Intelligent Weighing Material Cabinet: A New Paradigm for Reconstructing the Efficiency of Workshop Material and Consumables Management in Enterprises

In the wave of Industry 4.0 sweeping the world, the enterprise workshop is experiencing a profound change from the traditional sloppy management to refined, intelligent operation. Materials and production supplies as the core support of the production process, its management efficiency is not only directly related to the control of production costs, but also determines the stability of the production rhythm and the reliability of delivery capacity. However, most companies are still trapped in the traditional material management model of the predicament, manual inventory time-consuming and laborious, data errors are difficult to avoid, inventory backlogs and shortages co-exist and other issues, like an invisible shackles, restricting the enhancement of production efficiency. In this context, intelligent weighing material cabinet by virtue of its accurate measurement, real-time control, intelligent decision-making core advantages, to become a key tool for cracking the enterprise workshop materials and production consumables management problems, for the enterprise efficiency leap opened up a new path.

First, the traditional materials management model of the pain points: the root cause of efficiency bottlenecks

Traditional enterprise workshop materials and production consumables management, mostly rely on manual operation and paper ledger records, this management model in the current fast-paced production scenarios, exposing a number of irreconcilable contradictions, becoming the core obstacle to improve efficiency.

In the material in and out of the warehouse link, manual verification of the name of the material, counting the number of manually registered accounts, not only inefficient, a single in and out of the warehouse process often takes dozens of minutes, it is more difficult to avoid human error. Errors, omissions, multiple issues occur from time to time, once the deviation occurs, the subsequent traceability and error correction not only requires a lot of manpower, but also very easy to lead to production interruptions, disrupting the overall production plan. At the same time, there is a lag in the update of the paper ledger, managers can not grasp the real-time inventory dynamics of the material, when the material inventory is close to the alarm threshold, it is often difficult to trigger the replenishment process in a timely manner, and once there is a shortage of materials, the production line can only be forced to stop and wait for the irreversible loss of time and waste of costs.

Inventory management, the traditional model lacks accurate measurement means, the actual consumption of materials and inventory data can not form a closed loop, resulting in inventory backlogs and shortages coexist. On the one hand, in order to avoid the risk of material shortage, enterprises often tend to over-procurement, a large number of materials in the warehouse for a long time backlog, not only take up valuable storage space, but also due to the aging of the material, expiration and other issues caused by direct economic losses, increasing the pressure on the turnover of the enterprise; on the other hand, some of the key production consumables due to the lack of dynamic monitoring, there are often shortages of sudden emergency procurement is not only more costly, but also due to the supply cycle may be too long, resulting in delays in the production schedule, affecting the customer delivery experience. On the other hand, the lack of dynamic monitoring of some key production consumables often leads to sudden shortages.

In addition, the traditional management mode, material consumption data scattered and incomplete, the enterprise can not accurately account for the cost of materials in various production processes, it is difficult to identify wasteful links, and even more unable to provide data support for cost control and process optimization. Managers can only rely on experience to make decisions, the lack of scientific basis, resulting in irrational allocation of resources, management efficiency is always difficult to break through the bottleneck.

Second, the core value of intelligent weighing material cabinet: technology-enabled efficiency revolution

Intelligent weighing material cabinet integrates the Internet of Things, big data, intelligent sensing and other cutting-edge technologies, breaks the information silo of traditional material management, builds up a full-process, intelligent management system, and brings subversive changes to the management of materials and production supplies for the enterprise workshop, and its core value focuses on the three major dimensions of accurate measurement, real-time management and control, and data-driven.

Accurate measurement is the basic advantage of intelligent weighing material cabinet. Material cabinet built-in high-precision load cell, with intelligent identification module, can realize the automatic weighing and identity verification of materials in and out of the warehouse. Operators only need to complete identity authentication through card, code or face recognition to open the cabinet door, while picking up and placing the materials, the system will automatically record the weight of the material, the recipient, the time of collection and other key information, without manual intervention, to eliminate human error from the source. Whether it is bulk materials or consumables, accurate measurement can be realized to ensure that every material flow can be traced, providing reliable data for subsequent inventory accounting and cost tracing.

