How Barcode Inspection Keeps Automotive Production Moving Forward
Vehicle production is growing. Each automobile requires hundreds of components, making vehicle assembly an intricate dance of ensuring the right component is available at the right time in the right place. At the heart of the action is the receiving dock where incoming components from dozens of different suppliers are received, checked in, and routed to the point where they are needed. This entire process is either supported or hampered by the barcodes on the pallet label that contain critical information.
Imagine the chaos when incoming barcodes are incorrect, missing, or unreadable? Suppliers who deliver goods with unreadable barcodes are often issued fines. Our barcode inspection printers read each barcode as it is printed, strikes out rejected barcodes and reprints a new label.
Readable Barcodes are Critical for Rapid Processing
Vehicle manufacturers explicitly call out barcode label quality in their supplier manuals, advising them that the label is the very first impression the manufacturer has of the supplier. Why are labels so important?
Automobiles are built in an assembly line with tracks that carry the vehicle from station to station for the addition of windshields, dashboards, doors, and other components. Robots or human workers select the correct component for the specific vehicle from a bin and place it onto the vehicle as it moves past. If the needed component is not in the bin when the worker reaches for it, the assembly line must be stopped. Stopping the line impacts the production of every vehicle on that line, resulting in production delays, lost revenue, and added cost.
Any delays at the receiving dock can impact the precise timing of the delivery of bins to the right assembly station. A delay in the delivery of a bin could cause a parts shortage at the assembly line and require the line to stop. Manufacturers need to ensure that incoming shipments are processed without delay. The incoming label is the key to rapid handling, so the auto manufacturers have a significant interest in the barcode readability of incoming labels.
Auto manufacturers have ways to incentivize suppliers to ensure that the incoming labels meet the standards, often in the form of fines. As a supplier, it’s imperative to adhere to your customer’s quality standards by inspecting the labels prior to shipment.
Inspect Every Label with Barcode Inspection
Suppliers are strongly encouraged to inspect every label prior to shipment. Spot inspections still require additional equipment, software, and labor to inspect the label, but are unlikely to catch errors that occur at a rate of a fraction of a percent. Yet, this fraction-of-a-percent error rate can add up to hundreds or thousands of errors per year and trigger fines from the manufacturer.
Inspecting every label ensures that no bad labels are sent, avoiding any punitive actions. The smartest idea is to use ODV-2D barcode verification and validation to inspect the label as it automatically finds, reads, and grades every barcode on every label. Barcode inspection eliminates the need for operator intervention and for extra equipment, software, templates, or manual action. So, how do you inspect every barcode on every label and get a report demonstrating the label quality generated? Simply print the job, that’s it! ODV-2D does the rest automatically.
Our Enterprise, Integrated ODV-2D Barcode Inspection Printers
Our enterprise-grade industrial ODV-2D barcode verification and validation printers enable suppliers to inspect every single barcode automatically. Because the barcode inspection system is integrated within the printer’s footprint, there is no need for additional templates, servers, software, separate devices, or modifications to your printers. This delivers the ultimate peace of mind, knowing your shipments will arrive with high quality, readable barcodes that facilitate your customer’s production line.
With our T8000 and T6000e Enterprise Industrial ODV-2D Printers, the printer and integrated scanner talk to each other, enabling the scanner to know the location of every barcode label printed. The printer’s built-in scanner automatically finds and grades every barcode and passes the grading information back to the application in real-time. And if a bad barcode is discovered, the scanner tells the printer to back the bad label up and overstrike it, so it is not used, automatically reprinting the label without operator intervention. It’s that easy.
Visit our website for more information about ODV-2D barcode inspection and optimizing supply chain processes by ensuring all barcodes are easily read at the receiving location. Contact your local TSC Printronix Auto ID representative to select the right ODV-2D barcode inspection printer for your business.
