US-12626077-B2 - Managing lifecycle of products in facilities

US12626077B2US 12626077 B2US12626077 B2US 12626077B2US-12626077-B2

Abstract

Examples techniques for managing lifecycle of products in facilities are described. A current location of a product in a facility is determined based on a signal received from a RFID tag associated with the product. Further, a data indicative of physical conditions at the current location is received from one or more sensors installed at the current location. Data corresponding to signal received from RFID tag, and the data received from the one or more sensors are recorded in a dataset against a UI of the product. The UI is linked to the RFID tag. Data recorded in the dataset may be analyzed to identify an anomaly during a stage of a lifecycle of the product in the facility.

Inventors

Ankit Singh
Lakshminarayana PAILA
Zillery Fortner
Waad Subber

Assignees

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20240102

Claims (20)

1 . A method for managing lifecycle of a product in a facility, the method comprising: receiving, by a product lifecycle management system (PLMS) incorporated with an artificial intelligence (AI) model, a first data from an RFID reader, wherein the first data corresponds to plurality of signals received by the RFID reader during at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product in the facility from a RFID tag coupled to the product, wherein the plurality of signals is indicative of at least a current location of the product within the facility; identifying, by the PLMS, based on the current location of the product and pre-stored information relating to locations designated within the facility for each of the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product, a current stage of the lifecycle of the product; receiving, by the PLMS, a second data indicative of physical conditions relating to the current stage at a designated location corresponding to the current location of the product from one or more sensors installed at the designated location, wherein the physical conditions comprise at least one or more environmental conditions of the designated location; automatically correlating, by the PLMS, the first data and the second data to identify an anomaly relating to the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product based on an identification that one or more of physical conditions relating to the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product deviates from a corresponding predefined range of values, and wherein a time duration spent by the product in the at least one stage is identified based on the correlation to expose the deviation condition at the current location; determining, by the PLMS, based on the correlation, one or more operating parameters for each of the physical conditions; and automatically implementing, by the PLMS, one or more corrective actions to the at least one stage of the lifecycle at the current location using the one or more operating parameters.
2 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the RFID tag of the product is associated with an unique identifier (UI) of the product by the PLMS, and wherein the method further comprises: recording, corresponding to the UI of the product, the first data, the second data and anomalies at each of the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product in a dataset.
3 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a range of values is predefined for the physical conditions relating to each of the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product.
4 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the at least one stage of lifecycle of the product in the facility comprises one of manufacturing, testing and packaging of the product.
5 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises causing a corrective action based on the identified anomaly.
6 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the physical conditions relating to the current stage comprise ambient conditions at the designated location corresponding to the current stage.
7 . The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the physical conditions relating to the current stage comprise conditions for performing activities of the current stage.
8 . A product lifecycle management system (PLMS) for managing products in a facility, the system comprising: a processor; and a machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to: determine a current location of a product in the facility based on a signal received from a RFID tag associated with the product; receive data indicative of physical conditions at the current location from one or more sensors installed at the current location; determine any one of the physical conditions at the current location to deviate from a corresponding predefined range of values, wherein the physical conditions comprise at least one or more environmental conditions of the designated location; identify one or more operating parameters for each of the physical conditions; and automatically cause a corrective action using the one or more operating parameters if any of the physical conditions associated with at least one stage of a lifecycle of the product at the current location deviates from the corresponding predefined range of values.
9 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein to determine any one of the physical conditions at the current location to deviate, the processor is to: identify, based on pre-stored information relating to locations designated within the facility for each of at least one stage of a process carried out in the facility to make and deliver the product, a current stage of the process corresponding to the current location; and obtain, a predefined range of values for each of the physical conditions relating to the current stage.
10 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the system is coupled to a RFID reader to receive the signal from the RFID tag.
11 . The system as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the RFID tag of the product is associated with an unique identifier (UI) of the product by the PLMS, and wherein the processor is to record, corresponding to the UI of the product, data indicative of physical conditions at each of the at least one stage of the process carried out in the facility in a dataset.
12 . The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the processor is to provide the dataset to the AI model as training data for further analysis.
13 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the processor is to determine, based on a timestamp associated with the signal received from the RFID tag, the time duration of the product being present at the current location.
14 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the data indicative of physical conditions at the current location comprises data indicative of ambient conditions of the current location.
15 . The system as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the data indicative of physical conditions at the current location comprises data indicative of physical conditions of activities at the current location, the activities corresponding to a stage of a process to make and deliver the product carried out at the current location of the facility.
16 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a processing resource incorporated with an artificial intelligence (AI) model to: receive, during at least one stage of a process to make and deliver a product carried out in a facility, a first data corresponding to plurality of signals received from a RFID tag coupled to the product, wherein the RFID tag of the product is associated with an unique identifier (UI) of the product, and wherein the plurality of signals is indicative of at least a current location of the product within the facility; identify, based on the current location of the product, a current stage of the process; receive a second data indicative of physical conditions relating to the current stage of the process from one or more sensors installed at the current location of the product, wherein the physical conditions comprise at least one or more environmental conditions of the designated location; determine, based on correlation of the first data and the second data, and anomaly relating to the at least one stage of the process of the product based on an identification that one or more of physical conditions relating to the at least one stage of the process deviates from a corresponding predefined range of values, and wherein a time duration spent by the product in the at least one stage is identified based on the correlation to expose the deviation condition at the current location; determining, by the PLMS, based on the correlation, one or more operating parameters for each of the physical conditions; and automatically implementing, by the PLMS, one or more corrective actions to the at least one stage of the lifecycle at the current location using the one or more operating parameters.
17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 16 further comprising instructions executable by the processing resource to: record the first data, the second data and the anomaly in a dataset against the UI of the product.
18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 17 further comprising instructions executable by the processing resource to: receive information relating to a defect in the product; and provide, in response to receiving the information, the record relating to the at least one stage of the process corresponding to the UI from the dataset.
19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 17 further comprising instructions executable by the processing resource to: provide the dataset to the AI model as training data for further analysis.
20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium as claimed in claim 16 further comprising instructions executable by the processing resource to cause a corrective action based on the anomaly.

