Johnson Control Achieves Zero Shipping Errors with InduSoft Web Studio Software

Johnson Controls is the world’s leading suppliers of automotive interiors systems. As the manufacturer and supplier of automotive interiors products for General Motors trucks, Johnson Controls Ossian Facility ships seats to GM’s  plant in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  The correct time, location and sequence of each delivery are dictated by strict GM requirements.  Meeting these requirements had become difficult due to the unpredictable elements of human error in the current inventory control and shipping system.  Human operators would often store seats in the wrong location and when staging a shipment, would load seat out of sequence. In addition,  parts inventories were frequently inaccurate, causing operators to recount inventory by hand. Johnson Control turned to Flexware Integration for assistance.  The goal was to eliminate the element of costly errors in the storage and shipment of seats.

Flexware responded with the deign of an automated storage and shipping system that required limited user input and was based of Xycom computers, InduSoft software, and wireless communications. The system uses the originals legacy inventory control software to track orders, supplemented by a Microsoft SQL database. The InduSoft Web Studio application reads an incoming order from the legacy system, locates the appropriate seats in the electronic inventory system, and sends the location of the pallet to the Web Studio client application. The software instructs the fork lift driver to retrieve a pallet form a specific location in the warehouse. It then monitors the forklift’s position in the warehouse and directs the operator to the correction location based on laser positioning. The forklift operators scan the pallet  with a bar cord read to verify retrieval of the correct seats, and the InduSoft application indexes the staging system, directs the operator to deposit the pallet on the correct staging conveyor, them removes the seat from inventory. After the operator unloads the pallet, they system issues an order to pick up another pallet. This process continues until the the system accumulates enough for a truck load.

The InduSoft Web Studio solution slashes shipping errors from 300 parts per million to zero resulting in significant savings by eliminating returns and correct shipments.

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Tri-Phase Automation is an InduSoft distributor in Wisconsin
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