VIEWPOINT | TAKING MANUFACTURING TRACEABILITY TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Manufacturers do a good job to tracking the whereabouts of the products they make. But in today's increasingly global marketplace, that isn't enough, says Fred Thomas, industry director at Apriso Corp. He contends that manufacturers also need to know details about the genealogy of the materials and components involved, the production processes used and other elements of the final product's "family tree." Without such detail, Thomas says, manufacturers face costly and time-consuming delays in isolating a problem.

Why is traceability a bigger issue today?

The world has changed. Global vehicle platforms and the speed of global supply chains and manufacturing processes these days mean your traceability and containment processes truly have to be world class. Some sourcing contracts reflect this trend by dictating what suppliers must provide in terms of traceability.

Industrywide, analysts expect a 30% reduction in platforms by 2020, with global platforms carrying nearly 75% of the industry's combined annual output by then. Such consolidation helps reduce costs and improve efficiency. But it also invites more massive recalls because many of the same components will be used across multiple platforms and models.

Lean manufacturing techniques can exacerbate the challenge, because a problem can propagate through the system very quickly. Today, when something goes wrong, speed is critical. The faster a company can identify and isolate the problem, the less damage it will suffer financially and to its reputation.

Everybody knows this is true. But a review of recent recall campaigns shows that many carmakers are still struggling with the challenge of pinpointing defects. There was a recent case in the U.S. where one carmaker suspected a problem in about 600 vehicles but had to recall 500,000 units because it couldn't find the 600 within the larger population. The negative impact on the cost of fixing the problem is obvious.

What are the hurdles to implementing an effective traceability system?

Everybody "does traceability," but not many do it well. The term means more than knowing the whereabouts of your company's products and their components. It's all about understanding how the product was made, where its parts came from and how these parts were made. It's also about understanding the genealogy of the product and knowing how to quickly contain a problem if one arises.

This is a major challenge for companies that lack a modern manufacturing system. If they have a disconnected IT structure and plants that are each running their own legacy systems, it can be very difficult, even if the desire is there.

A company must first prepare its basic manufacturing system to enable world-class traceability. Sometimes a production system appears to be built on a common platform when viewed from above, but it's full of exceptions at the plant floor level. Manually double-checking processes can help compensate, but that's not really using a common system, and it can impede the effectiveness of traceability.

Interestingly, preparing for effective traceability doesn't necessarily mean becoming a leaner manufacturer. Sometimes a very efficient lean operation can have traceability problems. Without good traceability, lean manufacturing can literally outrun the system's ability to identify and quarantine bad materials.

Flawed materials that have been put on hold could still accidentally leak into the next process. If so, finished products could be shipped and installed in vehicles before the problem is discovered. With a good integrated manufacturing system like Apriso's FlexNet, the system would automatically reject bad material when it arrives at the next station.

How does the auto industry rate overall in traceability?

There's quite a range among the major carmakers. Many companies recognize the issue and have done something about it. In general, the carmakers are more on top of this than their suppliers, since they suffer the most if there's a problem. But there's a lot of weakness in the industry in this area. Everyone says they do traceability, but the question is how comprehensively? Doing it within a single plant isn't good enough.

What steps does a company need to take to improve its traceability?

It has to happen at the highest levels, and it requires the complete buy-in of manufacturing. The ultimate goal is to achieve a single solution that drives common manufacturing processes, data collection and reporting across all facilities worldwide. The data must match and be synchronized.

IT can't just go into a plant and implement something. At the end of the day, manufacturing is king of the factory environment. IT plays an important role in implementation, but everything has to be driven by manufacturing.

Fortunately, firms like Apriso can help make the transition without disrupting operations. There are many examples involving companies we have helped make the transition to a globally integrated manufacturing system one plant at a time.

To learn more about Apriso and FlexNet, please contact Shawn Maguire at (508) 622-0522 or shawn.maguire@apriso.com