A quality defect on a product can have a major impact on end users. A single defective spring can make a car’s brakes inoperative. Bacterial contamination can lead to serious consequences.
Traceability serves two essential purposes:
quickly identify the origin of a problem in order to correct it
measure the extent and spread of the defect
This makes it possible to target actions such as product recall campaigns. For example: affected products may have serial numbers between X and Y or belong to specific batches.
For professional quality management, it is essential to use an ERP such as Silicon ioi that manages complete flows (stock, purchasing, production) with integrated traceability. Simple stock management is not enough.
In Silicon ioi, products subject to quality monitoring are identified and managed through batches (batch management) or serial numbers (serial number management). Every stock movement must be linked to a batch or serial number.
Each quality unit can be placed in quarantine to prevent any use in case of doubt. This helps secure operational flows.
Upon receipt, certain requirements can be enforced: quality certificates, quarantine procedures, analysis waiting periods. These processes can be automated to ensure controlled workflows and simplify audits.
These mechanisms also apply to production, with quarantine procedures before batch validation.
Quality control modules make it possible to formalize essential validation steps. Barcode labeling systems ensure reliable batch identification. Mobile applications allow these codes to be scanned in order to avoid errors.
For industrial companies, managing products by batch or serial number is not enough. It is essential to control the versions of bill of materials (raw materials and semi-finished products) used, as well as the versions of manufacturing processes. This process is often referred to as “routing”.
Silicon ioi enables full product lifecycle management: prototypes, approved versions, alternative versions and obsolete versions. It also manages related documents such as instructions, recipes, photos and quality controls.
Silicon ioi manages the different possible stages of a product lifecycle:
prototype testing
approved versions
alternative versions
obsolete versions
With its integrated PLM, Silicon ioi helps structure a complete quality management process.
For long manufacturing processes or productions requiring traceability throughout the manufacturing workflow, batch management or serial number management is not sufficient. Indeed, batch or serial number management only focuses on stock and not on the internal production flows.
To address this, Silicon ioi ERP offers production series management. This is the equivalent of batch management or serial number management, but applied directly to production processes.
With Silicon ioi, through a simple activation, you can track the progress of products during manufacturing at every stage.
In many industries, this is similar to managing the circulation of containers or bins through the different stages of the routing process. You can count good parts and defective parts produced at each stage. You can also perform stock withdrawals on these production series at a specific stage, allowing you to identify exactly which batch was used for this manufacturing operation.
You can enforce recounting operations at specific stages. You may freeze a production series in case of doubt, downgrade it, or release it once the issue has been resolved. You can also trigger quality unit breaks (creation of a new series) when a specific event occurs.
Examples: a new series (container) may be created if the consumed material batch changes or if a major machine adjustment is required (for example after a tool breakage).
With production series management, you ensure material traceability and detailed operational traceability. In industries such as aerospace, military equipment, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics or food production, this is mandatory.
Silicon ioi helps simplify this management process rigorously, without creating excessive administrative costs. Silicon ioi supports you in the certification of your processes. It is a software solution designed to implement a rigorous quality management system.
To prevent any risk of warehouse operators picking defective items or products that have not yet been analyzed to guarantee their quality, it is essential to isolate these items in a dedicated area. This area must be clearly identified and access is generally controlled. This procedure is systematically checked by certification bodies during audits of your quality management system.
Silicon ioi ERP also secures stock transactions by blocking any movement involving quarantined batches or serial numbers. Specific privileges are required to release items from quarantine.
As a result, when using a mobile barcode scanner, stock movements will not be possible and the operator will be informed of the reason for the blockage. During certification or re-certification audits, you will be able to demonstrate this control mechanism, ensuring full control of your operational flows.
It is also possible to authorize quarantine release only when certain conditions are met, such as the presence of a material certificate attached to the batch or serial number, or available analysis results.
Silicon ioi also provides automatic quarantine procedures during goods reception and when manufactured products are entered into stock. Expiration dates or maturation dates can also be defined. These dates may block stock movements if they are exceeded.
It is also possible to define sell-by dates. These dates can generate alerts or block operations. Thanks to this information, you can organize stock withdrawals according to methods such as FIFO, preventing batches from expiring due to poor organization.
- You purchase products, but are they really compliant?
- Is a quality certificate required? Have you received it?
- Do the products need to be quarantined while awaiting analysis results?
- Do you sometimes receive defective products due to transport or storage conditions?
Silicon ioi ERP includes integrated batch management and serial number management. This secures your material flows under quality control and facilitates obtaining the certifications required for your business.
This management system allows you to use the batch or serial numbers provided by your suppliers while maintaining a unique internal numbering system. It is also possible to define custom numbering formats, for example by integrating a date into the number. More than ten standard formats are available by default, and you can also create your own numbering structure.
Batches and serial numbers can be placed in quarantine to prevent any stock withdrawal. This process can be applied systematically when products are entered into stock, whether received from suppliers or internally manufactured.
Expiration dates can block deliveries or stock outputs, while sell-by dates can generate alerts. Notifications can also warn you when these deadlines are approaching.
The integrated labeling system allows direct printing of barcode labels for batches or serial numbers. Depending on the products, different label formats can be used and sent to different printers. Silicon ioi recommends the use of professional label printers to ensure optimal print quality and reliability.
The integrated document management system allows all types of documents to be attached: material certificates, inspection reports, photos, etc. Property management also makes it possible to add specific characteristics (for example: density, calibration values). The internal numbering system guarantees the uniqueness of batches and serial numbers, simplifying scanning operations: a single scan is enough to identify the item without entering the product code. It is also possible to associate an RFID tag with a batch or serial number. This tag can be integrated into the label. Using mobile readers, you can identify these elements and perform the corresponding stock movements.
Silicon ioi ERP provides highly useful features for stock management combined with quality control. For each item, it is possible to distinguish between approved quantities, quantities to be checked, and rejected or defective quantities.
With a simple checkbox in the item settings, these fields become visible and accessible. This differentiation of quantities is extremely useful in many industries and simplifies stock management. There is no longer any need to create additional item references to manage quality control flows.
In addition, the MRP (“Material Requirement Planning”) engine and the JIT (“Just In Time”) engine cumulatively take into account approved quantities and quantities to be checked. This also simplifies stock level management. Average cost calculations are based on approved quantities and quantities under verification. Rejected quantities are excluded from the calculation.
For every document allowing stock transactions, such as goods receipts, delivery notes or transfer orders, it is possible to specify whether the transaction concerns quantities to be checked or defective quantities. The qualification module allows quantities under verification to be transferred either to approved quantities or rejected quantities.
You can also automate specific workflows depending on the item. For example, certain products can automatically be recorded as “to be checked” when entering stock. This makes it possible to enforce a quality control procedure before making the items available. Your stock valuation will not include defective quantities.
