In 2017, suppliers worldwide affirmed their growing interest in traceability solutions. An analysis by Statista revealed that 26% of them had placed material traceability as their top strategic focus for enhancing the supply chain. More than 40%, however, preferred sustaining the product quality and availability.
Fast forward to today, and we know that these priorities run hand in hand. Tracing materials makes it easier to monitor quality, ensure their availability over time, and even reduce operational costs.
The pandemic-induced production delays, logistics disruptions, and quality issues have all underscored the importance of material traceability. Moreover, the price of raw materials has consistently risen, which makes it imperative to reduce manufacturing waste in the supply chain.
The challenge is far more sizeable when it comes to metal manufacturing. For one, you’re looking at stringent quality assurance parameters and a considerable volume of raw material. Then there’s the need to comply with environmental and safety regulations. Add to this – the many different grades and product versions it takes to meet the changing demands of your customers.
Leveraging traceability solutions to ensure material quality across the upstream and downstream is, thus, more crucial than ever. It will help deliver the proper grade of material at the right time, giving you greater control over managing inventories and monitoring quality.
Let’s have a look at some of the key benefits you can enjoy with material traceability.
Keeping the Compliance Requirements Intact
Customers’ requirements for raw material traceability could vary. Some might require digital records to ensure their authenticity. They might request a paper trail of the raw material purchased from suppliers or demand proof of origin.
Let’s say your customers want to check the provenance of metal scrap. The sooner you can deliver credible evidence, the better. And a comprehensive digital record of the scrap’s source is always better.
What does this digital record look like? It could be a combination of heat numbers, material grade, metal stamp, or serial number. It could also include the metal temperature during production or something even more specific.
For instance, strict regulations could necessitate a manufacturing unit to develop a material test result (MTR) documentation for every material delivered or used for, let’s say, a construction job. Compliance with globally recognized standards like the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) could also come in handy.
All in all, a reliable traceability solution can provide you with the platform to connect with your suppliers to develop an MTR and start documenting the material provenance. You can then store this record in an online database and share it with customers through an app or perhaps even physically.
Minimizing Rework and Isolating Defects
The need for traceability is especially pertinent for minimizing rework and identifying defects. You will be able to do that by having a tab on the entire material flow – where it is being manufactured, stored, transported, and eventually used. This way, you can pinpoint the place where a defect or substandard material might have found its way.
Consider this; you’re the customer. You request documentation of the metal scrap used for a construction job, and the supplier promptly sends you all the necessary documents (as elucidated in the previous section). Because you’re aware of the genuineness and quality of the metal scrap, you can inspect the work objectively and validate if it was executed as per your requirements. This way, you will be able to eliminate any ambiguity from your thought process to help arrive at a more objective conclusion.
More concretely, traceability reduces the risk of prototyping or advancing with metal too substandard for its purpose. The latter means more upfront investment expenses and time lost during trial runs.
Avoiding Incomplete Deliveries
Material traceability is also paramount when it comes to detecting incomplete shipments. You’re constantly looking for ways to reduce your inventory and increase saleable stock, especially in times of more stringent environmental regulations.
With a solid, reliable traceability solution in place, you can build a comprehensive record of all the incoming material, as well as its origin. Your inventory manager can then report on the availability and quality of your stock as often as required to keep up with demand.
On the flip side, it will be easier for you to identify any delays in deliveries or short shipments. You can then raise concerns with your suppliers before a problem crops up.
Responding to Metal Industry Challenges with Material Traceability
By now, it’s becoming increasingly clear that material traceability can provide you with a broader strategic framework for controlling inventory, monitoring quality, and effectively responding to the challenges of the metal industry.
Going for a solution that has been fully fledged with the right set of components will help you cut down your operational costs, boost sales and ensure the right quality of the finished product.
Contrarily, as someone on the downstream front, a promising traceability solution could help you fruitfully connect with your upstream partners and monitor metal quality throughout the entire supply chain up to retail. This way, you can avoid buying substandard materials and risk the reputation of the brand.
What starts with the unique identity creation of bars, slabs, components, etc., ends with automated data exchange of individual parts with their downstream counterparts. Thanks to bar code, RFID, and QR code scanning, a comprehensive, accurate record of all your materials and their provenance can be created.
Get in touch with us for more information about how a powerful material traceability solution can help you operate a more efficient, optimized process and save on inventory, quality control, and delivery.
