a management
`decision by choosing a different roll. As a result, costly unau-
`thorized upgrades may occur in which a more expensive roll
`is used to make a final product than is needed or called for by
`a particular manufacturing job.
`[0006] Moreover, in many cases, it is difficult to track and
`manage partial rolls, which are rolls that have been used for
`one or more jobs, but which still contain paper material
`thereon. In particular, operators typically know the approxi-
`mate amount of paper on a particular roll within the rollstock
`area when the roll has never been used or when the roll is first
`
`added to the inventory. However, after use, in which some of
`the paper from a particular roll is removed, the roll is removed
`from the corrugator machine and is returned to inventory. In
`these cases, it is necessary to record the amount ofpaper used
`from the roll during a particular manufacturing job, which is
`typically a manual process. If this record keeping is not per-
`formed or is performed inaccurately or inconsistently, opera-
`tors generally do not know how much paper is on a roll or do
`not trust the records of how much paper is on a roll. In these
`cases, operators typically opt to use a new (previously unused
`roll) for a job instead of a partial roll which may or may not
`have sufiicient paper thereon for the job, to assure that the job
`can be completed without running out of paper on the roll.
`This procedure leads to the existence of many partial rolls in
`inventory, which take up space and increase manufacturing
`costs ofthe plant because these rolls never get used, or are not
`matched correctly to the size of the job, thereby creating
`wasted material.
`
`[0007] Other problems can be found in process flow man-
`agement of processes where procedures require workers to
`manually track or label intermediate products and finished
`goods so that the products can be located and delivered to the
`next processing stage. For example, intermediate products
`such as stacks of corrugated sheets must be manually labeled
`with proper job order numbers in the WIP area to ensure
`proper delivery to proper work stations in the finishing area.
`Likewise, finished goods coming off the finishing area must
`be manually labeled with proper banding sequence numbers
`so that workers can employ proper banding sequences in the
`banding machines. However, mislabeling or failure to label
`the intermediate products may cause considerable downtime
`or delays in the manufacturing process. Furthermore, errors
`in manual labeling, may result in costly consequences if the
`products go missing or the wrong products get made, for
`example, by having the wrong intermediate products deliv-
`ered to the work stations in the finishing area or by having the
`intermediate or finished products get banded using an incor-
`
`9
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`
`US 2013/0233922 A1
`
`Sep. 12, 2013
`
`rect banding procedure because a wrong product number or
`banding sequence number was used to activate the banding
`sequence.
`
`Further problems exist in shipping management
`[0008]
`where the banded finished goods must be manually docu-
`mented in a loading bay so that a driver can find and ship the
`correct products to customers. Due to time constraints, this
`type of manual documentation is rarely performed. As a
`result, many times, the needed product is not at the correct
`location so the driver or loader has to spend a great deal of
`effort to look for the product in the loading bay. Once the
`driver finds the correct product and finishes loading the truck,
`the driver must account for any under/over amount against a
`customer shipping order. Errors and omissions in the manual
`documentation process can lead to a myriad of shipping-
`related problems such as loading the wrong products on a
`truck, recording the wrong products as being shipped, not
`recording the products that are shipped, having under/over
`shipment of products, etc. These problems affect the overall
`business by making customers feel dissatisfied and distrust-
`ful, as well as increasing costs.
