MATERIAL TRACKING/MANAGEMENT
Address Insufficient ERP Tracking With Material & Inventory Management
Managing materials is a challenge in all manufacturing where there are manual processes. Ensuring that the materials used are the correct materials, in the correct status, and are being stored correctly is a challenge. Some level of material tracking is often found in ERP systems, such as inventory receipt, labeling of inventory, and tracking re-order points. In many manufacturing processes, ERP-level status tracking is not sufficient because a lot may contain many separable ‘containers’ that can each have their own tracked attributes, including hygienic state, location, or time out of storage condition. When a material is to be added in production, the system needs to enforce that the container-level item is in the correct state, the lot has correct status, and report the inventory ‘good issued’ back to the ERP to track where the inventory was used.
In many processes, ensuring that the correct WIP materials are passed to a subsequent process is a vital part of the process. Relying on manual verifications can sometimes lead to errors that often cannot be corrected.
