Technology and its application in almost all areas of our lives have completely revolutionized the way we work, becoming a tool capable of helping to improve traceability. Having control and obtaining information from all processes can help us understand much better which parts of it are not working correctly and be able to solve it.
We must bear in mind that Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution has not only brought automation and improvements, but has also increased the competitiveness of companies. If we are not up to date with the latest news, we will surely not be able to face other businesses in the sector that do. So today at Initube we will see what traceability consists of for industries specifically and what advantages it can offer us.
What does traceability consist of?
Traceability is based on the ability of a technology to track the journey of a product or component throughout its supply chain, from its origin to its final destination. With this, it is possible to guarantee the quality, safety, and confidence in the products much more reliably because there is constant monitoring at all times.
Every step, from the date and place of production to the details of the suppliers, transportation dates, and storage, is documented to create a complete history of the product. Within traceability, it is necessary to differentiate between 2 types before continuing to explain:
Internal traceability
It tracks a product or raw material within the company itself, from when it is created until it reaches the final product. It will gather highly relevant information to improve the efficiency of the process and to minimize the damage to the product that reaches the consumer. Some of these characteristics may include the product’s composition, the way it has been handled during the process, the type of machines that have intervened in its creation, or the environmental conditions it has been exposed to (temperatures, humidity, and other factors) that could alter it.
External traceability
If internal traceability is responsible for controlling the entire process while the product is within the company, external traceability does so when it leaves the company’s premises. The goal is, again, to obtain information about the entire external process to add it to the collected data and have even more information for the final consumer about, among other points, the type of packaging used to protect the product during transportation, possible damages or alterations, or the type of transportation, storage conditions, and other aspects related to the distribution of the product.
Industrial traceability not only serves to obtain information about all the processes (and their quality) that a product goes through but also helps to make the necessary corrections that may arise to optimize both production and the supply chain.
It is beneficial to take advantage of these advances to increase our effectiveness as a company in a highly competitive environment, where any small advantage can make us more agile. Speed, along with service quality, is one of the most valued qualities by customers when making a purchase. Any application that helps us improve these aspects will be highly appreciated and, at the same time, will enhance the brand image by providing a customer-centric service.
Advantages of traceability
Although implementing a traceability system may seem like a significant investment for the company, and although it is true that equipment must be acquired, we always recommend conducting a study first. In this way, we can implement the system we need and save money on elements that, due to the characteristics of our business, we will not need. This way, we can enjoy all the advantages that industrial traceability offers, among which we highlight:
Quality and efficiency
As we have already mentioned, one of the main benefits of traceability is that it significantly improves quality and efficiency because both the company and the suppliers will be able to obtain information about the operations and improve them if necessary. In this way, it is much easier to respond with a direct, agile, and efficient solution.
Traceability allows, for example, detecting a tolerance deviation and identifying the probable sources of the problem. Thus, it is much easier to respond with a direct, agile, and efficient solution.
Continuous improvement
Having such valuable information about how the processes of the components and pieces work during the production chain will help improve it as soon as any part that is not efficient is detected. It will help us detect, among other things, bottlenecks, subprocesses where there is a higher volume of defective products, etc.
Analysis
With all the information obtained, we will be able to improve our own processes, but also allow manufacturers to perform analyses. This way, they will also be able to detect some problems and solve them at the root so that they do not generate more. The production line will also end up being positively affected.
Compliance with regulations
There are sectors, especially those dealing with potentially dangerous material or with pharmaceuticals or food, where there are very strict regulations to comply with. Industrial traceability can be extremely beneficial in these special cases. However, if it is to be implemented, the system must comply with the relevant regulations.
In addition to the advantages we have just mentioned, it is possible that our own customers require a traceability system to be installed. In that case, it is best to implement it even before they demand it to obtain all the benefits both internally in improving processes and externally for the customer.
In fact, the trend indicates that more and more sectors are incorporating this technology, whether it is mandatory or not. Since it will be a matter of time before it becomes a system that all companies will have, the sooner we familiarize ourselves with it and understand it, the better.
New technologies
If you want to install a traceability system in your company but don’t know how, the first thing you should consider is that you first need to acquire a identification system to be able to detect and know at all times what items are there and in what part of the chain they are. You can identify them individually or by batch, so you will need to use unique codes for each one.
The next step is to use a data capture system that records information on raw materials, production, and warehouse management data. For this, we will need a software that collects, stores, organizes, and analyzes all the information that we provide thanks to the previous steps.
In this way, they can be used depending on the need or the part of the chain we seek to improve. It is necessary to remember that all stages of the supply chain will have distinct and unique data and information, so the possible solutions will also vary.
All these advances would not be possible without the application of current technology, fundamental to taking traceability to the next level in industrial processes. Some we have already mentioned, but it is necessary to pause for a moment and expand the information. All of them are applicable, and depending on our needs as a company, we can choose between one or all:
Barcodes and RFID
Both systems allow rapid and precise identification of products and materials at all stages of the production chain, although RFID technology optimizes the management and traceability of the supply chain more, especially for the transportation and logistics companies.
Management and tracking systems
The famous ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) help provide almost absolute visibility of production processes and detailed tracking of each batch
