Near Proximity Non-Contact Can Production Tooling and Tool Characteristics Identification & Tracking System

Industrial production facilities (such as can making factories) may tag with radio frequency near proximity devices their tooling (knockouts, dies, punches, etc) so that the tooling may be instantly located on any particular machine or location in the facility, by known critical characteristics of the tooling, particularly diameter. This is possible because each machine will also have a reader for the tags, and other areas such as inventory shelves, inspection stations, doors, loading docks, shipping departments and even vendors may also have the reading devices. Passive RFID tags and readers may be used for this purpose. The invention may be open to other businesses so inventory may be located across manufacturing systems and/or businesses.