Lot Tracking, Traceability and Barcode Applications in MES Systems

In which areas of factories are barcode applications used and why are they needed?

The ability of barcodes to carry complete information about products has increased the necessity of their presence in enterprises. They help the production process at every stage, starting from the determination of the components needed at every stage of production, i.e. inventory, finished goods.

Barcodes can be seen on the raw material coming into the enterprise. This is usually a prerequisite in materials management and if there is no identifying barcode on the raw material, the enterprise generates its own barcodes and writes them on the raw material entering the building. Only after barcoding is complete can the material be moved to the inventory location.

Raw materials moved to the inventory location must then be linked to the barcode labels of the shelves where they are placed. This makes the system even more precise as the operator will have complete information about the material and storage location. The next step will take place with the movement of material for use in the production process. Inventory that will be used in production is taken from its shelves and taken to the production area. Here, the records are updated at the production level (inventories to be used on the shop floor are transferred between warehouses within the enterprise with material requests from production).

First of all, the parts and their quantities are verified from the barcode labels, and if the stock level decreases, orders can be created to suppliers by tracking critical quantities. In this way, the control of the production process is ensured by tracking raw materials, semi-finished products and stock levels. When a production entry is made, a new barcode is generated for the semi-finished product/finished product and the newly produced product is then identified and tracked with this new label.

It plays an important role in preventing the use of damaged or incorrect parts in production. In production quality control, it can be tracked whether defective parts are caused by raw materials or production.

Once the individual products have been barcoded, the next step is to repackage the product groups and have barcodes generated again. These are necessary to transport the products to the various areas and ensure that they can be tracked at every stage until they reach the workshop or even the end consumer.

The Pick to Light or Pick By Light solution provides operators with visual guidance for the next parts and operations during the assembly process. Operators are informed about the progress of the assembly with light and audible warnings.

Apart from assembly, it is a method frequently used in the warehouse parts of factories.

Electronic Kanban: Kanban, an important tool of lean production techniques, systematizes the movement of materials between processes, while optimizing the warehouse and inter-process inventory levels of the enterprise. This system, which ensures that there is no more inventory in the system than the number of Kanban cards, works with the logic of taking the intermediate goods needed from the previous finished product box. This communication between electronic Kanban and processes, material stock quantities and material locations can be monitored online by the relevant units.

Traceability is an essential part of quality systems. However, it is also very difficult to implement. Because at the moment when production notifications are made, there are many data that need to be recorded, and if it is not ensured that these data are made at that moment and that consumption is made instantly from the relevant LOTs, traceability breaks down and becomes inextricable.

We can list the gains of the Electronic Kanban and LOT Management System as follows.

Prevents the creation of unnecessary intermediate stocks. Therefore, it reduces inventory cost,
Shortens order and shipment times,
Minimizes material movement,
It provides online communication between processes and support units. In this way, personnel errors are minimized,
It prevents the formation of bottlenecks as work is demanded according to the capacity of the production line,
Increases flexibility in terms of changing customer needs.

Another application that can be mentioned is the right mold, right raw material, right work order matching. For example, we know that the mold used in a press machine can press up to 400 tons. If it is recorded that 700 tons should be pressed in the opened work order, when the barcode is scanned, an error is received that this mold cannot be used in this work order.

An example can be given about the right mold, right raw material matching. The barcodes to be given to the raw materials are matched with the barcodes on the molds. When the work order arrives, first the mold, then the barcode on the raw material is scanned and if the match is correct, the work order starts to run. If any of them are incorrect, warnings are given to change them.

LOT Tracking: To explain in one sentence, it is a group number given to the products. When entering stocks to the company, the products are named as groups and batches, and when entering them into the system, identifying codes are given in order to monitor and control these batches. Each code given is called LOT number. All outputs of stocks are made through these codes.

Why is traceability necessary?

A traceability system is essential for efficient and sustainable production. It ensures efficiency, accuracy, visibility and security, and provides real-time information that can be shared by suppliers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers at any stage of the chain.

In raw material purchases, during technical controls on the receiving warehouse, measurements such as part length, diameter, hardness are made and stock acceptance or rejection is realized with tolerance values. The traceability of the stock within the enterprise begins.

When a problem is encountered in the product; all processes from the date of shipment to the warehouse exit, from the machine it is produced to the raw material supplier should be accessible. It is even more important to reach the cause of this problem as soon as possible.

The source of the production problem can be easily identified thanks to the full record that is created by adding each step on the route. For example, if the problem is caused by raw materials, all products that use this raw material can be identified instantly. Actions related to the supplier can be initiated. Or, in the case of machine-induced errors, steps can be taken to control, maintain or change the equipment that causes faulty production. Thus, traceability also allows us to minimize the errors that may return to us from the end user.

Once we have figured out which stage of the process is the problem, all we need to do is to think about solving the problem. We should spend our energy on solving the problem, not finding the problem. We can only do this when we provide LOT tracking, i.e. traceability.