The EDF's Centre d'Exploitation des Turbines à Combustion (CETAC)"”Combustion Turbines Operating Center"”is responsible for maintaining those turbines. To meet that mandate, the organization operates 13 production units at seven sites and stores spare parts at eight storage areas.
Recently, CETAC began employing RFID to ensure that if any piece requires replacement or repair, the necessary spare parts can be located within the shortest possible span of time. The technology, provided by Nexess, includes EPC Gen 2 passive ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID tags from Omni-ID.
Typically, CETAC reports, if the energy company switches on a gas turbine in response to spikes in demand for electricity, the system functions fine. However, because the turbine has remained dormant for some time, it is possible that a part may fail, in which case the problem must be quickly diagnosed and the replacement part identified and installed.
Keywords: tracking and tracing, parts visibility, RFID, energy industry, public utilities, logistics & supply chain
