Syngenta orders 10,000 new RFID tags for Grangemouth

 

Syngenta – one of the world’s largest producer of agricultural chemicals – has ordered a new consignment of RFID tags which are used to track ingredients at its Grangemouth plant and which have helped it to boost production.

The company has ordered 10,000 new tags from its supplier CoreRFID to replace the originals, which have been in regular use since the RFID tracking system was introduced in 2014.­

Syngenta’s Grangemouth site employs over 350 staff and produces the ‘active ingredients’ used in its fertilisers and crop protection products. The ingredients are then put into bulk containers or ‘bags’ and either shipped to production plants overseas or moved to another plant on site and used to make the finished products.

The use of RFID has allowed Syngenta to track the bags as they are moved around the site, and to gain better control over the entire production process. Every bag is fitted with a tag which can be scanned by fixed readers or by staff with hand-held scanners at critical points along the way.

The system – which replaced manual spreadsheets – allows Syngenta to see the whereabouts of ingredients in real time and ensure that the ‘right product is in the right place at the right time’. It has also enabled the company to step up production and reduced the risk of error.

Paul Johnston, automation and information systems manager at Grangemouth, says the system worked well from the start and the tags were being replaced due to wear and tear. “We are simply changing the tags for new ones. RFID is super reliable and  doesn’t really break down – either it works or it doesn’t.”

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