Nemak makes aluminum power-train components, including cylinder heads, engine blocks and transmission parts. Traceability involves tracking every step of a mold-making process, using automated identification, at its plant in Windsor, Ontario.

The company required a complex network of sensors, as well as RFID readers, for an assembly line on which it manufactures the molds that it needs to create aluminum engine blocks. Assembling the mold, which is composed of a mixture of sand and resin, is a highly precise process, the company reports. If anything goes wrong at any of the workstations along the 300-meter-long (984-foot-long) loop assembly line, it could affect the aluminum engine block's integrity. However, because the work is automated, a defective mold might not be caught, resulting in a flawed engine block that could then continue on to be installed within a vehicle.

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Keywords: RFID, RFID & defect detection, asset tracking, RFID in manufacturing, supply chain management, supply chain management IT, supply chain solutions