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Component Traceability
System: Design and Implementation of a Global Data Collection System
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BACKGROUND
In today's global
economy each component is manufactured in the location of lowest
cost. The diagram below shows one of the many possible ways gadget with Serial
Number 1234 could have been made.
Its sub assemblies D-A, C and B were made in Thailand and Malaysia and
then sent to the US for final assembly, testing and packaging.
Sub Assemblies are manufactured both by
international branches of the company and subcontractors. For this
reason, the information systems often do not communicate properly or
have real-time accurate data
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| CHALLENGE
The customer returned this
malfunctioning gadget. The Quality Control Lab
determined the failure was caused by a defective chip in component A. As
a result, all assemblies made with the defective lot of chip A must be
recalled. How many other gadgets contain this defective chip?
What are their Serial Numbers? |
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| MY SOLUTION The
complete design and deployment of a global data collection system that
allowed engineers to scan the Serial Number of the gadget from
any computer and obtain component data such as: lot number, manufacturer of critical components used, origin of subassemblies,
manufacturing date, etc.
Here are a few of the projects I
spearheaded in order to fully
implement
the Component Traceability System:
Standardizing
bar code label of critical components (collaborating with suppliers) Implementation
of a tracking process in ALL manufacturing locations -
Design
and development of a data structure to allow storage and access of
necessary data
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MEASURABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
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Deployed
system in 7
manufacturing locations (Singapore, Thailand,
Malaysia and USA)
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Designed
and managed SQL data tables
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Implemented bar code
labeling of 50 critical components, reducing 50% of data
collection errors at manufacturing sites
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Reduced
data availability gap from 1 week to 12 hours
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Created
intranet page to
provide live manufacturing data history per Serial Number
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Ensured system would be maintained in all departments
involved (procurement, warehouse, manufacturing, product
engineering) per ISO 9000 regulations
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