Achieving higher levels of quality consciousness with Traceability 4.0
Success in building the factory of the future depends on manufacturers reimagining and broadening their investment in an operational stragety that's been around for decades.
Before the vast majority of manufacturers can successfully adopt the technologies and capabilities that industry experts have collectively labeled “Industry 4.0,” some serious work needs to be done. The idea that the future is rooted in the past is no less true when it comes to manufacturing, and it’s becoming increasingly evident that the foundation of a future-ready system requires companies to invest more heavily in traceability, a strategy that really isn’t all that new.
Traceability is the process of identifying and tracking work-in-process (WIP) and finished goods using methods like barcode reading, radio-frequency identification (RFID) and machine vision. As we’ll discuss in this article, it’s a technique that’s evolved over time from basic barcode reading of individual parts and products to a fully comprehensive system that enables the investigation of operational bottlenecks and quality issues. We’ll explore what it means to raise the bar on quality consciousness with ever-evolving traceability technologies.