(P) Traceability - NC Vision creates innovative solutions: Case Study COINDU

Spectacular recalls are increasingly making headlines (see article here). In this context, one usually comes across the term traceability. But what exactly does the traceability of products mean and why is it so important for quality management, especially for manufacturing companies? Why can the consistent traceability of manufactured products protect companies from uncoordinated recalls, thereby secure the confidence of customers?

The aim of a traceability system is to link the physical flow of goods with the flow of information and to ensure complete documentation of all stages on the supply chain and production. All quality-relevant data of all production steps are traceably determined and stored by the traceability system. This allows companies to easily and quickly identify when, where and by whom their products were produced, how and which suppliers were involved, and to which customers the products were delivered. In the event of production failures, the cause of the error can be determined quickly and an efficient recall of all affected batches can be initiated at the customer. Powerful traceability systems automatically link external supplier and customer data as well as internal data sources, e.g. IOT or robot, and logistics processes (goods receipt, inventory, goods issue, production control). This ensures product quality and traceability in the traceability system.

For this purpose, the systems prevent errors in production, increase product and process quality as well as efficiency and reduce costs.

COINDU

Outstanding product quality, flexible production processes and the resulting high level of customer satisfaction are COINDU's recipe for success. The global manufacturer of leather seat covers for cars (6,000 employees, 4 locations in Portugal, Romania, Mexico and Germany, 348 million sales in 2018) supplies the "Who is Who" of the automotive industry and has been supplying this with increasing sales for years. Traceability plays a major role at COINDU in order to meet the high quality requirements of COINDU and COINDU customers. At the site in Curtici near Arad, COINDU-Quality Management identified further potential for quality improvement. Due to the complexity, the implementation was an IT technical challenge and could not be accomplished with the existing IT Traceability systems. In the search for a suitable external IT partner, NC-Vision GmbH in Arad/Romania was chosen in the immediate vicinity of COINDU.