Shop Floor Control and Automatic Identification Techniques

748

in identifying problem areas in the plant that adversely affect achieving the master production schedule.
There are a variety of techniques used to collect data from the factory floor. These
techniques range between clerical methods that require workers to fill out paper forms
1~a! are later compiled, and fully automated methods that require no human participatio~
he term factory data collection system is sometimes used to identify these techniques.J/

'!J

'X 25.2

FACTORY DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM

The factory data collection (FOC) system consists of the various paper documents, terminals, and automated devices located throughout the plant for collecting data on shop
floor operations, plus the means of compiling and processing the data, usually by computer. The factory data collection system serves as an input to the order progress module
in shop floor control, as illustrated in Figure 25.2. Using our feedback control system
analogy of Figure 25.1, the FDC system is the sensor component of the shop floor control
system. Examples of the types of data on factory operations collected by the FOC system
include piece counts completed at a certain work center, direct labor time expended on
each order, parts that are scrapped, parts requiring rework, and equipment downtime.
The data collection system can also include the time clocks used by employees to punch
in and out of work.
.

On-line versus batch systems

The purpose of the factory data collection system is twofold: to supply data to the order
progress module in the shop floor control system, and to provide current information to
production foremen, plant management, and production control personnel. To accomplish
this purpose, the factory data collection system must input data to the plant computer
system. This can be done in either an on-line or off-line mode. In an on-line system, the
data are entered directly into the plant computer system and are immediately avfHlable
to the order progress module. The advantage of the on-line data collection system is that
the data file representing the status of the shop can be kept current at all times. As changes
in order progress are reported, these changes are immediately incorporated into the shop
status file. The personnel with a need to know can access this status in real time and be
confident that they have the most up-to-date information on which to base any decisions.
In the off-line data collection system, the data are temporarily stored in either a
storage device or a stand-alone computer system to be entered and processed subsequently
by the plant computer in a batch mode. In this mode of operation, there is a delay in the
data processing. Consequently, the plant computer system cannot provide real-time information on shop floor status. This delay, and the requirement for a separate data storage
system. are the principal disadvantages of this configuration. The advantage of an offline collection system is that it is generally easier to install and implement.

Factory Data Collection System

, 749

Data input techniques

The techniques of factory data collection include manual procedures, computer terminals
located in the factory, and other technologies. The following paragraphs discuss the
various categories.
The manually oriented techniques of factory data collection are those in which the
production workers must fill out paper forms indicating order progress data. The forms
are subsequently turned in and compiled, using a combination of clerical and comr.nerized
methods. The manual/clerical techniques include [7,10]:

Job traveler. This is a log sheet included in the shop packet that travels ..ith
the order through the factory. Workers who spend time on the order are required to record
their times on the log sheet together with other data, such as the date, piece counts,
defects, and so on. The job traveler becomes the chronological record of the processing
of the order. The problem with this method is its inherent incompatibility with the
principles of real-time data collection. Since the job traveler II10VC\ wul. tht: Job, it is
not readily available for compiling current order progress.
Employee time sheets. In. the typical operation of this method, a daily time sheet
is prepared for each worker and the worker must fill out the form to indicate (he work
that was accomplished during the day. Data entered on the form include the order number,
operation number on the route sheet, the number of pieces completed during the day,
time spent, and so on. Some of these data are taken from information contained in the
shop packet for the order. The time sheet is turned in daily, and order progress information
is compiled (usually by a clerical staff).
Operation tear strips. With this technique, the shop packet includes a set of
preprinted tear strips that can easily be separated from the packet. The preprinted data
on each tear strip include order number, route' sheet details, and so on. When a worker
finishes an operation or at the end of the shift, one of the tear strips is torn off, piece
cou ..t and time data are recorded by the worker, and the form is turned in to report order
progress.
Prepunched cards. This is essentially the same technique :is the tear strip method,
but prepunched computer cards are included with the shop packet instead of tear strips.
The prepunched cards contain the same type of order data, and the workers must write
the same kind of production data onto the card. The difference in the use of prepunched
cards is that in compiling the daily order progress, mechanized data processing procedures
can be used to record some of the data.
There are problems with all of these manually oriented data collection procedures.
They all rely on the cooperation and clerical accuracy of factory workers to record data
onto a paper document. There are invariably errors in this kind of procedure. Error rates
associated with handwritten entry of data average 1/30 [ lo]. Some of the errors can be
detected by the clerical staff that does the compilation of order progress. Examples of
detectable errors include wrong dates, incorrect order numbers (the clerical staff knows

