Challenge
A world-class manufacturer of raw materials and engineered additives struggled with manual, labor-intensive processes across shipping, receiving, inventory, and manufacturing. The company faced multiple operational bottlenecks:
- Manual, handwritten labels to identify products
- Raw material inventory displayed in ERP as one unit of measure but inventoried and sold in another
- No real-time visibility into production, inventory putaway, and shipment verification
- Multiple steps required for building pallets and collecting traceability data
- Processes delayed by a new part-numbering system that eliminated familiar legacy numbers
- Unreliable inventory counts due to manual ERP updates
Solution
The company implemented CAI ShopVue Material Traceability, leveraging containerization/kitting, traceability, and license plate technology with automated barcode data collection. Key implementations included:
- Legacy part numbers displayed to users on mobile devices while new numbers processed in the background and updated the ERP system
- Automated kitting of raw material components by batch to support intermediate parts production and address machinery volume limitations
- Automated label printing from mobile devices with options to reprint or select different label types
- Mobile barcode inquiry transactions enabling users to identify item locations and view kitting data from anywhere in the warehouse
- Automated BOL and delivery note printing from mobile device at shipment confirmation
- Multiple units of measure displayed within transactions to simplify receipt, movement, and shipping of raw materials
- Consolidated pallet building using IntelliLabel License Plating to eliminate multiple steps
- Automated data collection for Receipts, Stock Movements, Material Issues, Cycle Counting, and Physical Inventory
- Automated notifications to supervisors when out-of-tolerance counts occur
- Automation of pick and bulk shipping with order lines converted into picklists displayed on mobile devices
Results
Over 19 unique processes were automated, nearly eliminating all manual data entry and providing real-time visibility into the entire operation. CAI ShopVue Material Traceability seamlessly integrated with the company's ERP system, minimizing transaction processing time and freeing up resources for higher-value tasks.
The solution's flexibility proved transformational. By allowing users to see familiar legacy part numbers while the system processed new part numbers behind the scenes, the company dramatically improved user productivity and adoption. The success was so significant that as the customer continues to acquire companies globally, they roll out CAI ShopVue Material Traceability across all new operations.
