Traceability is a key element of industrial production and goes beyond production alone. It is both a customer requirement and a regulatory necessity. Getting it wrong is costly for companies (which may, for example, have to scrap an entire production run because they cannot identify a defective batch).
The automotive and medical sectors have specific traceability requirements that call for particular arrangements in shops and tracking tools. However, it is difficult for a subcontracting shop or a small plant to develop arrangements 100% specific to a single customer or sector. Yet solutions exist that meet everyone’s needs.
How can you ensure industrial traceability in your shops?
To achieve full traceability of your production, you need to identify all the information about your products, from your suppliers to your customers.
To do this, manufacturers use MES software, which provides traceability adapted to each type of industrial sector. MES solutions identify raw materials and components using various methods such as barcodes, RFID or, in some specific cases, manual entry.
Ensuring traceability with a MES:
A traceability project usually goes hand in hand with a MES project, to meet continuous improvement goals. The MES identifies products, or a set of products called a “batch” with an associated number.
The MES can then trace batches by collecting their data. By automatically sending this data up to the ERP, consumption management can also be improved, without double entry. Thanks to this automatic control, the MES provides global, real-time traceability across your company’s entire production flow.
What the MES adds:
By analysing your production and drawing on your history, the KmProd MES can identify redundancies and recurrences entirely on its own — for example, if certain recurring defects come from certain batches or suppliers (or if negative customer feedback is linked to certain moments in production). This passive but effective assistance helps decision-makers make the best decisions.
Simple deployment:
Setting up this traceability is easy because it is gradual. The aim is not to rush teams on site by imposing a new model, but to show them step by step that time and energy can be saved (not to mention the fatigue and low morale that come with “wasted batches”).
Meta 2i, MES expert, offers its expertise
At KmProd, we have been successfully deploying this kind of solution since 1989, from a single shop to multi-site plants in several countries. Don’t hesitate to book a meeting with us to explain the challenge you want to take on.