Description

BACKGROUND A large variety of products, ranging from medical devices to consumable items are manufactured for various purposes, with each of the products being manufactured following a process that is generally predefined. A manufacturing process of a product is generally carried out at a facility, such as a manufacturing plant and a finished product is delivered to the market/consumer. The manufacturing process may include one or more manufacturing stages, such as production, and testing. Other than the various stages of manufacturing, an overall process to deliver the product for use may also involve post-manufacturing activities like packaging and distribution that may also be carried out at the facility. To ensure a predefined quality of the product, each activity needs to be carried out in accordance with a standard operating procedure (SOP). For a given product, the SOP may define conditions and/or constraints to carry out the activities at a stage of the process to manufacture and deliver the product. For example, a SOP for testing a particular model of an X-ray machine may define that the machine is to be tested using wavelengths not exceeding 10 nanometers. Similarly, a SOP for a stage of preparation of a medical formulation may define ambient conditions under which constituents of the medical formulation are to be stored and mixed. However, various stages of the process, such as manufacturing or testing may be susceptible to deviations from the SOP. In some cases, such deviations may lead to an anomaly in the product, lowering the quality of the product or decreasing the life span of the product, as the case may be. When deployed in use, such a product may need to be recalled before the expected time of failure or expiration time of the product. Thus, the various stages of the product delivery process or the lifecycle of the product may be managed to identify deviations. Deviations, if identified, may be addressed by implementing corrective actions. Various corrective actions, such as discarding a product, carrying out a process of maintenance or optimization of the expected time of failure or expiration time of a device to avert situations that may result in recall of the device, may be implement. SUMMARY Various embodiments of systems and methods for managing lifecycle of a product in a facility are described herein. The details of some embodiments of the subject matter described in this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matter will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for managing lifecycle of a product in a facility is provided. According to the method, a first data is received by a product lifecycle management system (PLMS), from an RFID reader. The first data corresponds to plurality of signals received by the RFID reader during at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product in the facility from a RFID tag coupled to the product. The plurality of signals is indicative of at least a current location of the product within the facility. Based on the current location of the product and pre-stored information relating to locations designated within the facility for each of the at least one stage of the lifecycle of the product, a current stage of the lifecycle of the product is identified by the PLMS. A second data indicative of physical conditions relating to the current stage at a designated location corresponding to the current location of the product is received by the PLMS from one or more sensors installed at the designated location. The first data and the second data are correlated by the PLMS to identify an anomaly relating to the at least one stage of the lifecycle. According to another embodiment of the invention, a product lifecycle management system (PLMS) for managing products in a facility is provided. The system comprises a processor and a machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions executable by the processor to determine a current location of the product in the facility based on a signal received from a RFID tag associated with the product. The storage medium also comprises instructions executable by the processor to receive data indicative of physical conditions at the current location from one or more sensors installed at the current location and determine any one of the physical conditions at the current location to deviate from a corresponding predefined range of values. The instructions are further to cause a corrective action if any of the physical conditions at the current location deviates from the corresponding predefined range of values. According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a processing resource to manage lifecycle of a product in a facility is provided. Th