| 95Self-adhesive materials Epsma roll identifcation labelthey can check one or more stock locations by scanning the rolls in “In extreme cases, only half the it. The result of these scans will be compared with the information in the rolls database and errors can be corrected immediately. The total material ordered by the disciplined scanning and regular counting of rolls is the foundation of a fully reliable inventory. converter ends up actually going Based on this precise data, only the substrates required for the to the customer as fnished labels”current and next day’s production need to be ordered. The only thing to do is estimate exactly what will be needed. This means supplier will not have to retype instructions and can have software a solid comparison between a plant’s theoretical and actual handle most orders automatically. The customer will receive an consumption must be set up. Fortunately, the organization of a almost immediate order confrmation for delivery quantity, date detailed roll consumption system will, at the same time, deliver all and price and can schedule accordingly. data needed for this kind of detailed traceability. When the truck leaves the supplier’s production site, the The warehouse team will put all rolls necessary for the next few customer will receive an electronic ASN (advanced shipping note or hours’ production close to every press. They will, of course, not manifest) with the details of all rolls that are on the truck. forget to scan this new stock location, and they will always take the This will allow for a very easy reception procedure at the oldest rolls frst. The press operators then scan the barcode of the printer. The packing slip of the truck driver needs to be checked new roll upon every roll change on the press. An automatic counter with the goods unloaded from the truck and with the details of registers the meters consumed until the roll is switched again. the ASN. No re-identifcation is necessary, since the supplier’s When a roll is not completely consumed, the remaining meters in identifcation labels on every individual roll will match the roll IDs stock will be the new stock quantity for this individual roll, and a in the computer’s stock database after processing the original ASN new identifcation label with the same roll ID and these remaining data. The only thing to do is to move the rolls – or pallets with meters will be printed. The operator will stick this on the roll for rolls – to the appropriate stock location. Since the stock locations precise re-identifcation. are identifed with a barcode, the operator only needs to scan the As well as booking roll changes, the press operator also books supplier’s barcode and the barcode of the stock location. each job change on the press. The combination of these two will give a detailed description of material consumption on every job. Traceability and inventory This information is then compared with the estimated material Using the supplier’s roll identifcation for each individual roll is the consumption. At the same time this system provides a detailed list third level of an adequate self-adhesive material inventory, next to of all paper roll IDs used for this production job. substrate and material (width). The linear meter counter can be a third-party device mounted Every complaint about an individual roll, whether it is before or on the press, but can also be delivered by the computer driving after production, can easily be traced in the supplier’s production the press. database by sending them the original roll ID. Roll changes can be booked manually by the press operator, At the same time, a system with perfect in-house traceability but today’s automatic unwinders can deliver this information of all rolls in stock can be set up. Every roll can be at ‘any’ location electronically. The operator will scan every roll loaded onto the in the warehouse or on the shop foor. No need to book the unwinder, which sends the new roll ID and the exact timestamp to consumption of a roll when leaving the warehouse and booking it the MIS system which process the data. back in on return. The warehouse is everywhere, and all rolls are Job changes can of course be booked manually by the press in stock until all the meters of a roll are consumed. The only thing operator, but today more and more presses can deliver this to do is to scan roll ID and stock location ID upon each roll-stock information to the MIS, even if only feeding back job start and end. location change. All of this gives the converter a precise inventory. The operations Rolls can be placed into racks at any height and you do not need team can see which rolls have almost reached their expiration to put all rolls from the same substrate together in one area, so date, based upon the validity date on the original ASN, and can see less foor space is required. There is no need to use special stock which alternatives are still in stock. locations for quarantine. A roll can be quarantined by a special scan This does not mean that there is no place for human function and the software will prevent this roll from being used stock-keeping intelligence. You can limit the widths you buy again until it is de-quarantined. to avoid roll-width switches when consuming left-overs, for Counting stock is nothing more than scanning all individual rolls. example. Or you can guide customers to order larger quantities Instead of doing this once a year, this can be organized in groups where there is a high minimum order quantity to avoid leftovers of stock locations. When stock managers have some spare time, for less used substrates. Jan - Mar 2023