`[0009] Many corrugated plants have adopted the use of
`barcode technology to address some of the abovementioned
`problems. A barcode is an optical machine-readable repre-
`sentation of data relating to an object that is attached to the
`barcode. While the use of barcodes offers an improvement in
`accuracy over manual labeling, manual operations are still
`needed because human operators must place barcode readers
`in a direct line-of-sight to the printed barcode in order to
`register a read. Thus, many problems still exist in corrugated
`plants that use barcodes. For example, problems exist in
`inventory management where each received roll is registered
`in the rollstock inventory by manually or automatically plac-
`ing and scarming a barcode on the roll, and a barcode on the
`side, or the ceiling, of an inventory aisle where the roll is
`placed. However, if workers forget to scan both barcodes
`when storing a roll, or when barcode readers fail, then the roll
`becomes lost in the inventory. Thus, despite the use of a
`barcode system, the location of a roll in the rollstock still
`typically needs to be manually recorded. Moreover, if a
`needed roll carmot be located in the rollstock, then manual
`searching and scanning must be conducted in order to deter-
`mine the whereabouts of the roll. Problems also exist in
`
`process flow management procedures that use barcodes. In
`particular, currently, workers must manually scan the barcode
`on the products or rolls before moving the rolls or finished
`product to the next processing or delivery stage where another
`manual scan takes place to validate the movement. Time
`constraints and barcode reader failures often compel workers
`to forgo such scans, which may result in costly errors in the
`manufacturing process. Furthermore, in locations where out-
`door storage is an option, barcode readers often fail because
`the readers carmot read in sunlight or bright areas. When
`scanning equipment fails, workers must enter information
`and data manually, which prompts the same type of human
`errors that can occur with manual labeling. Still other prob-
`lems exist in shipping management where drivers must per-
`form multiple scans to ensure that the correct product is going
`to the correct vehicle for shipping. However, due to time
`constraints and other factors, drivers rarely perform all the
`necessary scans, which result in the wrong products being
`shipped and thus leads to dissatisfied customers and waste.
`[0010] Printedbarcodes have other shortcomings as well. A
`barcode can be easily damaged (e.g., outdoor storage areas),
`
`and if the barcode gets ripped, soiled or torn off, there is no
`way to make a proper scan. Also, reading a barcode may be
`time-consuming if the barcode is not properly oriented to the
`reader. Thus, with a barcode system, a large amount of
`manual data collection activity is still needed, which leaves
`the manufacturing process manually intensive and dependent
`on human intervention.
`
`To provide improvement over barcodes, the use of
`[0011]
`radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has been
`introduced in some portions of some manufacturing plants. A
`conventional RFID systemuses stationary or hand-held RFID
`readers to identify RFID tags attached to objects. Unlike
`barcodes which must be physically located next to and be in
`close or direct proximity to the barcode reader in order to
`read, RFID technology does not typically require a tag to be
`in direct proximity to the reader. However, RFID technology
`still requires some line-of-sight communication between the
`reader and tag in order to register a read. Also, unlike bar-
`codes, which offer read-only capability, each RFID tag may
`be read and write capable, meaning that information can be
`altered in the tag. Currently, the use of RFID tags in corru-
`gated plants is limited to inventory management, in which
`each paper roll, for example, may have an associated RFID
`tag inserted manually into the core of the roll that allows the
`roll to be registered in the rollstock inventory when the roll
`passes near a stationary reader. This remote reading of the
`RFID tag eliminates manual operations such as manually
`labeling or scarming the roll, but manual operations such as
`removing the core plug to manually insert the RFID tag still
`remain.
`
`[0012] While the problems associated with not registering
`or improperly registering the roll in the inventory may be
`mitigated with RFID tags, the roll may still become lost in the
`inventory because the location of the roll in the rollstock still
`needs to be manually recorded. Moreover, misplaced rolls
`can result in tedious manual searches because stationary
`RFID readers cannot be used to locate arbitrarily placed rolls.
`[0013] More particularly, one of the main problems with
`the current use of RFID in corrugated plants is that the sta-
`tionary RFID readers must be placed at specific spots or
`locations within the plant and thus only provide nodal reading
`of tags. For example, RFID readers are typically placed at
`doorways to define a portal or are placed at or near a manu-
`facturing area to define a read node. The tagged product can
`only be read at these nodes within the plant, which leads to a
`lot of problems. If a tagged product is picked up from one
`manufacturing area and is transferred to a second manufac-
`turing area without going through a read node, then the loca-
`tion ofthe tagged product is still lo st or not accurately tracked.
