Focusing on manufacturing and packaging stages
Having an organized and efficient serialization inventory is essential for organizations to manage the supply chain effectively. It becomes difficult to efficiently process the inventory in mixed environments that contain both serialized and non-serialized goods. The costs to upgrade the entire system can be exorbitant which is why most companies initially focus on the manufacturing and packaging stages when implementing serialization – the costs, time, labor, automation and processes.
Understand the limitations of different players in the supply chain
Company systems solely focus on the serialization of their products and cannot always effectively determine cross-functional requirements at warehouses. When warehouses do not have a way to effectively manage both serialized and non serialized products, this could directly effect the customer experience as mismanaged track-and-trace methods lead to unpredictable calculations of product availability, shipment duration and reliability.
Handling mixed serialized and non-serialized goods in warehouses
The complications arise when goods once packaged enter the supply chain via warehouses. The procedures that manufacturers follow to make their products isn’t necessarily how users purchase them. Goods are put into corresponding packaging environments and the systems in place need to manage serialized and non-serialized items at the same time.
Traceability complications also arise in the distribution of goods to a third party. Warehouses generally have serialized and non-serialized environments so businesses must take into account regulations, steps to identify serial numbers, tracking of shipments, geographical locations of distributors, and end-users. With the help of serialization, data can be captured and stored which also brings down expenses and prevents lost opportunities. A full scale integrated system prevents the need for additional labor requirements such as manual entries and re-scanning of items.
Importance of maintaining accurate master data
Organized and accurate master data within the operations for packaging and post-packaging is essential. The data must be easy to access and understandable so it can help in advancing business goals. The information required for supply chain compliance and other data regarding quantities, materials and batch numbers can help businesses improve their current systems and processes to ensure there’s competence at every stage. Efficient systems automatically support vital information to share with customers, distributors and regulatory authorities which in turn ensure that the correct product reaches the customers on time. Cloud services can also benefit businesses as they provide compliance which saves organizations time, resources and money.
To conclude, the ideal system should be able to capture serialized and non-serialized data within the same sets and allow companies to find solutions to benefit the end-to-end supply chain. Warehouses throughout the supply chain need to have well documented procedures for handling mixed serialized and non serialized goods. Relevant data helps businesses manage relevant processes and aids in detection of activities, supply chains and warranty-claim information. It becomes easier for users to track assets, containers and products when items can be managed at a granular level and the inventory can be managed and located easily.
At CosmoTrace, we offer premium support and services that can help your business with serialization implementation. Our team of experts will make sure you are up to date with all global traceability regulations and will help in creating a successful long-term serialization strategy.
Need a helping hand in ensuring smooth operations in your serialization efforts. Contact us to get started.