Car Manufacturer AUDI Rolls Out Kathrein RFID in the Vehicle Logistics Plants Worldwide

At the AUDI AG production sites, scattered parking spaces and a changing infrastructure lead to high expenses connected to the search of the vehicles due to vehicles not allocated to production lines. A lack of transparency regarding the use of the parking spaces and the existing control processes have been labor- intensive and costly due to several system and material failures. For this reason, AUDI AG opted for a standardized concept for vehicle tracking at all production locations.

To optimally meet the requirements, Audi used the latest generation of RFID readers from Kathrein Solutions. When the vehicle passes an RFID reader, the ID number of the transponder of the corresponding vehicle is detected and transmitted together with the direction recognition to the back-end system. The CrossTalk software, which is installed on each reader, interprets the reading events, filters unnecessary data or incorrect readings and forwards the relevant information to the IT systems.

At the same time, the CrossTalk software manages and monitors the condition of the RFID hardware and reading points. The RFID detection takes place in the factory parking lots and in the assembly production areas. When parking a vehicle, the driver can also use a hand-held
reader to read out the vehicle‘s transponder and manually read or correct the parking space. At some locations, it is also possible to capture the GPS coordinates and report the exact position of the vehicle to the IT systems.

Since the system has been placed into operation at several production plants, the transparency of the vehicle management processes increased significantly, leading to a considerable reduction in time required for locating a vehicle and optimal use of the available resources and parking spaces. Due to the elimination of manual scanning processes, it was possible to reduce the processing times and make work processes more efficient. 

About Kathrein

Kathrein Solutions provides AutoID turnkey solutions including hardware, software, services and support. From the first proof of concept up to the go-live implementation, Kathrein supports customers in applications for logistics, industrial automation, retail and vehicle identification. The possibility of offering all necessary components and tools from one source enables us to give our customers the most powerful solutions. From track and trace visualisation to seamlessly incorporating any kind of identification technology — including solutions such as barcode readers, active RFID systems and wide area network technologies — we combine the best suitable features and generate interfaces with all kinds of ERP systems. First-class service and customer-oriented support round off our portfolio. We provide RF simulation, application support, software integration and implementation as well as operation and maintenance — all from a single source.
Find out more about Kathrein at https://www.kathrein-solutions.com