Manufacturing companies have various needs to keep their plant running efficiently. However, it’s challenging to meet all these needs with human labor. Automating processes saves time and allows for labor relocation to critical areas. Link Labs AirFinder solution can automate processes for you.
Manufacturers’ Needs Met By Asset Tracking
Work In Process (WIP) Tracking
Tracking the many moving parts in a supply chain is challenging. As a result, valuable time is wasted when bottlenecks have not been addressed, affecting productivity and efficiencies.
As a plant manager, it’s essential for you to know how efficient your plant is. WIP tracking gives you insight into how long materials are at each production stage. If you notice materials are sitting idle, waiting to go through the next step for a long time consistently at the same place, you know a change needs to be made for optimization. Once you find out where the issue lies, you can find out what’s causing the issue. Maybe you’re missing tools or inventory, maybe one step is completed too fast and a machine can’t keep up. Finding out the problem allows you to develop a solution to increase optimization.
Once you find a solution to the existing problem, it’s important to track WIP continually. For instance, you may eliminate the original bottleneck, but there’s always room for improvement. Tracking WIP can tell you how much you produce on your worst day, average day, and best day. You want to consistently produce your best day’s worth of product to gain a competitive advantage. An asset tracking system can show you your numbers on your best day and help you quantify your continuous improvement goals.
Tool Tracking
It’s not an easy task to track tools in large manufacturing plants. Manual tracking, as most companies do, leads to lost tools. Employees get frustrated when they can’t find the right tool to complete their jobs on time. If they can’t find the tools, there are at most two options; one is using a similar tool if one exists, and the other is a lack of completion. Using a different tool can lead to safety issues or poor product quality. If you use the wrong tool, there’s a chance it may not be properly calibrated. If a tool isn’t properly calibrated, the quality of the finished inventory will be lower, ultimately reducing customer satisfaction.
Asset tags monitor the real-time location of the tools they’re attached to. This way, users don’t have to spend valuable time searching for them; instead, they can look on the UI for their location. You can even set up a geofence with an alert system to be notified when tools move from one work zone to another.
Increase Your ROI by Investing in AirFinder OnSite
- Low Cost. AirFinder OnSite XLE is a fraction of the cost of competitors' pricing.
- Long Battery Life. XLE lasts up to 7 years with hundreds of location updates daily.
- Increased Efficiency. Spend less time looking for assets, and more time being productive.
Get An In-Depth Dive Into These Use Cases
At the end of the day, companies want to make money and grow. Asset tracking contributes to companies looking to grow through WIP tracking and tool tracking. With WIP tracking, you can improve throughput, and when it comes to tool tracking, you can complete jobs on time at the highest quality possible.
This past summer, Link Lab’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, Patrick Li, and Senior Business Development Manager, Mark Wilhelm, hosted a webinar: Making a case for Asset Tracking for Manufacturing. They discussed use cases that manufacturers faced leading to asset tracking, the technology behind the solution, and more! If you couldn’t make it, you can watch it for free, on-demand now! If you want more information about these use cases or want to hear about others, book a demo with our team today!
