Procedia Engineering 50 (2012) 697 – 706 1877-7058 © 2012 Elsevier B.V...Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Bin Nusantara University doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2012.10.076 *Correcponding Author, Tel: +603-89466335 ; Fax:+603-86567122 Email: suddin@eng.upm.edu.my International Conference on Advances Sciences and Contemporary Engineering 2012 (ICASCE 2012) Application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in Manufacturing in Malaysia S. Sulaiman, Umar Ali Umar, S.H. Tang, and N. Fatchurrohman Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia,43400 UPM, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia Email: suddin@eng.upm.edu.my Abstract This article studied how radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology can contribute to the optimization of production processes considering its cost effectiveness. RFID allows the automatic identification of objects such as, work-in-process, products, and raw materials. Toward that end, a survey and case study of Malaysian manufacturing enterprises was conducted in which their usage experience and perception about RFID applications in manufacturing were explored. The study was conducted to capture information on the usage, benefits, cost effectiveness, barriers, and area of application of RFID system to the responding companies. The study finds out that RFID application in manufacturing operations is most suited to large enterprises especially automotive and electrical and electronics sectors, and the identified barriers against RFID usage in manufacturing is mainly compatibility issues of RFID system, and inadequate awareness of RFID usage and benefits to manufacturing industries. © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Bina Nusantara University. Keywords: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID); Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM); Optimization; Information Technology (IT); Work-In-Progress (WIP); Just-In-Time (JIT) 1. Introduction Availability of real-time information facilitates efficient production coordination. Effective applications of RFID technology in the automated manufacturing environment can help optimize system Available online at www.sciencedirect.com © 2012 Elsevier B.V...Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Bin Nusantara University