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Traceability Textbook

Home Building an Identification System

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Basic Knowledge
Building an Identification System
Implementation Basics

Building a System that can Clarify and Identify the Flow of

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Building an Identification
System
Objects
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Establishing Association and This section describes the procedures for implementing traceability step by step by using an
Operation Framework example of a typical production flow in the manufacturing industry. In order to ensure 1D/2D Code Reader
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traceability, you first need to identify parts and products and then manage them by linking
Technological objects and information to them. The important concepts are identification and association. One reader for
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This page first describes the method of organizing the flow of objects, which is the initial any speed
and Regulations
step toward achieving traceability, and then explains identification. Download

Flow of objects

There are various ways to view traceability, such as internal traceability and chain
traceability. This section describes an example of internal traceability that is implemented
within a limited range, such as a plant or a company. When you consider implementing
traceability, start clarifying the flow of the production processes by checking points such as:

Are the raw materials and parts supplied from one company or multiple
companies?
Who checks the delivered materials and parts against the delivery slips and
how?
Is inventory controlled individually or by lots?
How are the work reports on machining, assembly and inspection recorded
and managed?

Keep track of the flow of objects from the acceptance of raw materials and parts to the
shipment of products, and consider questions such as "are materials and parts controlled
individually or by lots?" "how is the information assigned, read and managed?" "what
information is necessary and what information should be acquired in preceding and
subsequent processes?" and "how can we change the processes to ensure traceability
effectively?"

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Identification and Association

Identification

Identification means uniquely recognizing raw materials, parts and products individually or
by lots. The basics of identification are to allow recognition of every single product even
when products of the same shape and material are manufactured in volume.
Identification can be made in two ways: Assigning individual identification symbols to each
part or product; and viewing a specific group to be a lot and assigning an identification
symbol to the lot. Individual items or groups to which a single identification symbol is
assigned are called identification units.

Individual management (Serial number

Lot management
management)

Products manufactured under the identical

Each part or product is assigned a unique
conditions are viewed as one group (lot)
serial number and managed individually.
and each lot is assigned an identification
When a recall occurs, problematic
number. The prerequisite is that all
products can be located reliably. This
products of the lot are confirmed to have
method is also called serial number
identical quality. Since all products of the
management because it uses serial
lot have the same identification number,
numbers (unique numbers).
individual products cannot be identified.
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 Serial No. Lot No.

Traceability Textbook

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Lot management allows you to achieve traceability at a lower cost because you can save
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management efforts by enlarging the scope or range of identification. On the contrary, if
high accuracy is required for traceability, you need to make the lot smaller or to select
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Association Download

Association is linking an object to an object, an object to information, or information to

information. For example, assume you have an engine into which parts of varying sizes,
such as crankshafts and piston valves, are assembled. Association is a set of rules to
accumulate, organize, and retrieve information so that you can determine details from the
identification symbol, such as where the piston being used was manufactured or in what
process the connecting rod was machined. It is also called linking, and is essential for
implementing tracing forward and tracing back.

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Cautions on Lot Creation

In lot management, the tracking accuracy varies depending on where you separate one lot
from another. The simplest way of lot creation is to group identical products manufactured
in a day as one lot. For example, when 1000 pieces are manufactured in a day, group the
1000 such pieces as a single lot and use the same lot number for them. The parts or
products of a single lot must be manufactured with the same machine in the same day and
have the same quality.

If robot settings are changed, screws from a different supplier are used, or the person in
charge of work changes during production, the product quality may vary. In such cases, the
lot number may be changed as well (making the lot smaller). When a lot is made smaller,
you can limit the scope of recalls when defective products are found; however, that requires
more labor for segregation management and increases management costs. Therefore, it is
important to consider cost-effectiveness when you create lots.

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 Traceability Textbook

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High Quality at High Speed

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Download 1D/2D Code Reader

SR-2000 series
One reader for
any code, anywhere,
any speed
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Optimized Lot Creation through Segregation Management

Sometimes lots are made smaller in order to prevent the entry of different products in a
production process or to increase the tracking accuracy. You can adjust the identification
units without greatly changing the current production process, such as by using different lot
numbers for different lines to be used, or by changing lot numbers at shorter time intervals.
This method of lot management by dividing a lot is called segregation management.

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Basic Knowledge Implementation Basics

Information to be Transferred and Establishing Association and
Its Format Operation Framework

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