Ulster Carpets is the premier manufacturer and supplier of Axminster and Wilton carpets to some of the world’s most prestigious hotels, casinos and cruise liners, using RFID for textile manufacturing to keep production accurate at scale. Its clients include London’s Savoy Hotel and luxury cruise liner RMS Queen Mary 2.
The company’s 700 strong workforce continues to manufacture carpets in Portadown, Northern Ireland, where it was founded in 1938 by the Wilson family, who continue to run it today. With offices in London, Paris, Dubai and across the USA, it is one of Northern Ireland’s leading exporters, with over 75% of its carpet sold outside the UK.
Ulster Carpets wanted to improve efficiency in its production process. The company had identified that its tracking of bobbins could be streamlined, reducing time-consuming and costly manufacturing errors. CoreRFID was commissioned to design RFID for textile manufacturing that would give the company better control of this part of production.
– Paul Richardson, yarn supply manager at Ulster Carpets
Bobbins – losing time and data
At the company’s Dyehouse and Energy Centre, yarn is dyed to meet the specific colour requirements of each carpet, then wound onto individual bobbins and placed on the loom to be woven. In the past, each bobbin held the same length of yarn, but as some carpets used more of one colour than another, the loom had to be stopped to replace a bobbin, creating delays. Labels on individual bobbins were also easily lost.
RFID for textile manufacturing on the factory floor
RFID technology was introduced in 2008 and plays a central role in a system built around the exacting requirements of each carpet being woven. The RFID tag on each bobbin holds the information needed to match the correct yarns together, pulled from Ulster’s database. Staff access this using handheld RFID scanners, with data uploaded to Ulster Carpets’ database as they work.
Growing alongside the business
CoreRFID and Ulster Carpets have continued working together well beyond the original installation. In 2020, the company ordered 10,000 new tags as the automated system expanded alongside the business.
Ulster Carpets has since opened a new weaving shed and added further high-speed looms, increasing production capacity. That growth means more bobbins, more looms and more tags in circulation, and CoreRFID’s system has scaled with it rather than needing to be replaced.
– Richard Harrison, technical sales director at CoreRFID
Benefits
- More accurate and faster data collection
- Automated processes that reduce errors and data loss
- An RFID solution that integrates with existing IT systems
- Time and money saved
- Better control of production
- Improved quality and efficiency
- A system that scales as the business grows