As your manufacturing empire grows, it becomes critical to have as a solid understanding of your supply chain. From raw materials, through manufacturing, all the way to your customers, knowing when things go wrong as soon as possible can save you time, headaches, and minimize the impact of costly recalls. Let's dive into the first step you can take to painting a better picture of your supply chain.

Track and Trace Essentials

A track and trace system tracks a product through all phases of manufacturing. With the data it tracks it then provides a trace of the product’s lifecycle. The first step in implementing a track and trace system is assigning individual products or batches unique ID’s or serial numbers. These can then be assigned to barcodes or RFID tags to simplify your workflow.

When each unit enters the process its serial number, location, and operation is stored in a database. Each time it advances to the next step in the process the database is updated to reflect its location. Plant personnel can access the tracking information to easily determine where any item is on the line.An advanced tracking system monitors process conditions along with quality control data to automatically flag products as defective as they advance through the process. Traceability relates to the production history of each unit or batch. This includes information across the supply chain from raw materials to where each unit is shipped to once it leaves the factory. This allows you to pinpoint where quality issues originated and simplifies the process of doing product recalls. 

Benefits

Implementing a track and trace system helps you:

• Improve overall process quality and efficiency by exposing error-prone portions of the process

• Reduce recall expenses by knowing exactly where each unit or batch was shipped

• Expose inconsistencies in raw materials

• Reduce re-work and reject batches by catching quality issues as they occur

• Increase process visibility for plant personnel

The Rubber Meets the Road

One example of a track and trace system in action is our case study on upgrading a slot machine manufacturing company's conveyor system. Here we used RFID tags embedded into pallets to track each machine as it moved through the process, sending it to a rework area if rework was required, or required parts were no longer in inventory.Track and trace is one part of an overall Manufacturing Execution System. Corso Systems has a handful of clients currently enjoying the benefits of a Track and Trace System. 

Interested in learning more about MES? Check out The Ultimate Manufacturing Execution System Guide!

Updated - 6/9/2022