750

Shop Floor Control and Automatic Identification Techniques

which orders are in the shop and they can usually determine when an erroneous order
number has been entered by a worker), and incorrect operation numbers on the route
sheet (if the worker enters a certain operation number but the preceding operation number
has not been started, an error has been made). Other errors are more difficult to identify.
If a worker enters a piece count of 150 pieces which represents the work completed in
one shift when the batch size is 250 parts, this is difficu!t for the clerical staff to verify.
If a different worker on the following day completes the batch and also enters a piece
count of 150, it is obvious that one of the workers overstated his/her production; but
which one?
Another problem is the delay in submitting the order progress data for compilation.
There is a time lapse in each of the methods between when events occur in the shop and
when the data representing those events are submitted. The job traveler method is the
worst offender in this regard. Here the data might not be compiled until the order has
been completed, too late to take any corrective action. This method is of little value in
a shop noor control system. The remaining manual methods described above suffer a
one-day delay since the shop data are generally submitted at the end of the shift, and a
summary compilation is not available until the following day at the earliest.
In addition to the delay in submitting the order data, there is also a delay associated
with compiling the data into useful reports. Depending on how the order progress procedures are organized, the compilation may add several days to the reporting cycle.
Because of the problems associated with the manual!clerical procedures, techniques
have been developed that use data collection terminals located in the factory. The collection terminals require the workers to input data relative to order progress. The various
input techniques include manual entry by simple pushbutton keypads or typewriteriike
keyboards. The keyboard entered data are subject to error rates just like the manual!
clerical data collection techniques. However, the error rate for keyboard data entry is
approximately 1/300 [16], substantially lower than for handwritten entry. Also, errorchecking routines can be incorporated into the entry procedures to detect syntax and
certain other types of errors.
The data-entry methods also include more automated input technologies, such as
magnetic card readers or optical bar code readers. Certain types of data, such as identification of order, product, and even operation sequence number, can be entered with
the automated techniques using magnetized or bar-coded cards included with the shop
packet. Figure 25.3 illustrates one type of factory data collection terminal that combines
keypad entry with bar code technology.
There are various numbers and arrangements of keyboard-based terminals possible
in the factory. These include:

One centralized terminal. In this arrangement there is a single terminal located

centrally in the plant. This requires all workers to walk from their workstations to the
central location when they must enter the data. If the plant is large, this becomes inconvenient. Also, use of the terminal tends to increase at the time of a shift change, and
this results in significant lost time for the workers.

Automatic

Identification

751

Methods

FIGURE 25.3 Data collection terminal with keypad entry and hand-held (wandtype) bar code reader. (Courtesy of Computer Identics Corp.)

Satellite terminals. In this configuration, there are multiple data collection terminals located throughout the plant. The number and locations are designed to strike a
balance between minimizing the investment cost in terminals and maximizing the convenience of the workers in the plant.
Workstation terminals. The most convenient arrangement for the workers is to
have a data collection terminal at each workstation. This minimizes the time lost in
walking to the satellite terminals. However, it seems to be justified only when the number
of data transactions is relatively large and when the terminals are also designed for
collecting certain data automatically.
The trend in industry is toward more use of automation in factory data collection
systems. Although the term automation is used, many of the techniques require the
participation of human workers. The next three sections discuss the various automated
and semiautomated methods of acquiring data from the shop floor.

25.3

AUTOMATIC

IDENTIFICATION

METHODS

The field of automatic identification is often associated with the material handling industry.
In fact, the industry trade association, called the Automatic Identification Manufacturers
(AIM), is an affiliate of the Material Handling Institute, Inc. Many of the applications

