Secure document and asset tracking.

In contract electronics manufacturing, assets and their supporting documents are considered not only valuable intellectual property but also confidential, e.g. due to the military or high value aerospace products they support. Managing transaction records, controlled access and location at all times is of great importance, not only to limit risk but to follow mandatory protocols. In this study a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system capable of addressing the criteria described is presented. Both the hardware architecture used along with its limitations and performance in a harsh environment and the software based on a service oriented approach are discussed. The system is evaluated by means of discrete event simulation for different use-case scenarios. Test results show that although the system is capable of recording transactions, a 100% detection rate cannot be guaranteed if the documents are kept inside a metallic cabinet. This proves to be a consequence not of the number of tagged documents present but ofthe surrounding environment. Despite the system’s limitations, which were taken into account during discrete event simulations, a reduction in cost partly due to a reduction in management time of 59% for the manager and 45% for the staff was observed.