May 1996 € Volume 6 € Number 5

Conveyor Maker Ends Job And Labor Tracking Lag Time With Data Collection System

We're always looking for ways to make our operation more productive and efficient," says Chris Murrey, materials manager at the Orlando, Fla., facility of conveyor maker Fleetwood Systems, Inc.

According to Murrey, the Romeoville, Ill.-based company found one such way with ShopTrac, a real-time shop floor data collection system from Kronos Inc. in Waltham, Mass.

The company's 58,000-sq.-ft. Florida site, which was less than half that size a year and a half ago, has 100 or so work orders in progress at any given time. Each of these requires an average of eight different operations, including cutting, welding, painting and assembly.

Before the installation of the ShopTrac system, supervisors had to wait at least four or five days for job cost or labor tracking data. "By the time they got the information they were looking for," Murrey says, "it was too late to take effective action."

According to Murrey, pre-Kronos data collection got bogged down by handwritten timesheets and manual data entry.

"We have about 100 employees on two shifts," he says, explaining that a clerk had to pick up all the timesheets, decipher the handwriting, verify the data, then enter it into the company's MRP system.

By improving shop floor data collection, Fleetwood set out to make critical information available on a more timely basis. Other goals included greater accuracy, reduced input time and less paper consumption.

Toward those ends, Fleetwood installed a bar code-based system that captures and reports complete detail of hours worked by employee, job number and operation code. If necessary, workers can also track time on direct and indirect jobs, and be logged on to multiple jobs concurrently.

All told, the system includes seven intelligent Datakeeper terminals (five in one building, two in another) and parameter-driven software that captures the job and labor data as work moves through the manufacturing process.

As part of the company's existing information system, it also includes two polling PCs linked to a Novell network and interfaces to the company's payroll service and MRP system.

Using bar code badges, employees badge in with one operation code, then badge in again with each change of operation or job. Data is routinely collected by the polling PCs, and uploaded from the Kronos system to MRP once a day.

"Before, it took four or five days at best for supervisors to cost out a job or find out if someone had logged in the wrong operation code. Now they get daily reports from the system, or they can see a status report immediately, right from ShopTrac," Murrey says.

According to Murrey, the Kronos system gives Fleetwood the means to more accurately assign charges to jobs. At the same time, it makes previously inaccessible data, like downtime, readily available.

"ShopTrac gives us real-time access to critical information," Murrey notes. "It makes us more competitive."

It's also popular with employees. To badge in and out, all they have to do is push a function key and swipe a badge through one of the facility's conveniently located Datakeeper terminals.

ShopTrac automatically captures in and out times for each job and operation. At the end of the shift, workers badge out and log off at the same time.

According to Murrey, this system satisfies employees as well as managers. "Our people like it because they can get out of work faster. We like it because the company doesn't pay for nonproductive time anymore. It's a win-win situation," he explains.

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National Mailing Service Counts On Accurate Inventory

To stay in the top tier of the competitive literature and support documentation distribution industry, it's crucial to keep costs down and productivity high. That's why San Jose, Calif.-based National Mailing Service Inc. has developed a system within its distribution center to guarantee fast, precise service.

National Mailing receives, processes and ships thousands of documents a day. To ensure that inventory is accurate and response time quick, National Mailing uses Setra Systems Inc. CP Series industrial counting scales in its 100,000-sq.-ft. distribution center.

National Mailing chose Setra's scales because of their accuracy, reliability and bar code system compatibility. The CP series interfaces with Setra's Auto Count for bar code scanning and label printing.

After National Mailing receives a shipment of customer material (brochures, letterhead, data sheets, etc.), it all must be accurately counted before it is placed into inventory. "If our customer pays for 1,000 data sheets, they depend on us to ensure they get what they pay for," says Bob Bourland, literature distribution manager. An employee places an empty box on a platform resting on a Setra CP Series counting scale. With a push of a button, the tare weight (the weight of the empty box) is entered and stored, and the literature counting begins.

When using an electronic counting scale, the average piece weight (APW) of the literature to be counted must first be determined. Due to the many different types of literature and the natural varying weights of paper, National Mailing uses a sampling process. The system prompts the operator to count 50 pieces onto the scale pan and by pressing a key, the scale determines how much one piece weighs, based on the weight of the entire sample. Each type of literature is sample counted in receiving, and the total number of each is accurately tallied.

Through this process, National Mailing knows exactly how much inventory is in stock. After each box is counted, a bar code label containing the APW and tare weight is printed through the Auto Count interface via the RS-232 communication port of the scale. Bar codes play an important role in filling an order by increasing counting accuracy through minimizing the chance of sampling error.

After a purchase order is received, a cart containing a Setra CP Series scale equipped with an Auto Count is brought directly into the racks. The user scans the bar code on the box and the APW is automatically entered into the scale. The scale is then ready to accurately count the number of documents needed. "We are able to improve the speed of pulling material with the use of the bar code. The chance of a sampling error and counting inaccuracy is dramatically diminished," says Bourland.

With the use of Setra's scales, National Mailing has increased its productivity by 25 percent and maintains a 97 percent accuracy rate. "Documentation distribution is a very competitive industry," says Bourland. "We need to offer our customers quick, accurate turnaround to stay on top. Setra allows us to do that."

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