As a key element of Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing, realtime, end-to-end traceability is becoming more desirable for manufacturing enterprises across a wide range of industries.
And it’s easy to understand why. As more focus is put on the environment, waste reduction, efficiency, safety, and regulation compliance, manufacturers are looking to increase traceability across operations for improved sustainability, productivity, and transparency in their supply chains.
Here’s how realtime traceability can accomplish these ends.
Realtime Traceability - The Foundations For Greater Sustainability, Productivity, And Transparency
Supply chain traceability allows manufacturers to see a granular view of materials and goods as they flow end-to-end across the supply chain, at each stage of production. Realtime traceability means data about this provenance journey of products is up-to-date and readily available moment to moment.
Globalization and increasingly complex supply chains have made realtime traceability more important than ever, an indispensable risk management tool and a key success strategy for manufacturers — particularly in the areas of sustainability, productivity, and transparency.
How Realtime Traceability Improves Sustainability
Sustainability in manufacturing involves the sourcing of materials, and the production of goods through methods that are environmentally conscientious, with a focus on minimizing negative environmental impacts, conserving energy, and increasing worker and product safety.
Realtime traceability can deliver valuable insight to manufacturers about the sustainability levels of their supply chain. With realtime traceability, issues can be rapidly identified — exact locations, the precise nature of anomalies and inefficiencies — allowing manufacturers to take quick and decisive measures to correct problems, even heading off challenges much earlier in the process, thereby preventing recalls and other risks to consumers and the environment.
Realtime traceability also provides manufacturers with a way to verify sustainability claims and maintain regulation compliance — traceability affords a step-by-step record of the movement of raw materials and products (origin, ingredients, warehousing, production, packing, distribution) upstream and downstream across the supply chain.
How Realtime Traceability Improves Productivity
With a granular view of contextualized information on every element of what is being manufactured at every point in the supply chain, manufacturers have the opportunity for an increase in supply chain productivity.
Realtime traceability is a powerful tool for uncovering inefficiencies in the supply chain that are negatively impacting production and yield. Traceability facilitates root-cause analysis, so manufacturers can pinpoint issues and at which point in the supply chain they are occurring, whether it be defective components from a particular supplier, gaps in operator training, a missed stop for a quality check, or equipment in need of maintenance.
Being able to dig deep and find the root cause of problems means manufacturers can identify and solve issues quickly, reducing waste and costs, and streamlining processes for a meaningful increase in overall productivity.
How Realtime Traceability Improves Transparency
Transparency is increasingly a focus for consumers. According to a recent report from FMI, almost two-thirds of shoppers say they would switch to another brand that provides more in-depth product information beyond what is provided on the label.
Realtime traceability facilitates transparency.
Supply chain transparency means that manufacturers, having access to the detailed, accurate information traceability provides, are then able to communicate that data with stakeholders, partners, and with the public at large. When these parties can see and know that the products and practices of a particular manufacturer are safe, socially responsible, and aligned towards certain sustainability goals, stronger relationships and brand trust can be more easily created.
Your Partner In End-To-End Realtime Supply Chain Traceability
For a more sustainable, productive, and transparent supply chain, manufacturers today are seeking out the most advanced realtime traceability available — ThinkIQ has aligned our Solutions roadmap with the 5 Steps to becoming an Industry 4.0 Smart Manufacturing organization, combining the best of supply chain data analytics, traceability, and manufacturing analytics into the next generation manufacturing data platform.
With ThinkIQ’s Transformational Intelligence platform, you’ll have a complete overview of all manufacturing operations, including the very best in realtime traceability with access to contextualized insights — proactive, actionable insights that will allow you to reduce the risk of recalls, increase safety and compliance, and improve quality, yield, and profits.
Transform your traceability, and your manufacturing process, with ThinkIQ.
Realtime traceability is key for a thriving manufacturing enterprise — Reach out to a ThinkIQ expert to start improving traceability for better sustainability, productivity, and transparency in your supply chain today. Also, be sure to download our new selection guide eBook, “Advanced Material Traceability Revolutionizes Digital Transformation” to learn more.
