AIDC feasibility within a manufacturing SME

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to research and design a feasible automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) system for a manufacturing small to medium enterprise (SME) that is able to facilitate the flow of accurate and real‐time data throughout the manufacturing process.Design/methodology/approach – The processes and operations conducted at a manufacturing SME were critically analysed in order to identify areas, where the use of an AIDC system could be used to improve the efficiency and visibility of the processes throughout manufacture. The areas for improvement could then be identified and solved through specific applications and/or systems of which a cost benefit analysis could be conducted.Findings – Significant cost savings are found through the implementation of a radio frequency identification (RFID) system based on the reduction of safety stock, the elimination of manual job tracking and the reduction of the manual input and written data throughout the process.Research limitations/i...