Page 85 - MetalForming October 2014

many ways.
• Mobile tool tracking—M3 stream-
lines the tool-tracking process through wireless receipt of purchase orders in the toolroom and bin transfers to tool vending machines. Simply scan the employee, job, part and tool and you’re good to go. It also facilitates the direct dispensing and storage of materials from vending machines.
• Finished-goods tracking—From the point of finished production until you document a completed part and pull it for shipment, M3 delivers unprecedented control over finished- goods inventory. Scan the label on the finished good as you transact each step of the process and the ERP system automatically records the data.
• Physical inventory—M3 produces fast, reliable count verifications and updates. Workers can run cycle counts in real time without having to tem- porarily stop production, make on- the-fly adjustments to part and lot-bin counts and print new barcode labels on the spot.
• Move tickets—Moving physical inventory around the shop floor is quick and easy with M3. Move tickets can be scanned into the mobile system and then printed with a portable label print- er from anywhere on the shop floor.
• Shipping and staging—Shipping also is faster and more efficient with M3. Scanning and validating as you pull the product ensures that you ship the right product and quantity. And with handheld devices, you can print paperwork from anywhere in the plant.
Don’t Try This at Home
Going mobile might sound simple, since it doesn’t take much to get start- ed—a wireless routing system, bar- coding software, a few handheld scan- ners and some mobile printers. But Brady Stephens, mobile project man- ager for Global Shop Solutions, cau- tions against diving in headfirst without adequate preparation and planning.
“When we first started offering mobile to our customers we basically said, ‘Here’s the license, now go do it,’” Stephens says. “We ended up with a
lot of frustrated customers who would end up going back to their old materi- als-tracking system. Now we assist cus- tomers with everything from selecting the hardware and designing the labels to training their employees on how to use mobile, and we get much better results.”
Why the change in approach?
Stephens agrees that the software and equipment required to go mobile
aren’t overly complex or difficult to use. However, most manufacturing com- panies don’t have expertise in barcod- ing systems. And without the proper hardware, M3 can quickly turn from a giant step forward in materials man- agement into a fruitless exercise.
To reap the full benefits of M3, Stephens recommends that companies work closely with their ERP vendor to plan, design and implement a mobile
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