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SUBJECT: Lot Traceability

ALPHANUMERIC IDENTIFIER:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Historically, traceability referred to legal or contractual requirements that dictated manufacturers provide documentation showing source of component parts or other things such as demonstrating performance verification. It remains key to identifying the root cause of problems as they arise in a manufacturing environment. Traceability has evolved to being a fundamental component of maintaining quality and now can be broadly defined as a system’s ability to indicate the current or historical state of activities.

KEYWORDS: traceability, lot traceability, back office

OVERVIEW:

Traceability began as a requirement in many contracts-- a manufacturer would have to maintain records to show that parts had been tested to meet certain physical or chemical specifications. Government agencies also mandate traceability requirements. For example, Boeing must keep track of the exact source of all the parts assembled into an airplane so that crash investigators can backtrack to the root source of problems. While traceability is defined to mean the ability to retrace steps and verify that certain events took place, the importance of the concept has evolved to a point where it is considered a key element in developing and maintaining quality systems.

As an integral tool in a "quality" program, traceability enables management of all types of manufacturing facilities to monitor the current and historical states of activities. It allows management to track progress towards goals and identifies the root cause of problems.

Best Practices

In the best facilities, companies identify the key drivers and disseminate the information to the shop floor on a just-in-time basis so that teams know whether they are meeting expectations. While a vast amount of information might be compiled, these companies focus on the key drivers of the business and only print out useful information. For example, they distinguish between information required on a monthly or weekly basis versus that needed on a daily basis.

Current Practices and Changes Influencing the Subject

As a cost center that cannot directly add value, traceability requires companies to make tradeoffs. With computers, there exists the possibility to monitor every activity that goes on in a manufacturing facility. However, management must decide the level of information required to monitor goals and chart progress on a rapid basis. Some goals, must be monitored monthly while others require daily monitoring. As manufacturing facilities continually evolve, measurements effective today, may provide no value tomorrow. Management must always watch to ensure that it collects appropriate level of information to meet its objectives.

REFERENCES:

• International Journal of Operations & Production Management, "Traceability in Manufacturing Systems", v14n10, 1994 pp. 4-16.
• Industrial Management & Data systems, "Materials Traceability," v95n1, pp.10-11.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This is a March 29, 1999 revision by Gene Goodson of an assignment for OM742 contributed by David Wooll.