RFID at Nokian Tyres
Nokian Tyres is a Finnish manufacturer of tires, specializing in winter tires for personal cars, SUVs, buses and other heavy vehicles. They produce about 6 million tires annually with a daily production of 18,000 units.
The automated ID implementation covers two manufacturing lines and 27 assembly lines at the production plant in Finland. The manufacturing lines use raw material to create different tire components that are stored on wagons until needed. Forklifts deliver components to assembly lines according to the tire type being produced. To manage their production, Nokian Tyres uses a just-in-time stock control process based on Kanban principles.
The Challenge
- To manage production, Nokian Tyres uses a just-in-time stock control process based on Kanban principles
- Actual stock control consisted of a manual system of markers (cards) associated with the wagons that hold the tire components
- To optimize the manufacturing process and better control key assets, Nokian tyres wanted to automate their Kanban process
- EB, Trackway and Confidex was selected to meet Nokian Tyres's challenge
The Solution
- The automated ID implementation covers two manufacturing lines and 27 assembly lines at the production plant in Finland
- To ensure successful roll-out of an automated ID solution, a phased development process was followed
The Benefits
- Clear increase in productivity
- Assembly line efficiency has significantly improved through mor accurate, real-time reporting and directing of manufacturing and stock control
- Losses due to material waste and errors have reduced
- Improvements in flexibility