Abstract This research presents the integration of lean
production and radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology
to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of warehouse
management. More than ten million parts belonging
to around 10,000 types in a distribution center were involved
in this study. There are more than 10,000 storage
and retrieval operations for hundreds of part types on a daily
basis. Value stream mapping was used to draw current state
mapping and future state mapping (with lean management
and RFID) with material flow, information flow, and time
flow. Preliminary experiments showed that the average reading
rate of electric forklift and hydraulic cart are 99.3 and
99.1 % by fixed ultra-high frequency RFID readers with
antenna installed at the receiving/shipping dock and passive
tags mounted on box/pallet. The processing time of data
transmitting to warehouse management system at receiving
and shipping docks was reduced by 99 and 89 %, respectively.
The total operation time from current stage to future
stage with only lean can be saved by 79 %. With further
integration of RFID to lean, the total operation time can be
saved by 87 %. Moreover, performance on saving total
operation time can be enhanced to 91 % with crossdocking.
The benefit of using RFID in the warehouse management
is realized and promotedKeywords