752

Shop Floor Control and Automatic Identification Techniques

of this technology relate to material handling. We are covering the subject here because
it is an emerging technique for tracking materials in shop floor control systems.
Automatic identification is a term that refers to various technologies used in automatic or semiautomatic acquisition of product data for entry into a computer system.
These technologies are mostly sensor-based methods that provide a means of reading data
that are coded on a document, product, component, container, and so on, without the
need for human interpretation of the data. Instead, the computer system interprets and
processes the data for some useful application. The applications of automated identification
systems are numerous; they include retail sales, warehousing (semiautomated storage and
picking), product sortation and tracking, shipping and receiving, and shop floor control.
Some of the automated identification applications require workers to be involved
in the data collection procedure, usually to operate the identification equipment in the
application. These techniques are therefore semiautomated rather than automated methods.
Other applications accomplish the identification procedure with no human participation.
The same basic sensor technologies may be used ,in both cases. For example, certain
types of bar code readers are operated by people while other types are operated automatically.
There are some very good reasons for using automatic identification techniques.
(j)First and foremost, the accuracy of the data collected is improved, in many cases by a
significant margin. To illustrate, the error rate in bar code technology is approximately
10,000 times lower than in manual keyboard data entry. The rate of 1/3,000,000 is used
as an error rate for comparison with the handwritten and keyboard entry methods [16]. ,
The error rates of most of the other technologies is not as good as for bar codes, but still
better than manual-based method ~ second reason for using automatic identification
techniques is to reduce the time required by human workers to make the data entry. The
speed of data entry for handwritten documents is approximately 5 to 7 characters per
second, and it is 10 to 15 characters per second (at best) for keyboard entry [16]. Automatic
identification methods are capable of ,reading hundreds of characters per second. This
comparison is certainly not the whole story in a data collection transaction, but the time
savings in using automatic identification techniques can mean substantial labor cost ben- ,
efits for large plants with many workers.
The technologies available for use in automatic identification systems at the time
of this writinginclude:
Bar codes

.J

Radio frequency systems,

Magnetic stripe
Optical character recognition
Machine vision
~

The use of bar codes in factory data collection systems is predominant and growing,
and we devote a separate section to this technology. The other techniques are either used

Automatic

Identification

Systems

753

in special applications in factory operations, or they are widely applied outside the factory.
For completeness, we include brief discussions of them in the paragraphs that follow.
Radio-frequency (RF) systems rely on the use of radio frequency signals similar to
those used in wireless television transmission. Although the type of signal is the same,
there are differences in the use of RF technology in product identification. One difference
is that the communication is in two directions rather than one direction (as in TV). Also,
the signal power is substantially lower in factory identification applications (ranging from
several milliwatts to 7 watts [9-]).
Radio- frequency identification systems consist of the identification tags on the items
to be identified, an antenna at some location where data are to be read, and a reader that
interprets the data. The identification tag is a transponder, a device that is capable of
emitting a signal of its own when it receives a signal from an external source. It is attached
to the product, truck, railway car, or other item. The term "tag" is misleading, since the
term refers to a small but rugged boxlike container that houses the electronics for data
storage and RF communication. The container may be as much as 2.5 x 2.5 x 7.5 in.
in size and be capable of withstanding temperatures from - 40 to + 400F [9]. The tags
are usually read-only devices that contain up to 20 characters of data representing the
item identification and other information that is to be communicated. Recent developments
in the technology have provided much higher data storage capacity and the ability to
change the data in the tag (read/write tags). This opens many opportunities for incorporating much more status and progress information into the automatic identification
system.
The antenna is located at an identification station and listens for the RF signal from
the identification tag that uniquely indicates the item to which it is attached. The signal
is then fed to a reader that decodes and validates the signai prior to transmission of the
associated data to the data collection computer system. The hardware required for an RF
identification system has tended to be more expensive than for most other data collection
technologies. For this reason, RF systems have generally been appropriate for data collection situations in which environmental factors preclude the use of optical techniques
such as bar codes. For example, RF systems are suited for identification of products with
high unit values in manufacturing processes (such as spray painting) that would obscure
any optically coded data. They are also used for identifying railroad cars and in highway
trucking applications where the environment and conditions make other. methods of identification infeasible.
Magnetic stripes (the term magnetic strip is also used) attached to the product or
container can also be used for item identification in factory and warehouse applications.
These are the same kinds of magnetic stripes that are used to encode identification data
onto plastic access cards for use in automatic bank tellers. Their use seems to be declining
for shop floor control applications because they are more expensive than bar codes and
cannot be scanned remotely. Two advantages they possess is their larger data storage
a acity and the ability to alter the data contained in them.
Optical character recognition (OCR) techniques refer to a specially designed
alphanumeric character set that is machine readable by an optical sensor device. The

Shop Floor Control and Automatic Identification Techniques

754

substantial benefit offered by OCR technology is that the characters and associated text
can be read by human beings as well as machines. The list of disadvantages, at least for
factory and warehouse applications, includes the requirement for near-contact scanning,
lower scanning rates, and a higher error rate compared to bar code scanning.
.
Machine vision systems are used principally for automated inspection tasks, as
indicated in Chapter 18. The applications also include certain classes of automatic identification problems, and these applications may grow in Ilumber as the technology advances. For example, machine vision systems are capable of distinguishing between a
limited set of products moving down a conveyor so that the products can be sorted. The
recognition task is accomplished without requiring that a special identification code be
placed on the product. The recognition by the machine vision system is based on the
inherent geometric features of the object.

