It’s almost time to go home when the phone rings at an industrial light manufacturer: a customer’s shop floor lighting has failed. Fortunately, the manufacturer knows exactly what spare parts are needed because the lights were equipped with a radio frequency ID Beaded zip ties that allows them to be precisely identified. Urgent spare parts requests are just one scenario where day-to-day work can be simplified using HellermannTyton high-tech RFID cable ties. Discover how many industrial processes can be optimised by using them.

“Reliable labelling of machines and parts is one of many applications for our RFID cable ties,” says Marco Schaffer, product manager at HellermannTyton. RFID chips embedded in cable ties can store more information than a barcode. This data can be accessed contact-free, using the appropriate reader from the HellermannTyton RFID system solution. “In the case of the lighting manufacturer, the data can be entered and read using conventional IT systems and software. The RFID cable ties are attached to the customer’s lights before they are installed,” explains Schaffer.Watch our enthusiastic colleague James Hill demonstrate the versatility of RFID cable ties at the Hannover Messe 2017 and see just how easy it is to collect digital data from the tags with an RFID reader.
RFID cable ties also simplify and optimise processes for tracing components: “For example, in the case of defects, recalls or the monitoring of maintenance intervals,” says Schaffer, talking about a customer from the automotive industry, “or for robust, effective product labelling in general. Here, the RFID cable tie also serves as a reliable security measure that also involves less effort than conventional labelling solutions. Once the cable tie has been cut off, it cannot be reused.”For this reason, our RFID cable ties are attached to the tools and each employee scans them when they leave the turbine or take the tool with them.” To view and record the locations of the tools at any time, all employees have been issued with a small tablet device by their employer. “There is an app on the tablet which has been programmed by the customer’s in-house IT department,” explains Schaffer.

This allows the engineers to access the transponders in the cable ties: “Before employees go on their morning maintenance round, they open the app and see where a particular tool is located. They also see who used the tool last and when,” says Schaffer.