Case Study - Lapeer Successfully Overcomes Container Mislabeling with Error Proof®

Case Study

Label Error Proofing to Prevent Container Mislabeling by using DPM

Customer Name:		Lapeer Metal Stamping Companies, Inc
Location:		Lapeer, MI
Industry:		Automotive Stampings
Issue:		Mislabeling parts
Implementation Team:		Account Executive
Freedom Technologies’ Solution:		Perishable Tooling Insert and Direct Part Marking Reader

Background
Lapeer Metal Stamping Companies, Inc. (Lapeer, MI), is a minority-owned company specializing in manufacturing high-quality metal stampings and assemblies for the automotive industry. Lapeer Metal Stamping Companies, Inc. handles progressive die and line die operations. Their assembly capabilities include: resistance and MIG welding through automated,

manual and robotic work cells, heat staking and riveting. Lapeer Metal houses over 65 robotic and resistance welders within their five facilities that are located in Southeastern Michigan.

"Freedom Technologies has helped us solve a major ongoing problem we had experienced with container mislabeling of our steel stampings. Mislabeling was costing us money and affecting our quality ratings with our customers. Working with us, Freedom developed a label error proofing methodology using direct part marking of our stampings. This new methodology will help us eliminate future mislabeling errors, avoid containment costs and solidify our reputation as a World Class Supplier.”
-- Jeff Sibbald, Vice President –
Quality, Lapeer Metal Stampings, Inc

Situation:
Lapeer Metal was experiencing a common problem faced by many stamping companies on a daily basis – mislabeling and shipping incorrectly labeled parts. Specifically, Lapeer Metal was not producing inferior parts, rather they were mislabeling right and left hand parts due to human error or mislabeling look-alike parts that were difficult to distinguish via a visual inspection. Due to these errors Lapeer Metal’s OEM customers had placed them on "Contained Shipping Level 2" (CS2) status. This CS2 event forced Lapeer Metal to hire at their own expense a 3rd party to perform 100% inspections. In short, mislabel events resulted significant added expense for Lapeer Metal, which ate into the company’s profitability, not to mention its supplier quality ratings and quality reputation.

Challenge:
As most stamping companies are aware, the cost of a CS2 situation goes directly to the bottom line. Lapeer Metal’s Director of Quality contacted Freedom Technologies regarding their dilemma to find a cost-effective solution to validate that the part number referenced by the container’s shipping label matched the actual part number within that container.

Lapeer Metal needed a means of low cost part number identification, as a first step of enabling an error proofing method. Rather than using proprietary direct part marking symbology Lapeer Metal wanted to mark the parts using an AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group) approved Direct Part Marking symbology, Data Matrix. Also, Lapeer Metal wanted to mark the part as inexpensively as possible, with no loss of production cycle time. Finally, they needed a robust handheld imager to read the mark.

Solution:

Data Matrix stamp encoded with the part number which was inserted into the tooling along with Freedom Technologies’ new DS3400 series scanner from Symbol Technologies to read the 2D Data Matrix mark and 1D label bar codes, was implemented to solve the problem. This particular piece of perishable tooling is placed inside the stamping tool. When a piece of steel is stamped, a 2D mark containing the part number and other human readable information will be stamped into the steel at the same time. The tooling Lapeer Metal uses is approximately 1 ½” wide by ½” high.

Benefits:
By placing the perishable tooling insert into the stamping machine, Lapeer Metal is now able to read each parts’ 2D mark and verify that if it matches the part number referenced by the shipping label. Also, by incorporating the new DS3400 series scanner, Lapeer Metal is able to read the manufacturing traveler, perform production reporting and scan-to-verify.

With minimal investment cost and process change, Lapeer is now able to prevent its OEM customers number one source of quality non-compliance, mislabeled containers. Lapeer expects significant future avoided cost by using this new error proofing procedure.

About Freedom Technologies Corporation
FTC, formed in 1991, has provided hundreds of companies with automated data collection and error proofing solutions through the use of Error Proof®, FTC's labeling, verification and validation solution that monitors and controls shop floor operations. FTC is the Automotive Industry Leader in Error Proofing Software. Realizing that Error Prevention is vastly superior to expensive product recalls, FTC solutions focus on elimination of errors before they occur. With a powerful group of electronic shop floor interfaces, WIP tracking, label printing, production information capture and ERP interface functions, Error Proof®, provides 100% control for specific shop floor needs. FTC is renown for its capabilities to eliminate “containment issues” relating to shipping errors, labeling errors and quality errors together with lot control data retention as required by the Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation (TREAD) Act. The management team of Freedom is comprised of shop floor integration specialists with close ties to the automotive and other manufacturing industries. To obtain additional information about Freedom Technologies Corporation, Error Proof® or EP Bridge® visit www.freedomcorp.com.

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