Importance of end-to-end traceability in manufacturing industry

The ability of a system to track and documents the products throughout the manufacturing process is traceability. The various aspects to track are- suppliers, items, inspection notes, manufacturing details, distributors, etc. Thus, this helps in ensuring that the team knows where the product is. This is especially helpful in the recall situation where when if it is faulty, traceability allows to easy recall the products by their details. Furthermore, direct part marking or component level markings helps the manufacturing units by digitally connecting individual components with subassembly, major assembly, and final assembly.  

Businesses working in the manufacturing industry should be careful of the recalls that their faulty products might face. A minor fault and if the products do not get recalled at the right time, your business might end up with-  

• A damaged reputation 
• Lose the trust of your customers 
• Affect the revenue and productivity 

Product traceability has numerous benefits in the manufacturing industry: 

• Material and information flow mapping 

Also, known as a value stream, material, and information flow mapping is the method for lean management. It helps gauge the manufacturing process. Furthermore, what should you do to redesign it in the best way possible to gain maximum benefit out of the manufacturing process? A crucial product traceability component, value stream thus helps with monitoring the steps of the operation, time spent at the workstation, quality of the input components. Therefore, this way you get a better idea of how the operation is being carried on and how can you improve it. 

• Supply chain management 

Supply chain management is of utmost importance in the manufacturing business. Thus, no matter how big or small the business is, it is important to ensure transparency and accountability throughout the supply chain. This thus helps boost efficiency and maximize productivity. Thus you can achieve this by marking the components and providing comprehensive details about the product- including history, components, history, etc. for maximum accuracy. Therefore it ensures that the product’s manufacturing is done following international standards and protocols.  

• Conduct in-depth analysis 

Having end-to-end product information means, you have all the data required to strategize and move ahead. Thus, you will be able to conduct an analysis of the operational cycle. This will help you know what are the gap holes and which areas need improvement. Take, for instance, a profound analysis that will help you perform a quality check on the process, tools. Furthermore, this will also help you know whether or not your team requires more training. This will help them work in a certain manner as per the standards.  

• Room for continuous improvement 

Product traceability will help you identify, understand and come up with strategies for continuous improvement. It will give you real-time accurate data. This will ensure that you streamline production for maximum profitability. This will further help in minimizing the possibility of error and wastage.  

Now you know the importance of product traceability. It is important that the Acumatica ERP you plan to implement has a built-in product traceability feature to ensure efficiency and profitability. We, at Tayana solution, implement Acumatica. It is leading cloud-based software for your SME that comes with end-to-end product traceability for ensuring maximum benefit and a higher return on investment.  

Reach out to Tayana’s ERP experts today!