Garage Door Manufacturing: ShockWatch RFID Case Study

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Garage Door Manufacturing: ShockWatch RFID

Summary: The company needs to discover what was causing the product damage and eliminate all returns for which they could be liable

Product Solution: ShockWatch RFID

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Garage Door Manufacturing: ShockWatch RFID

Industry: Garage door manufacturing

Application: Garage doors

Challenge: A garage door manufacturer was dealing with a large number of costly returns because customers were recieving damaged doors.

Goal #1 Discover what was causing the product damage.

Goal #2 Eliminate all returns for which they could be liable.

There are several key transition points in the company’s supply chain where a shipment of garage doors will physically change hands. The company placed a standard UHF RFID reader over the entrance and exit door of each transition point. These are called “read points” and serve as a gate for each section of their supply chain.

Product Solution

Solution: Garage doors are large, awkward, and preassembled before they are packaged and shipped. If a customer returns one that is damaged; where did it happen? Who is to blame?

ShockWatch RFID is affixed to an asset

If the asset has an impact exceeding the tags threshold,
ShockWatch RFID will “activate”

ShockWatch RFID is scanned by a standard UHF reader

Asset condition is automatically entered into your ERP

Factory Floor

Distribution Warehouse

Loading Dock

If the Shockwatch RFID on a particular garage door enters an area unactivated but leaves the area activated, the damage likely happened there. Furthermore, since asset condition is automatically entered into the companies ERP as it passes by a reader, the company was able to begin pulling potentially damaged product in real-time. The company found that the majority of their product damage occurred after it left the manufacturing facility but before it arrived at the distribution warehouse. The company improved it’s packaging and was able to reduce their internal supply chain damage by 40%. Ultimately, annual claims were reduced by 60%.

Summary: On top of quickly identifying damaged goods without a visual inspection, the company noticed a shift in behavior from supply chain workers, because ShockWatch RFID acted as a visual deterrent for unacceptable handling and assigned accountability for supply chain damage.

Extend the power of your RFID program by monitoring for damage

Every company wants to improve their supply chain processes. RFID technology aided companies in improving inventory control. The ShockWatch RFID impact indicator allows companies to leverage the inventory tracking benefits of RFID and the benefits of an impact monitoring program. With ShockWatch RFID impact indicators, the need for visual inspections during the receiving process is greatly reduced. When shipments are scanned, the receiver will know if there has been a potentially damaging impact. If the ShockWatch RFID has activated, inventory can be isolated for further inspection. If there has been no impact, the shipment can be moved into saleable inventory.

ShockWatch RFID impact indicators deliver all the benefits of an impact monitoring program – reduce damage from mishandling, refine supply chain processes so mishandling can be prevented, drive down costs – plus an electronic record of the information. Armed with data, it is possible to track down trouble spots in the supply chain and implement process changes to improve outcomes.

ShockWatch RFID impact indicators are single use devices that are tamperproof, field armable, turn red when an impact occurs and can be scanned with a standard UHF reader. Passive RFID technology is employed in the indicator so there is never a battery life issue to consider.

ShockWatch Warning Label SpotSee Impact Monitoring

Benefits:

Acts as a visual deterrent to mishandling
Expands the utility of RFID with damage monitoring
Reduces receiving times and isolates items that need inspection
Reduces mishandling through awareness
Helps identify trouble spots in the supply chain from production to transportation to storage

Contact us with any questions you have about this case study or to schedule a meeting with a SpotSee operations expert!

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