PROJECT
Grand Rapids Metrology was contacted by a logistics company who worked with automotive parts. They sought a process that could be done in-house and would increase the accuracy of their logistic procedures and movement along the supply chain. Before GRM’s intervention, the company contracted this process to a third-party which increased cost of their daily operations.
INITIAL NEEDS & CHALLENGES
This firm focused on pre-staging automotive parts for vehicle assembly. They received parts from their suppliers then performed a physical transfer of pieces from the supplier’s packaging into their own packaging. The issue was the company often received an incorrect number of pieces from their supplier. This resulted in inaccuracy and lost time and money to fix the recurring error. Ultimately, the company saw a need for a piece weight and total package weight solution.
SOLUTION
GRM’s solution employed five systems; two floor scales and three bench scales. The process now weighed each piece of material once it was in a box. An indicator would display the number of objects in a box, if the number in the box was correct, a stacking light would signal green. If the number of objects was incorrect, the stacking light would signal red. Regardless of the colored signal, a label would be printed and applied to the package with a barcode indicating part number, part count, etc. If the weight and part count was over or under the requirement, the logistics firm could inform their suppliers that their shipment was incorrect. This system ultimately aimed to ensure accuracy to the number of parts based on weight measurements.
RESULTS
This was another successful solution! After Grand Rapids Metrology’s implementation, the system reported to increase accuracy and efficiency, save time, and lower costs.
Numerous aspects of this applications can be adopted in other industries. For a manufacturing or handling company, the label printing and barcode scanning application can be incorporated. For a company that utilizes a filling process, a stack light could be implement to maintain and verify a procedure.
To find out how GRM can improve your day-to-day operations, please contact of Solutions Team member, Terry Benjamin, by email at terry.benjamin@grmetrology.com or by phone at 616.249.1210.
