Bar coding
Many companies don't take full advantage of collected data.  Used correctly, a bar code system should enhance maintenance activities and improve factory efficiency.

by Chip Long

Each month, more manufacturing plants purchase and implement a bar coding system. Maybe your plant recently got on board.  Maybe it plans to in 2001.  Either way, many companies end up seeing minimal results from their system.

To maximize the investment, you must go beyond simply automating old processes.  Take full advantage of the data collected.

As your department, plant or company re-engineers or redesigns its processes, look at the data you want to capture through bar coding.  To determine if you take full advantage of collected data, ask:
— Has this technology helped us reduce stock outages?
— Have we reduced machinery downtime?
— Have we eliminated paperwork?
— Have we captured maintenance labor and material costs?
— Have we increased productivity?
— Have we reduced the time it takes for physical inventory?
— Have we interfaced the bar coding system with purchasing in order to do electronic commerce with our suppliers?
— Have we reduced receiving errors?

(If your plant doesn’t have a bar code system yet, ask yourself how this could address such issues.)

Although it’s important to collect data faster and more accurately, the reason for implementing bar codes is to give companies and employees meaningful and timely information.

Forward-thinking companies use bar coding to improve maintenance, inventory, purchasing and receiving activities.

Here are some examples of companies doing it right.  Each links bar coding to a total maintenance management philosophy.

A fiber optics manufacturer redefined its processes while implementing a radio frequency (RF) bar code solution.  It increased maintenance inventory accuracy beyond 99 percent for more than 20,000 products and reduced production loss time due to lack of material from 4.5 percent to less than 0.5 percent.

An electronics company redesigned its maintenance operations to capture all labor and material to a specific piece of machinery.  It assigned a bar-coded metal tag to each piece of equipment.  It eliminated all labor and material charges against the wrong job.  This resulted in hundreds of man hours saved because employees no longer had to fill out paperwork and key it into the system.  It also provided for 100 percent data capture.  The company used the information to develop a preventive maintenance program.

A beverage company completely redesigned its MRO system by having its maintenance staff use portable, hand-held terminals.  The results — 100 percent data capture, 100 percent MRO inventory accuracy and less machinery downtown — directly led to increased production.

Increasing total company performance
Bar coding can also provide opportunities in other areas.

Receiving: By having MRO suppliers bar code incoming supplies, receiving can use the bar code system to do purchase order reconciliation at the receiving dock and to track items in inventory.

The bar code scanner can be programmed to verify correct location, SKU number and quantity.  The result is an accurate, up-to-date inventory count.  No more guessing or searching for misplaced material.  The purchasing department spends less time expediting unplanned shortages.

Tool cribs: With a manual tool tracking system, it’s never entirely clear which employee signed out what tools, where those tools are, what the inventory levels are, and whether the tool was returned.

Bar coding eliminates these problems by providing a system to control check-in and check-out, and keep a record of tool user and tool location.  This insures the right tool for the right job and assists in establishing a tool maintenance program.

Additional benefits are less time spent tracking down missing tools, better production flow as a result of having the right tools at the right time to set up the job, and identifying out-of-calibration conditions.

Fixed assets: By attaching a bar code label to capital equipment, companies keep a more accurate account of the machinery they own, as well as know the location and condition of such equipment.  This asset tag helps ensure that all labor and material is charged to the right asset when doing maintenance.

Menus can also be created to assist the maintenance staff.  Just scan the maintenance activity performed from the menu.

Change must become the norm
Most changes in a company require management’s approval.  Therefore, it’s crucial to find the internal champion in your company at the management level.

The second key ingredient is to develop a passion for the bar code project.  Change is always difficult to implement, and without a passion for the project, it’s difficult to maintain the effort.

The last ingredient is to make it an enjoyable experience for the bar code team.  To put it bluntly, it’s impossible to sustain success when there’s no fun in the workplace.

Chip Long is president of World Class Consulting Group, a firm specializing in supply chain management, visual factory management and lean manufacturing solutions. He’s also co-authored three books: “Behind Bars: Bar Coding Principles and Applications,” “Sacred Cows Make the Best Barbecue: Supply Chain Management” and “A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Sacred Cows: Visual Factory Management.”

This article appeared in the December 2000/January 2001 issue of MRO Today magazine.  Copyright 2000.