.:;,( 25.4

BAR CODE TECHNOLOGY

.J /

Bar code technology has become the most popular method of automatic identification in
retail sales and in factory data collection. The bar code Itself consists of a sequence of
thick and narrow colored bars separated by thick and narrow spaces separating the bars.
The pattern of bars and spaces is coded to represent alphanumeric characters. Bar code
readers interpret the code by scanning and decoding the sequence of bars. The reader
consists of the scanner and decoder. The scanner emits a beam of light that is swept past
the bar code (either manually or automatically) and senses light reflections to distinguish
between the bars and spaces. The light reflections are sensed by a photodetector that
converts the spaces into an electrical signal and the bars into absence of an electrical
signal. The width of the bars and spaces is indicated by the duration of the corresponding
signals. The procedure is depicted in Figure 25.4. (The decoder analyzes the pulse train
to validate and interpret the corresponding data)

.Bar code

Light beam

Correspond ing
electrical
signal

FIGURE 25.4

Conversion of bar code into pulse train of electrical signals.

----------~
Bar Code Technology

755

Certainly, a major reason for the acceptance of bar codes is their widespread use
in grocery markets and other retail stores. In 1973, the grocery industry adopted the
Universal Product Code (UPC) as its standard for item identification. This is a lO-digit
bar code that uses five digits to identify the product and five digits to identify the
manufacturer. The U.S. Department of Defense provided another major endorsement in
1982, by adopting a bar code standard (Code 39) that must be applied by vendors on
product cartons supplied to the various agencies of DOD.

The bar code symbol

The Universal Product Code is only one of many bar code formats in commercial use
today. The bar code standard adopted by the automotive industry, the Department of
Defense, the General Services Administration, and many other manufacturing industries
is Code 39, also known as AiM USD-2 (for Automatic Identification Manufacturers
Uniform Symbol Description-2),
although this is actually a subset of Code 39. We
describe this format as an example of bar code symbols [2,3,5].
Code 39 uses a uniquely defined series of wide and narrow elements (bars and
spaces) to represent 0-9, the 26 alpha characters, and special symbols. The wide elements
are equivalent to a binary value of one and the narrow elements are equal to zero. The
width of the narrow bars and spaces, called the X dimension, provides the basis for a
scheme of classifying bar codes into three code densities (this scheme applies to the other
bar code standards as well as Code 39):

High density: X dimension is 0.010 in. or less

Medium density: X dimension is between 0.010 and 0.030 in.

Low density: X dimension is 0.030 in. or greater

For bar codes with X ~ 0.020 in., the wide elements must be printed with a width of
anywhere between 2 x and 3 x (two to three times the X dimension). For bar codes with
X < .020 in., the wide elements must have a width between 2.2 x and 3 x. Whatever
the wide-to-narrow ratio, the width must be uniform throughout the code in order for the
reader to consistently interpret the bar code. Figure 25.5 presents the character structure
for USD-2, and Figure 25.6 illustrates how the character set might be developed in a
typical bar code.
In addition to the character set in the bar code, there must also be a so-called "quiet
zone" both preceding and following the bar code, in which there is no printing that might
confuse the decoder. This quiet zone is shown in Figure 25.6.
The reason for the name Code 39 is that nine elements (bars and spaces) are used
in each character and three of the elements are wide elements. The placement of the wide
spaces and bars in the code is what uniquely designates the character. Each code begins
and ends with either a wide or narrow bar. The code is sometimes referred to as code
three-of-nine.

Shop Floor Control and Automatic Identification Techniques

756
T

CHAR.
1
2
3
4

5
6
7
8
9
0

,.
B
C
0
E
F

G
H
I

J
K
L

_. - _.
.---..---.-._.-.
..
-_.--_.._._.--....
_.- -._..--.
_._.
..
.

._.--- - .
..
-.---._-.-

1: CIw_le,

StructuN,

USO-2

PATTERN

.ARS

..
_-
--._.-...---._-.
- --..
.
.._.
---_.
.-_.