Real-time control allows material management to say goodbye to lagging. Relying on the Internet of Things technology, intelligent weighing material cabinet and enterprise management background to achieve real-time synchronization of data, managers can view the real-time inventory of materials through the computer or mobile, in and out of the warehouse records, consumption trends and other dynamic information at any time. The system also has an intelligent alarm function, when the material inventory is lower than the preset threshold or abnormal pick and place behavior, it will automatically trigger an alarm message to remind the relevant personnel to replenish or verify in a timely manner, to ensure that the production of materials required to always be sufficient to avoid the risk of downtime due to lack of materials. At the same time, the authority management function of the material cabinet can be set up according to the needs of the post with different authority to regulate the employees' behavior, eliminate the waste of materials and the phenomenon of private use, and realize the fine control of material requisitioning.

Data-driven to provide scientific support for management decision-making. Intelligent weighing material cabinet in the operation process, will continue to precipitate massive material flow data, including the rate of material consumption, frequency of receipt, inventory turnover rate. Through big data analysis technology, the system can automatically generate multi-dimensional visualization reports, intuitively presenting the core indicators of material management, helping enterprises accurately identify the peaks and valleys of material consumption, and optimize the procurement plan and inventory structure. Based on the data report, managers can scientifically formulate material stockpiling strategy, reasonably control the inventory level, reduce capital consumption, and at the same time accurately locate the waste of materials in the production process, promote the optimization of the production process, and achieve the goal of cost reduction and efficiency.

Third, the practice of intelligent weighing material cabinet effectiveness: from efficiency to value creation

In the workshop practice of many enterprises, intelligent weighing material cabinets have shown remarkable results, not only to achieve a substantial increase in the efficiency of the management of materials and production consumables, but also from the cost control, process optimization, management upgrading and other dimensions for the enterprise to create a core value, and become an important support for the digital transformation of enterprises.

At the level of efficiency improvement, the intelligent weighing material cabinet completely liberates manpower, shortens the time consuming of material in and out of storage from the traditional tens of minutes to a few seconds, and improves the efficiency of in and out of storage by several times. At the same time, automated data collection and ledger updating, eliminating the tedious process of manual checking and entry, so that material management personnel from the repetitive labor freed from more energy into the supply chain optimization and other core work. Take a machinery manufacturing enterprise as an example, after the introduction of intelligent weighing material cabinets, the efficiency of the workshop materials in and out of storage increased by 80%, the inventory time was shortened from the original 3 days to half a day, and the downtime caused by lack of materials in production was reduced by 90%, which significantly accelerated the overall production tempo.

In terms of cost control, the intelligent weighing material cabinet effectively solves the problems of inventory backlog and shortage through accurate measurement and dynamic control, and reduces the enterprise's capital consumption cost and material loss cost. The accurate procurement plan formulated by the system based on the material consumption data avoids blind procurement and reduces the material backlog, and at the same time, it eliminates unnecessary waste by standardizing the collation process. After an auto parts enterprise applied intelligent weighing material cabinet, the material inventory turnover rate increased by 45%, the material loss rate reduced by 30%, saving more than a million dollars a year in material costs and storage costs, and significantly improving the efficiency of capital turnover.

Process optimization and management upgrade is the deep value brought by intelligent weighing material cabinet. Relying on real-time, accurate material data, enterprises can realize the precise coordination of production and material supply, dynamically adjust the material reserve according to the production plan, and avoid the disconnection between production and material management. At the same time, the data-driven management model, so that enterprises say goodbye to the experience of decision-making, turning to scientific decision-making, managers can accurately identify management loopholes based on data reports, optimize the management process, and promote the workshop management to standardization, refinement, and intelligence. In addition, the whole process data precipitated by the intelligent weighing material cabinet also provides a solid foundation for enterprises to realize supply chain collaboration, carry out cost accounting and performance evaluation, and helps enterprises build a more competitive operation system.

