Case Study: Automated Part Traceability in Automotive Manufacturing

How a leading automotive manufacturer implemented our part traceability system to achieve 99.9% accuracy and reduce manual documentation by 85%.

A major automotive component manufacturer faced increasing demands for complete part traceability from OEM customers while struggling with error-prone manual documentation processes. Their existing system could not meet new regulatory requirements for 100% part history verification.

The initial assessment revealed significant challenges: multiple production lines with diverse part types, limited space for additional equipment, legacy MES systems requiring integration, and strict cycle time constraints that couldn't be compromised by additional inspection steps.

Our solution centered on a vision-based direct part marking verification system integrated at critical production stages. The system combined high-resolution cameras with specialized lighting to reliably read 2D DataMatrix codes laser-etched directly onto metal components.

Implementation required custom mounting solutions to accommodate space constraints, with carefully engineered lighting to handle the reflective metal surfaces. The vision system integrated directly with the plant's MES through a middleware layer that required minimal changes to existing systems.

Results were measured across six months of production, with read rates exceeding 99.9% across all part variants. The system successfully linked complete manufacturing data to each individual component, including process parameters, inspection results, and material certifications.

Documentation errors were reduced by 85%, eliminating costly quality holds and customer complaints related to traceability gaps. The automated system also reduced the administrative burden on production staff, allowing them to focus on value-added activities rather than paperwork.

When a potential quality issue was identified months after production, the system enabled rapid isolation of exactly which vehicles contained potentially affected parts, limiting the scope of the field investigation to precisely 2,183 vehicles instead of an entire production year.

Return on investment was achieved in 9 months, significantly faster than the projected 18-month payback period. The accelerated ROI resulted primarily from unanticipated savings in warranty costs and the elimination of customer chargebacks for documentation non-compliance.

Following this success, the manufacturer is now expanding the system to additional product lines and exploring advanced analytics capabilities to leverage the rich dataset now available for each component, moving beyond compliance to using traceability data for process optimization.