`Moreover even when a transfer is completed properly, the
`transfer is not recognized until the tagged product reaches the
`RFID reader defining the portal or read node near the second
`manufacturing area. Moreover, the product is only known to
`be at or near the read node. As a result, movement of a tagged
`product within a plant is tracked inconsistently and very
`inaccurately using typical RFID technology. Stationary read-
`ers also have a problem in that the signals sent out by the
`readers tend to “reflect” off objects such as forklift or other
`objects, and create spurious reads.
`[0014] Because RFID technology, as currently used in cor-
`rugated plants, requires the use of a number of fixed or sta-
`tionary RFID readers that can only detect the passage of a tag
`past a particular point, plants have used hand-held RFID
`readers to assist in tracking the whereabouts of products or
`
`10
`
`10
`
`

`
`US 2013/0233922 Al
`
`Sep. 12, 2013
`
`raw materials, such as rollstock. However, the use of hand-
`held readers still requires human operators to carry the read-
`ers to a point where tagged objects are located in order to read
`the tags on the products, in which case the amount of manual
`operations is similar to that of the barcode system.
`[0015]
`Some efforts have been made in the pulp and paper
`industry to resolve the problem of tracking the location of
`rolls of material in inventory without the use of handheld
`readers. As disclosed in U.S. Pub. No. 2004/0102870, an
`RFID reader is placed on a forklift which moves the reader
`around a warehouse to assist in locating particular tagged
`rolls of paper. However, this approach only works when the
`forklift is in close proximity to the rolls to which the tags are
`attached and so the forklift driver still has to know the
`
`approximate location of the roll in the warehouse to begin a
`search for a particular roll. Moreover, the tags are directional
`and the RFID reader requires some line-of-sight to the tags.
`Thus, if a tag is on one side ofthe roll and the forklift is on the
`other side, then the tag carmot be read by the reader.
`[001 6] Moreover, aside from inventory management, RFID
`usage has not been incorporated into other processing func-
`tions such as process flow management or shipping manage-
`ment, in corrugated plants. Some efforts have been made in to
`use RFID to manage flow through a process, but these efforts
`are for throughput management only and do not increase
`product quality or manufacturing efficiencies within a plant.
`For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,970,484 discloses a method that
`uses RFID tags onboxes containing products flowing through
`a manufacturing line to generate stop and go signals to control
`the throughput of the production process. However,
`the
`method only functions to control the throughput of the pro-
`cess, and does not actually control the flow of the process
`materials, for example, by determining what materials are
`needed at what locations in the process or where materials
`should be sent in order to assure that the proper or desired
`final product is being made.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`[0017] A manufacturing process and inventory manage-
`ment or tracking system uses a radio frequency identification
`(RFID) detection system which may be, for example, a
`phased array antenna based RFID detection system, to track
`and manage material storage and flow of material in a manu-
`facturing process or plant. The management or tracking sys-
`tem operates to track and to provide the location of various
`inventory within an inventory region of the plant and may
`operate in conjunction with the various machines that imple-
`ment manufacturing stages or steps of the manufacturing
`process to assure that the correct materials (e.g., inventory,
`machine parts, etc.) and processing procedures are used at or
`on the various production machines of the process to produce
`a particular product as defined by a job number or job order.
`The process management system is thereby able to increase
`the efficiencies of the plant and to increase the quality of the
`plant production by reducing or eliminating waste, manufac-
`turing errors and shipping errors in the production facility.
