Nissan uses WhereNet's RFID system

Filed in archive News on December 2, 2006

Nissan North America has selected WhereNet's RFID real-time locating system to help automate its inbound supply chain and outbound delivery chain.

According to Automotive Business Review, as part of an improvement initiative at its four million square foot assembly plant in Canton, mississippi, Nissan will use a single wireless architecture to run multiple WhereNet applications, including the WhereSoft yard management system and vehicle tracking and management system (VTMS), to improve production velocity and throughput, labor productivity, and vehicle quality.

Nissan's Canton assembly plant has the capacity to produce 400,000 vehicles per year, including the Altima sedan, Armada full-size sport utility vehicle, Infiniti QX56 full-size sport utility vehicle, Quest minivan, and Titan full-size pickup truck.

WhereNet says that it will take less than 90 days to install the single wireless infrastructure over the entire Canton complex. The hardware consists of 1500 active RFID WhereTag transmitters, which are temporarily attached to new vehicles as they roll off the assembly line as part of the WhereNet VTMS system; 700 WhereTag transmitters that are permanently fixed to trailers belonging to Nissan's dedicated suppliers or temporarily attached to others as part of the WhereSoft YMS application; 120 WherePort magnetic 'exciters' positioned between gates and at key choke points across the complex; and a local infrastructure of 80 wireless WhereLAN locating access points.

Nissan also plans to deploy the WhereNet automated gate check-in/out system, Fast Gate, which supports 24x7 sequenced parts deliveries from Nissan suppliers. Fast Gate senses when a truck is approaching the gate; cross-references detailed information about the truck in a database; and, if authorized, automatically opens the gate to grant entry. Then, based on business rules loaded into the WhereSoft yard management application, the system instructs drivers and yard personnel to deliver the inbound load to the appropriate dock door for just-in-time sequencing of parts based on the assembly line build plan for that work shift.

By automating the check-in/out procedures for the hundreds of daily truckloads and thousands of components arriving at the assembly facility every day, WhereNet says that the system saves Nissan several hours a day processing deliveries, provides higher velocity and throughput in the yard, and increases flexibility in manufacturing through better utilization of equipment, facilities and labor.