For every successful business, timely strategic change has made the difference. Profit from operations, maintained margins, and good return on assets- with this in mind, it is time to evaluate the strategic direction and net worth of manufacturing businesses. The answers start with solutions that focus on reducing costs.

Solution Spotlight: Work-in-Process (WIP) Automation
A manufacturing company’s inventory has three components: raw material, work in process (WIP), and finished goods. Of these, WIP is the hardest type of inventory for many companies to control. If WIP and batch sizes are to be reduced, accurately tracking the flow of materials, assemblies, and products becomes increasingly important. Bar codes have successfully been used to track WIP in a variety of industries.

A bar code WIP tracking system can have many forms. In its simplest configuration, a computer (microcomputer, minicomputer or mainframe) is connected to a series of on-line readers and at least one printer. Each work center has a barcode reader that an operator uses to log products or assemblies as they pass through. Assuming that the products themselves are not individually bar code serialized (in many cases they are), a paper work order mirrors the actual product flow.

The work order has a bar coded work order number and lists all of the operations that are to be performed. Each operation description has a bar code next to it that uniquely identifies the operation number. As an operator completes an operation, the bar code reader is used to enter the serial number or work order number, the operation code, the employee ID, and the quantity completed. If exceptions are required to the normal routing, this can also be indicated through the scanning of appropriate pre-printed labels.

The network at the back-end time-stamps each transaction and updates a data-base. The collected database can be used as feedback to a material requirements planning system, and can provide key management reports on Work Order Status, WIP levels, Bottlenecks, Productivity & Yield. Quality control is effective, and enforced with an automated WIP.

Finished products finally carry a unique barcode that identifies country, manufacturer & item code. Scanning at subsequent points of activity enables to create & save product life cycle data & helps in product traceability & recalls as well.