Development of Scheduling Systems for a Shoe Factory Through IDEF0 and RFID Technologies

In recent years, an increased emphasis on the use of operations management (OM) models and theories has emerged, due to the strict links between firm competitive and supply chain strategies. Companies have thus to choose the appropriate and specific responses so that to face the market challenges. In this paper, an optimisation process for the footwear production is discussed through the IDEF0 approach, reengineering the production planning task and introducing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tools to better map the production process. The AS-IS map of a famous footwear brand has been analysed in order to identify its strengths and weaknesses through a WHAT-IF analysis. Then, the TO-BE map has been identified introducing a new production scheduler as well as RFID technologies. The analysis highlighted that the new management approach can help the company yielding a better production management, increasing thus the opportunity to expand on the global market. In particular, RFID provides a solution to difficult logistical tracking of inventory or equipment, particularly in applications where optically based systems fail and when read/write capabilities are required. Moreover, investment economic feasibility analysis is described showing the benefit of the reengineered management system.