(12) United States Patent
`(10) Patent N0.:
`US 8,690,057 B2
`(45) Date of Patent:
`SchoeningetaL
`Apr. 8, 2014
`
`USOO8690057B2
`
`(54)
`
`(71)
`
`(72)
`
`RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
`SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND MANAGING
`NIATERIALS INA MANUFACTURING
`PROCESS
`
`Applicant: A-l Packaging Solutions, Inc., St.
`Charles, IL (US)
`
`Inventors: Kenneth F. Schoening, St. Charles, IL
`(US); William J. Greaves, Indianhead
`Park, IL WS)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: A-I Packaging Solutions, Inc., St.
`Charles, IL (US)
`
`(*)
`
`Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. N0.: 13/857,616
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Apr. 5, 2013
`
`(65)
`
`(63)
`
`(60)
`
`(51)
`
`(52)
`
`(58)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`
`US 2013/0233922 A1
`
`Sep. 12, 2013
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`
`application
`of
`Continuation
`PCT/U82013/029408, filed on Mar. 6, 2013,
`
`No.
`
`Provisional application No. 61/607,406, filcd on Mar.
`6, 2012, provisional application No. 61/708,518, filed
`on Oct. 1, 2012.
`
`(2006.01)
`
`Int. Cl.
`G07F 19/00
`U.S. Cl.
`USPC ...................... 235/385; 340/1041; 340/5721
`Field of Classification Search
`USPC ............................. 235/385; 340/1041, 572.1
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`10\
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,832,814 A
`6,600,418 B2
`6,661,278 B1
`6,664,909 B1
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`6,853,583 132
`6,873,281 B1
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`
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`6/2005 Hyde et al.
`(Continued)
`
`
`
`
`
` FOREIGN PATJNl DOCUM,1NTS
`
`JP
`
`2008-006516
`
`1/2008
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`International Search Report and Written Opinion for Application No.
`PCTUS2013/029408, dated Jun. 26, 2013
`
`Primary Examiner 7 Allyson Trail
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm 7 Marshall, Gerstein& Boer
`LLP
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`A process management system uses a radio frequency iden—
`tification (RFID) detection system in the form of,
`for
`example, a phased array antenna based REID detection sys-
`tem to track and manage material storage and flow in a inanu—
`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
`ofthe process to produce a particular product as defined by a
`job number or job order. The process managcmcnt systcm is
`thereby able to increase the efficiencies 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.
`
`30 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
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`RFC - Exhibit 1001
`
`RFC - Exhibit 1001
`
`1
`
`

`

`US 8,690,057 B2
`
`Page 2
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`(56)
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`8,224,610
`8,228,175
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`B1
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`2
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`US 8,690,057 B2
` Page 3
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`* cited by examiner
`
`3
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 8, 2014
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`Sheet 5 of 7
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`FIG. 5
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`Apr. 8, 2014
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`Sheet 6 of 7
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 8, 2014
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`Sheet 7 0f7
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`START JOB ORDER
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`OBTAIN INPUTS
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`TRACK RFID TAGS OF
`INPUTS
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`CORRECT
`RFID TAGS IN
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`PLACE?
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`YES
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`RUN MANUFACTURING
`STAGE
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`ATTACH NEW OR UPDATE
`EXISTING RFID TAGS
`TO OUTPUT
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` LAST
`MANUFACTURING
`STAGE
`REACH ED?
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`YES
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`LOAD AND SHIP
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`1
`RADIO FREQUENCY IDENTIFICATION
`SYSTEM FOR TRACKING AND MANAGING
`MATERIALS IN A MANUFACTURING
`PROCESS
`
`RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`This application is a continuation of PCT/USIS/29408,
`entitled “A Radio Frequency Identification System for Track-
`ing and Managing Materials in a Manufacturing Process,”
`filed Mar. 6, 2013 which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C.
`§l 19(e) of US. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.
`61/607,406, entitled “Automation Project,” filed Mar. 6, 2012
`and US. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/708,518,
`entitled “A Radio Frequency Identification System for Track-
`ing and Managing Material Flow in a Manufacturing Pro-
`cess,” filed Oct. 1, 2012, the entire disclosures of which are
`hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`The present disclosure generally relates to using radio fre-
`quency identification (RFID) technology to advantageously
`track, manage and control the flow and or positions of mate-
`rial, 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 efficient.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`Many manufacturing processes today are highly auto-
`mated. However,
`in some industries, manufacturing pro-
`cesses still require manual operation and/or human interven-
`tion. An example
`industry with manually intensive
`manufacturing processes is the corrugated packaging indus-
`try, which typically produces corrugated boxes, point-of-pur-
`chase displays, and other kinds of paper based protective and
`distribution packaging.
