Many mouldings and panels in vehicles have several components. Type and orientation must be checked in the jig to avoid mistakes.

Car owners expect interior door panels and components of the highest quality today. Suppliers must ensure there are no defects in manufacturing and no item has a blemish.

The label must not only identify the product but also assure its quality. Labelling has become an intrinsic part of the process.

This supplier is using programmable label printers to control the process itself.

Process automation

Interior panels have several components and some may depend on the configuration of the vehicle. To ensure the right ones are used every time jigs often have many microswitches and sensors. These combine to produce a set of signals that must all be true before the assembly goes into the press.

An intelligent industrial label printer can not only check these signals but also act as a programmable computer terminal on the factory network. This means it is a cost-effective process control device.

A typical sequence is:

1. An operator scans a Kanban card to register the job
2. The printer retrieves product data for the job.
3. Operators load components into the jig.
4. The printer signal 'Not Ready' or 'Ready' for the press.
5. An operator removes the panel from the press
6. The operator checks the panel and signals 'Ok' or 'Not Ok'.
7. The printer prints a label for the panel.
8. Product labelled 'Ok' is scanned into a stillage for despatch.
9. Other product goes to rework or scrap.

Process control

The processes for other products include manual steps and final inspections. Codeway has programmed intelligent printers to follow the process, print labels and scan the products into stillages or boxes.

System architecture

All these processes utlise the same database and system schema:

Orders

• User
• Kanban
• Customer sequence

Manufacturing

• Process order
• Custom checks
• Product identification (labelling)

Storage

• Stillage
• Location

Summary

This Codetrack system is generally applicable to sequencing and control of mass-customised components.