Our last week we spend working on the integration of our final documentation and on our final presentation on Friday, October 17th. In addition, we wrote a Management Summary for the audience of our presentation.
Our result are presented here as Management Summary.
Management Summary
Schurter is an internationally leading innovator and manufacturer of electronic and electromagnetic components like fuses, connectors, and input systems. Schurter Inc., located in Santa Rosa, is a subsidiary of the Schurter Holding AG and responsible for the sales and distribution in the United States.
The main goal of the project is to provide background information and recommendations to implement two-dimensional barcodes to enhance the traceability of Schurter Inc’s products. Thereby, it is crucial for Schurter Inc. to meet the ECIA guidelines. The second goal is to give an overview what a voice enabled warehouse is, how it works and whether it is appropriate for Schurter Inc. The third task is studying AS 5553 and giving an overall summary about standards against counterfeit electronic parts.
Therefore, the project and the documentation are divided into three sections, each one containing the current and target state as well as corresponding recommendations. The main results are that at Schurter exist six components underlying changes as part of the implementation of 2D barcodes. To comply with the ECIA guidelines the:
- product package labels need one 2D barcode and are otherwise okay.
- outer package labels need more attributes and the 2D barcode.
- delivery note needs more attributes, additional 1D / 2D barcodes as well as a new template design.
- pick list needs more attributes and additional 2D barcodes as well as a new template design.
- hardware has to be enriched with scanners to read the 2D barcodes.
The software to create the templates and to print the 2D barcodes is 2D ready. The first step for Schurter will be to capture more attributes like ECCN and Moisture Sensitive Levels in SAP. Afterwards, the templates can be changed or designed in a new way. Examples are provided in our documentation. 2D barcoding combined with SAP enables to capture date and lot codes of Schurter’s products efficiently and enhances traceability.
The implementation of a voice enabled warehouse at Schurter Inc. is not recommended. The main reason is that the inventory takeover does not justify the high implementation costs. Anyhow, this solution is discutable for Schurter AG.
A high security level against counterfeit products will be achieved at Schurter with the implementation of the data matrix barcode, resulting in an enhanced traceability. Furthermore, Schurter Inc. has already implemented other security measures such as the certificate of conformance. However, Schurter does not yet comply with a corresponding standard. AS 5553 is an extensive and expensive option to enhance relevant processes.