Abstract

The ever increasing demands on today’s manufacturers to enable Lean Manufacturing, JIT (Just In Time) delivery and reduced WIP (Work In Process) inventories require an increasing level of system capabilities, coupled with more robust and effective solutions for supporting automation and information technologies. Without such solutions, the requirements manufacturers need to have in place – including error proofing to ensure the part is built correctly the first time, containing potential quality recall issues, preventing missed deliveries with associated penalties and reducing production downtime – would be very cumbersome or nearly impossible to achieve.

For example, build to order manufacturing in the automotive sector requires suppliers to deliver sub-assemblies in proper assembly build sequence, and it is estimated that up to 70% of vehicle content will be sequenced by 2010. Suppliers need to increase investment in sequencing, lean manufacturing and part traceability to meet sequencing demands.

Warranty costs in the automotive sector were estimated at $15B in 2004, and $6B were directly associated with manufacturing issues as reported by AMR Research.