`[0018] Generally speaking,
`the management
`system
`employs a detection and tracking system that uses RFID tags
`attached to various different materials in the plant, such as
`raw materials, intermediate products or finished goods, to
`detect and track the location ofthese materials at any time and
`or at any location in the plant including in an inventory region
`of the plant (including a spare parts inventory) and a manu-
`facturing region of the plant. In one case, the RFID detection
`
`and tracking system uses phased array antennas disposed
`within the plant to scan one or more areas in the plant peri-
`odically, so as to detect the location or position of all of the
`RFID tags in that area in a three dimensional (3D) view. In
`another case, the RFID detection and tracking system may
`use multiple spaced apart antennas to scan a region using a
`triangulation technique to detect the location of RFID tags
`within the region. The process management system may use
`the current location of the RFID tags to determine where the
`materials needed for a production run are located in the plant
`by associating the RFID tags on various plant materials with
`job numbers defining products to be produced. The job num-
`bers may also be associated with or define manufacturing
`steps that need to be taken in the plant to produce the product
`associated with the job number. The process management
`system may then implement or manage a particular produc-
`tion run used for a job number by tracking the RFID tags for
`the various materials to be used in the production run for the
`job number during the production run to assure that the cor-
`rect materials are used in the production run and to assure that
`the correct processing steps or procedures are used at each of
`the various stages of the production run. If desired, the pro-
`cess management system may interface with one or more
`controllers within the plant or the manufacturing process to
`prevent or halt operation of the production machines unless
`the correct materials are at the correct inputs ofthe production
`machines. Alternatively or additionally, the process manage-
`ment system may as sure that the correct production program-
`ming or procedures are used at each stage of the production
`run by, for example, loading the correct production program-
`ming into the machines based on the RFID tags associated
`with the product or material being provided to the machine.
`As part of this process, RFID tags may be applied to interme-
`diate products created during the manufacturing run to enable
`the process management system to track these intermediate
`products, so as to as sure that the correct intermediate products
`are provided to the correct processing machines at the correct
`time when implementing a multi-stage production run for a
`job number. Still further, in some scenarios, records stored for
`RFID tags identifying a certain type of intermediate product
`may be changed or altered to reflect changes in the interme-
`diate product as the product being created flows through the
`production facility from one stage or step ofmanufacturing to
`another stage or step of manufacturing. In this manner, the
`process management system may assure that the production
`run for a particular job uses the correct raw materials and that
`the production equipment is configured or set up to imple-
`ment the correct manufacturing and packaging steps for a job
`number which, in turn, helps to as sure that the correct product
`is made for a job number.
`
`Still further, the management system may use the
`[0019]
`RFID tracking system to perform inventory management and
`control as well as to perform shipping management and con-
`trol. In particular,
`the process management system may
`detect, track or scan all ofthe inventory in an inventory area to
`determine what inventory is present (based on the RFID tags
`detected during the scan), and provide a 3D view of the
`location of each piece of inventory. This feature enables the
`process management system to direct plant personnel to the
`correct location in the inventory area to get or obtain the
`correct materials to be used in a production run. Still further,
`the process management system may update records associ-
`ated with RFID tags of material, such as rolls of paper, to
`indicate or track the amount of material left on the roll, for
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`US 2013/0233922 A1
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`Sep. 12, 2013
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`example, or other changes in the material. In a similar man-
`ner, the process management system may use the RFID track-
`ing system to detect and track finished goods in a loading bay
`and may use this information to assure that the correct fin-
`ished goods are loaded onto the correct truck for shipping to
`a customer. This feature reduces shipping errors and can
`further be used to automatically create bills of landing defin-
`ing exactly what finished goods are being shipped to the
`customer.
`
`In one embodiment, an inventory tracking system
`[0020]
`for use in tracking placement of physical items within an
`inventory tracking region of, for example, a manufacturing
`plant, includes a radio frequency tag detection system that
`includes a plurality ofradio frequency antennas disposed in a
`spaced apart manner within the inventory tracking region and
`a detection controller coupled to the plurality of radio fre-
`quency antennas that controls the operation of each of the
`radio frequency antennas to scan a portion of the inventory
`tracking region and to detect each of a number of radio fre-
`quency tags disposed in the inventory tracking region. Here,
`the detection controller generates indications of the detected
`radio frequency tags and the physical locations ofthe detected
`radio frequency tags within the inventory tracking region.