Fourth, intelligent weighing material cabinet landing path: from planning to implementation of the key points

Intelligent weighing material cabinet landing is not a simple installation of equipment, but a systematic project involving technology selection, process adaptation, personnel training, the need for scientific planning, orderly promotion, in order to maximize its value.

Pre-planning is the foundation of landing. Enterprises need to combine their own workshop production scale, material types, management pain points, clear intelligent weighing material cabinet functional requirements, including weighing accuracy, storage capacity, rights management, data interface and other core configuration. At the same time, to develop a detailed implementation plan, clear implementation goals, time nodes, division of responsibility, to ensure that the project advances in an orderly manner. In addition, enterprises also need to carry out the existing material management process of sorting and optimization, to break the redundant links in the traditional process, to clear the obstacles for the integration of intelligent weighing material cabinet.

Technology selection and equipment deployment is the core link. Enterprises should choose mature technology, strong stability, good compatibility of intelligent weighing material cabinet products, focusing on the weighing accuracy of the equipment, data security, system scalability and other indicators to ensure that the equipment can meet the long-term use of demand. In the deployment process, need to be combined with the layout of the workshop to reasonably plan the installation location of the material cabinet, to ensure convenient access, while doing a good job of network debugging, system docking, etc., to realize the material cabinet and enterprise ERP, MES and other management systems, seamless integration, to ensure a smooth flow of data.

Personnel training and process adaptation is the key guarantee. The efficient operation of the intelligent weighing material cabinet is inseparable from the skilled use of operators, enterprises need to carry out systematic training for personnel in different positions, including equipment operation specifications, authority management requirements, data query methods, etc., to ensure that employees are able to proficiently grasp the functions of the equipment, standardize the operating behavior. At the same time, according to the management logic of the intelligent weighing material cabinet, optimize the process of material requisition, replenishment, inventory, etc., the establishment of a supporting management system, clear responsibilities and standards of each link, to ensure that the process and the equipment is highly adaptable, to promote the smooth transformation of the management model.

Later operation and maintenance and continuous optimization is the guarantee of value continuity. Enterprises need to establish a perfect equipment operation and maintenance mechanism, regular maintenance and overhaul of intelligent weighing material cabinets to ensure stable operation of the equipment. At the same time, to continue to focus on system operation data and management effectiveness, according to the actual demand for continuous optimization of the system parameters and management processes, fully explore the value of data to promote the continuous improvement of material management efficiency, so that the intelligent weighing material cabinets really become the core support for efficient operation of the enterprise workshop.

V. Conclusion

In the enterprise competition is increasingly focusing on efficiency and cost, material and production consumables management of intelligent transformation has become an inevitable choice for enterprises to break through the bottleneck of development. Intelligent weighing material cabinet by virtue of the core advantages of technology empowerment, breaking the shackles of the traditional management mode, material management to achieve precision, real-time, intelligent, for the enterprise workshop efficiency and value creation injected into a strong impetus. It not only solves the pain points of traditional material management, but also promotes the transformation of enterprise management from experience-driven to data-driven, and upgrades the management from sloppy management to refined management.

In the future, with the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies continue to iterate, intelligent weighing material cabinet will continue to expand the boundaries of the function, and production systems, supply chain systems to achieve a deeper level of integration, for enterprises to build the whole process of intelligent operation system to provide more powerful support. For enterprises, actively embrace the intelligent weighing material cabinet, accelerate the intelligent transformation of material management is not only to enhance the operational efficiency of the key initiatives, but also to seize the high ground of future competition strategic choice, the only way to take the initiative to change, to be able to move forward steadily in the fierce competition in the market, to achieve sustainable development!