Implementation Examples - Industrial

Auto Parts Manufacturing - Oversight

The Challenge

A manufacturer of auto parts has multiple different parts that need assembled from a core set of materials. These assemblies move from station to station where workers assigned to each station perform a dedicated task. As the assemblies move, management is unaware of where a given order is located within the facility and unable to determine the time required to fulfill each order.

The manufacturer’s goals were:

To locate individual parts and orders within the production facility
To determine the efficiency of each station and each employee at each station
To identify bottlenecks within their dynamic manufacturing process
To better assess accurate job costs and the time required to complete orders

Sparrow's Solution

The work order sheet that follows each order and each part through the manufacturing process is assigned a unique Sparrow QR Code marker.
Each worker is provided with a badge that includes a unique Sparrow QR Code marker.
Each unique station within the manufacturing environment is assigned a QR Code scanner.
When workers start their shift, they clock in using their badge at the station that they have been assigned.
When orders and parts move from station to station, the Sparrow QR Code marker affixed to the work order associated with each order or part is scanned by the station scanner upon that item’s arrival.

ROI & Benefits

Each scan of a Sparrow QR Code marker is logged in real-time. When worker’s scan in at each station, their identity is logged and correlated with that station for that shift. When they scan out at the end of their shift, their time attendance for the day is available to the payroll department, making time keeping more accurate and more efficient.
As new orders are started, the Sparrow QR Code marker for that order is created, providing management with an accurate start time for the manufacturing process for that order or part.
As orders are scanned at the various stations, the time and date of the scan, the unique station, the worker associated with that station and the order or part being scanned is correlated and logged.
Dynamic information tied to the Sparrow QR Code marker for each order or part provides detailed instructions to the workers at each different station concerning the tasks to be performed and where the order or part should proceed to next as part of its unique path through the manufacturing process.
Management uses the scan logs and reports from each station to determine accuracy of job cost estimation, overall order process timing, bottleneck assessment and to find misplaced or orders and parts that have been “forgotten about” mid process.