Manufacturing serial number system

[Robtor]

Hello, first post from me.

We are a small manufacturer of products that are marked with an individual serial number and DoM, plus the item details. We currently keep track of these on a spreadsheet and manually input the numbers into the label printing software.

I am keen to explore what options there are to automate this process. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Whilst there are probably simple ways to do this, the most effective way will be using an ERP system and tracking every step of the way, which will bring many more features and benefits to your business.

 

[Robtor]

Whilst there are probably simple ways to do this, the most effective way will be using an ERP system and tracking every step of the way, which will bring many more features and benefits to your business.

Thanks for the quick response Paul.

I'm really not very IT savvy so any help's appreciated. Are there any ERP (had to google that) that you would recommend looking at? Simpler the better really.


Thanks,

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

I can't recommend any specifically, but it will depend on how deep you want to dig!

You could create a system that manages you BoM, stock, ordering, production plan etc - it does mean a bit of a process review change but, if implemented correctly, could revolutionise your business.

However, if your productions is low volume and not complicated, staying as you are might remain the best solution.

 

[ChrisLambert]

Might be worth having a chat with there guys here www.totalcontrolpro.com

They provide software into the manufacturing sector that might be able to help with what you need.

 

[Nighthawk Software]

Interestingly, we had a chat with a customer just last week about a system like this.

It wasnt so much for the tracking of serial numbers, but rather as they are manufacturing a piece of technology, they need to store all the test reports that were generated by component suppliers and then by themselves prior to release of the device.

Depending on your needs - you might find a simple system out there that you can purchase and use. However, as in the discussions I had last week, the testing requirements are quite significant for this customer, so they need to go down the bespoke software route.

If you do, I suggest getting in touch with a local software development company and asking them to build you a system like this. They can then design it specifically for your needs, giving you a much easier to use system that isnt as bloated as a lot of the off the shelf software might be.

For label printing - if you use Dymo label printers - these are really easy to tie in with bespoke software solutions - we have previously built a system that includes direct printing of labels. Saves so much time over copying the data over to the label printing software!

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Years ago, I use something called Web-ERP, primarily for the accounting functions - this was a full ERP system and might be worth looking at. If this feature isn't in there, I cannot imagine it would cost a lot to add it.

 

[Robtor]

Thanks everyone for the replies.

I will do a bit more digging. ??