`Moreover, the inventory tracking system includes a tracking
`system coupled to the radio frequency tag detection system to
`receive the indications of the detected radio frequency tags
`and the detected physical locations for the detected radio
`frequency tags within the inventory tracking region. The
`tracking system includes a memory for storing inventory item
`information for each of a plurality of inventory items, the
`inventory item information for each of the plurality of inven-
`tory items including an inventory item radio frequency tag
`identifier, inventory item identification information defining
`the identity of the inventory item, and an indication of the
`current physical location of the inventory item within the
`inventory tracking region. The inventory tracking system also
`includes an access system that accesses the memory and
`provides at least a subset ofthe inventory item information for
`one or more of the inventory items to a user for determining
`the current physical location of the one or more of the inven-
`tory items within the inventory tracking region. The tracking
`system updates the indication ofthe current physical location
`of at least one particular inventory item within the inventory
`tracking region as stored in the memory for the at least one
`particular inventory item based on the indication ofthe physi-
`cal location ofthe detected radio frequency tag for the at least
`one particular inventory item as produced by the detection
`controller.
`
`If desired, the subset of inventory item information
`[0021]
`may include an indication of the current physical location of
`the one or more of the inventory items within the inventory
`tracking region and/or may include the inventory item iden-
`tification information for the one or more of the inventory
`items. The tracking system may store, for each ofthe plurality
`of inventory items, inventory item identification information
`including two or more defining characteristics of the inven-
`tory item and the inventory item identification information for
`at least one of the inventory items may include a type of
`material associated with the inventory item, a source of the
`inventory item, or an amount of material associated with the
`inventory item.
`[0022]
`If desired, the access system may include a user
`display system that graphically displays the current physical
`location ofthe one or more ofthe inventory items based on the
`
`indication of the current physical location of the one or more
`of inventory items and the user display system may display
`the current physical location of the one or more of the inven-
`tory items in a graphical manner juxtaposed with or on an
`indication of at least a portion of the inventory region. The
`user display system may display the current physical location
`of one of the inventory items by displaying an indication of a
`geographical coordinate at which the one of the inventory
`items is located, or an indication of a two dimensional geo-
`graphical location of the inventory item within the inventory
`tracking region. Also, the user display system may graphi-
`cally display the current physical location of inventory items
`by displaying an indication of a three dimensional geographi-
`cal location of one or more of the items within the inventory
`tracking region.
`[0023]
`Still further, the access system may includes an
`auditory system that generates auditory signals based on the
`current physical location of one or more of the inventory
`items, may include a visual system that generates lighted
`signals based on the current physical location of one or more
`of the inventory items, and/or may include a tactile system
`that generates tactile (e.g., vibration) signals based on the
`current physical location of one or more of the inventory
`items.
`
`[0024] The detection controller may include a beam-steer-
`ing control system, such as an electronic beam steering or a
`mechanical beam steering control system that controls the
`operation of each of the radio frequency antennas using a
`beam to scan a portion of the inventory tracking region to
`detect each of a number of radio frequency tags disposed in
`the scanned portion of the inventory tracking region.
`[0025] The inventory tracking system may further include
`an inventory control system that receives the current physical
`location of at least one of the inventory items from the access
`system and determines if the one of the plurality of inventory
`items is in a desired location. Here, the inventory control
`system may compare the current physical location of the at
`least one of the inventory items to a desired location of the at
`least one of the inventory items as defined by a job identifier
`or a job number associated with a, for example, manufactur-
`ing job that uses the at least one of the inventory items. The
`inventory control system may produce a warning or alert
`signal when the location of the at least one of the inventory
`items associated with the job identifier is not at the desired
`location for the inventory item for the job defined by the job
`identifier when running the job. In some situations,
`the
`desired location may be associated with a location of one of
`the inventory items within a manufacturing process during
`execution of the manufacturing process during the job. The
`inventory control system may further detect movement ofthe
`at least one of the inventory items based on the job identifier
`and