Patent ID: 7411500

Claim:
A method of monitoring items and/or materials from a manufacturing process, comprising the steps of: providing a manufacturing process, wherein the manufacturing process includes a plurality of stations associated with different portions of the manufacturing process, wherein each station includes a radio frequency identification (“RFID”) reader associated with the station; providing a plurality of RFID tagged containers, wherein each container has an associated RFID tag; locating at least one of the RFID tagged containers at least at one of the stations; filling at least a portion of the RFID tagged container with items and/or materials generated from the manufacturing process; interrogating the RFID tagged container with the RFID reader associated with the station to at least record the location of the station where the RFID tagged container is located, and recording the time of the interrogation; in response to interrogating the RFID tagged container, obtaining information about the items and/or materials that were placed in the RFID tagged container at the station; and based on the obtained information, deciding what action to perform with the items and/or materials in the RFID tagged container.