-- _.-.
.--__.
-
..
..-. --.
-_ ..
_.
-

SPACES

10001
01001
11000
00101
10100
01100
00011
10010
01010
00110
10001
01001
'1000
00'01
10'00
0"00
0001'
'0010
0'0'0
00110
'0001
0100'

PATTERN

CHAR.
M
N

OHIO
0100
0100
0100
0100
0100
0100
0100
0100
0100
0010
0010
00'0
0010
00'0
00'0
00'0
00'0
00'0
00'0
0001
000'

a
P

a
R

S
T
U

.w
X
Y

SPACE

.ARS
11000
00101
10100
01100
00011
10010
01010
00110
10001
01001
11000
00101
10100
01'00
000"
'00'0
01010
00"0

SPACES
0001
0001
0001
0001
0001
0001
0001
0001
1000
1000
1000
1000
'000
'000
1000
1000
1000
1000

* Denotes a start/stop code which must precede and follow every bar code message.
Note that * is used only for the start/stop code.
FIGURE 25.5 Character set in USD-2 bar code, which is a subset of Code 39.
(Reprinted from [5] by permission of the Material Handling Institute.)

CODE 39 (AIM USD2)

[
!

(10X)
QUIET ZONE ~~IIIF-:

DATA ~III~LQUIETZONE

START

I
I

]
(10X)
STOP

I
I

jilit
I 1:

.-- .....

..

TYPICAL DATA CHARACTER

III
I

.ltOO

I---- ---J
ITS

FIGURE 1

FIGURE 25.6 A typical grouping of characters to form a bar code in Code 39.
(Reprinted from [5] by permission of the Material Handling Institute.)

Bar Code Technology

757

Bar code readers

Bar code readers come in a variety of configurations; some require a human being to
operate them and others are stand-alone automatic units. They are usually classified as
contact or noncontact readers.
Contact bar code readers are hand-held wands or light pens operated by moving
the tip of the wand quickly past the bar code on the object or document. The wand tip
must be in contact with the bar code surface or in very close proximity during the reading
procedure. In a factory data collection application, they are usually part of a keyboard
entry terminal. Figure 25.3 illustrates this type of terminal, which allows the worker to
input data both by using the bar code reader and by keystroke entry [The terminal is
sometimes referred to as a stjltionary terminal in the sense that it is Placed in a fixed
location in the shop') When a <mmsactionis entered in the factory, the data are communicated to the com~ter system in an on-line or batch mod~
In addition to their use in facto data collection systems, stationary contact bar
code readers are widely used in retail establishments to enter the item identification in a
sales transacti0j) Bar codes (Universal Product Codes) are included on the labels for
many ~pes of products sold commercially today.
Contact bar code readers are also available as portable units which can be carried
around the factory or warehouse by a worker. They are battery-provered units that include
a solid-state memo device capable of storing data acquired during operation. The da
can s~ntlY
be transferred to the computer system. Portable bar code readers often
inclu e a keypad that can be used by the operator to Input data that cannot be entered
via bar code. These portable units are used for order picking in a warehouse and si .
applications which require a worker to move large distances in a building.
Noncontpct bar code readers do not use a contacting wand to read
fi
d
.
re ecte
Instead, they focus a h htJ>eam on-the. bar code and a ho ode
h b
. I'to Inte ret the cod e. The rea . er pro be
i Iocated a ce .
tance fromdtear
sIgna
e IS
e several inches to several feet) durin the read proc
. Noncontact rea ~rs are
crassified as fixed beam and moving beam scanners. F
beam re~ders are stationary
units that use "a fixed beam of light. They are usu
mounted besld~ a conveyor an~
depend for their operation on the movement 0
bar_code past the h~ht beam. App~lcations of fixed beam bar code readers
pICally in large warehousm and mat~al
liiiii<fiing operations where large
res of materials must
identified.as they ow
past the scanner on conveyors. . ed beam scanners in these kinds of operations represent
some of the first applicaji s of bar codes in industry, and they date back to the I ~s
[I] .

Moving
nners use a highly focused beam of light, actuated by a rotating
mirror to trave
n angular sweep in search of the bar code on the object. Lasers are
often used to achieve the highly focused light beam. ~ scan is defined as a single sweep
of the light beam through the angular path. The high rotational speed of the mirror allows
for very high scan rates-up to 144tJSCans per second [1]. This means that many scans
of a single bar code can be4TIade during a typical reading procedure, thus permitting
verification of the reading. Moving-beam scanners can be either stationary or portable
~