Page 25 - MetalForming December 2017

secondary framing and sheeting), the overall schedule through the shop requires production to be broken down into batches of parts for multiple jobs. Typically, each department produces parts in batches that encompass work for around eight different jobs. Then, the parts are parceled out by the unique job and loaded onto flatbed trailers for delivery to the job sites.
“Managing that flow of material and parts, ensuring that the right parts— and the right number of parts—ship to each job site can leave a lot of room for human error, when managed man- ually,” says CO Building Systems’ pur- chasing manager Matt Mitchell. With construction crews awaiting trailer loads on-the-clock at the job site, the last things an owner or contractor wants are inaccurate part bundles.
“Managing flow through the shop,” Mitchell explains, “we create cut lists for each department, and track the resulting parts using a job number, piece mark, etc., and turn them into bundles. Those bundles then get loaded onto the trailers for delivery, and they must be accurate and complete to ensure timely onsite assembly.”
Double- and triple-checking cut lists and packaging can leave a lot of room for human error, and so early in 2014 the company sought an automated, software-driven process for managing its material flow, production, packaging and shipping functions. Its ERP system of choice: Adjutant, from Abis.
Knocking Down Barriers to Accuracy
One source of human error, prior to implementing Adjutant: loading the wrong coil of material onto a produc- tion line.
“With Adjutant,” Mitchell explains, “operators scan the barcode tags attached to the coils, and the software matches the production-job recipe to the workpiece material. If the wrong coil has been cued up, an error code alerts the operators so that they do not proceed.”
Similarly, Adjutant helps ensure that companion off-the-shelf parts (hard-
Bar-code scanning, with data processing handled through Adjutant, throughout the production, packaging and shipping process eliminates a great deal of human error. It prevents the wrong coil from being used; ensures that companion off- the-shelf parts (hardware items for example) that accompany each order for fabricated-steel sections precisely match what is called out on the bill of materials; and ensures that the correct part bun- dles--framing, subframing, hardware packages and sheeting—get loaded onto the truck-trailers.
ware items for example) that accom- pany each order for fabricated-steel sections precisely match what is called out on the bill of materials, or packing list.
“As the hardware packers build up the order, they scan the barcodes on each product,” Mitchell says. “Adjutant tracks the order and confirms that the packers include exactly what the order calls for. The accuracy is impeccable.”
The same is true when it comes time to load the trailers with bundles of parts—framing, subframing, hardware packages and sheeting. “For each bun- dle of components produced,” says Mitchell, “we use Adjutant to produce an ID tag with barcode, then use elec-
tronic scanning devices when we’re loading the trailers. The scans instruct our team on how to load the trailers, and then send the relevant data to our network so that we can track each bun- dle and its components. We record the quantity of parts, their length and other key parameters. Since introducing Adjutant into our process, and elimi- nating the human error inherent with our previously manual process, our trailer loads have become nearly per- fect. Adjutant tracks everything that has been scanned for a particular ship- ping pallet and trailer load, compares that inventory to the original job order
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