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RFID factory and logistics campus in Hall 19

Hall 19 at the ZOW trade fair East-Westphalia is about “logistics for the furniture industry”. Exhibition organiser Survey is inviting all interested exhibitors and visitors to the RFID factory and the logistics campus. The RFID factory is a project run by the Löhne-based software company “abaco Informationssysteme”, while the logistics campus is organised by the IWT Institute of Business Management and Technological Corporate Management of the Ostwestfalen Lippe University of Applied Sciences in Detmold.

RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification, an identification technology based on electronic data exchange. With this technology you can quickly pinpoint the location of a product anywhere in your company without having to handle each item individually. After all, time is money! At ZOW in Bad Salzuflen “abaco” Managing Director Horst Koitka and his partners demonstrate how RFID works. At the RFID factory in Hall 19, exhibitors and visitors alike can discover the benefits of this innovative technology. Interested parties can register for an RFID day and experience the technology “up close and personal”.   

RFID is already in widespread use in other industries but is still relatively new in the furniture sector. Yet another reason to dedicate space to this fascinating technology at ZOW, the innovation show for the furniture and interior design industry. The RFID factory is about 30 m long and traces the route taken by a furniture item through the supply chain, from the supplier through industry to the trade, including transport by a haulage company. The demonstration will feature various charge carriers such as palettes, wire mesh cages and FurniBoxes which have to be detected at so-called ‘gates’ using RFID. Visitors are guided through the RFID factory following the route laid out by the gates.

Not far from the RFID factory, the IWT Detmold invites visitors on a tour of the logistics campus. The exhibition covers an area of around 200 m² and in terms of topics, it includes procurement logistics, production logistics and distribution logistics – all illustrated in the supply chain. The topics are made transparent for visitors through the use of interactive models and descriptive diagrams. In detail, it deals with simulating the flow of material, process optimisation, workplace layout and optimising transport costs. The logistics campus can be clearly appreciated from all sides and, like the RFID factory, is primarily aimed at visitors from management, production, technology, logistics and sales, but of course all ZOW visitors will be made very welcome.

Visitors are invited to an exciting IWT workshop, which takes place once or twice a day and demonstrates how production principles can have a positive impact on e.g. the pulling system (pull principle), on space, stock, processing times and last but not least productivity. During the workshop, processes are simulated, analysed and optimised using an assembly line for cardboard boxes. Feel free to get involved!