`In a typical corrugated plant, the manufacturing process
`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 ofthe manufacturing process, various manual
`operations are typically performed. These manual operations
`are labor intensive and are generally prone to human errors,
`thereby creating many problems and inefficiencies in the
`corrugated plant. Such problems occur in inventory manage-
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`ment 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 where-
`
`abouts ofthe roll can be tracked. However, if a worker forgets
`to record the location of a roll or makes an error in the
`
`recording of the location of a roll, then the roll may become
`lost 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 manu-
`facturing process resulting in the production of the wrong
`type of corrugated material or paper, 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, ifthe correct roll cannot be found, then
`the worker may be forced to make a management decision by
`choosing a different roll. As a result, costly unauthorized
`upgrades may occur in which a more expensive roll is used to
`make a final product than is needed or called for by a particu-
`lar manufacturing job.
`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 approximate amount
`ofpaper 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 of paper used from
`the roll during a particular manufacturing job, which is typi-
`cally 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 sufficient 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.
`
`Other problems can be found in process flow management
`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 process-
`ing 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, fin-
`ished goods coming off the finishing area must be manually
`labeled with proper banding sequence numbers so that work-
`ers can employ proper banding sequences in the banding
`machines. However, mislabeling or failure to label the inter-
`mediate 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-
`rect banding procedure because a wrong product number or
`banding sequence number was used to activate the banding
`sequence.
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`3
`Further problems exist in shipping management where the
`banded finished goods must be manually documented 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 ship-
`ping order. Errors and omissions in the manual documenta-
`tion process can lead to a myriad of shipping-related prob-
`lems such as loading the wrong products on a truck, recording
`the wrong products as being shipped, not recording the prod-
`ucts that are shipped, having under/over shipment of prod-
`ucts, etc. These problems affect the overall business by mak-
`ing customers feel dissatisfied and distrustful, as well as
`increasing costs.
`Many corrugated plants have adopted the use of barcode
`technology to address some ofthe abovementioned problems.
`A barcode is an optical machine-readable representation 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 manage-
`ment where each received roll is registered in the rollstock
`inventory by manually or automatically placing and scanning
`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 cannot be
`located in the rollstock, then manual searching and scanning
`must be conducted in order to determine 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 pro-
`cessing 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 pro-
`cess. Furthermore, in locations where outdoor storage is an
`option, barcode readers often fail because the readers cannot
`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 problems exist in shipping
`management where drivers must perform 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.
`
`Printed barcodes have other shortcomings as well. A bar-
`code can be easily damaged (e.g., outdoor storage areas), and
`ifthe 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
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`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 radio
`frequency identification (RFID) technology has been intro-
`duced 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 scanning the roll, but manual operations such as
`removing the core plug to manually insert the RFID tag still
`remain.
`
`While the problems associated with not registering or
`improperly registering the roll in the inventory may be miti-
`gated 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.
`More particularly, one of the main problems with the cur-
`rent use of RFID in corrugated plants is that the stationary
`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 manufacturing 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 manufacturing area without
`going through a read node, then the location of the tagged
`product is still lost 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 manufactur-
`ing 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 readers 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.
`Because RFID technology, as currently used in corrugated
`plants, requires the use of a number of fixed or stationary
`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 raw materi-
`als, such as rollstock. However, the use of handheld readers
`still requires human operators to carry the readers 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.
`Some efforts have been made in the pulp and paper industry
`to resolve the problem of tracking the location of rolls of
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`US 8,690,057 B2
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`5
`material in inventory without the use of handheld readers. As
`disclosed in US. Pub. No. 2004/0102870, an RFID reader is
`placed on a forklift which moves the reader around a ware-
`house 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 loca-
`tion 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 cannot be read by the reader.
`Moreover, aside from inventory management, RFID usage
`has not been incorporated into other processing functions
`such as process flow management or shipping management,
`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, US. 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
`
`A manufacturing process and inventory management 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 manufacturing
`process or plant. The management or tracking system oper-
`ates 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 implement manu-
`facturing 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.
`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 of these 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 manufacturing
`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 periodically, so
`as to detect the location or position of all of the RFID tags in
`that area in a three dimensional (3 D) 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
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`production run are located in the plant by associating the
`RFID tags on various plant materials with job numbers defin-
`ing products to be produced. The job numbers 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 production run used for a
`job number by tracking the RFID tags for the various mate-
`rials to be used in the production run for the job number
`during the production run to assure that the correct 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 process manage-
`ment 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 management sys-
`tem may assure that the correct production programming or
`procedures are used at each stage ofthe production run by, for
`example, loading the correct production programming 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 intermediate prod-
`ucts created during the manufacturing run to enable the pro-
`cess management system to track these intermediate prod-
`ucts, so as to assure 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
`