The route card that went through the washer
The route card travels with the parts in a plastic wallet. It lists the operations: saw, turn, mill, deburr, anodise, inspect. Each operator signs and dates their operation and writes the quantity. By the time the job reaches final inspection, the card has been dropped, soaked in coolant and signed by someone who wrote the wrong date.
One card went into the parts washer with the parts. Another was lost when a batch was split across two machines. The customer's auditor wants to see the signed route card for a job shipped last year.
Why paper route cards keep failing
Route cards are a good idea done on the wrong medium. They carry the job's history, but there is only one copy, it is fragile, and it cannot tell anyone anything until someone physically reads it.
- The only record of who did each operation is on one piece of card.
- Split batches need a second card that is written by hand.
- Operations can be signed out of sequence or skipped without anyone noticing.
- Quantities written at each stage are not checked against each other.
- Completed cards are filed and effectively lost for search.
What it costs you
Traceability gaps when a customer asks who made a part and on which machine. Skipped operations, such as a deburr or a wash, that are only found by the customer. Quantity discrepancies found at dispatch. Office time spent retyping completed cards into the system or searching archive boxes for an audit.
The digital route card we build
- The operation list for each job comes from your MRP or job planning, with the drawing revision and any notes for each operation.
- A printed label or card with a barcode travels with the parts, but it holds no data. The record is in the system.
- At each operation, the operator scans the job and their badge. The operation is signed off with machine, time, quantity in and quantity out.
- Operations cannot be signed out of sequence unless a supervisor approves it with a reason.
- Quantity out of one operation must match quantity in to the next, allowing for recorded scrap. Differences are flagged.
- Split batches get their own child barcode, linked to the parent job, so each part of the batch keeps its history.
- The complete route record is stored with the job and can be printed or exported for a customer or auditor.
| On paper | With a digital route card |
|---|---|
| One fragile copy | Record held in the system, label on the parts |
| Signatures and dates by hand | Scan of operator badge with time |
| Skipped operations unnoticed | Out of sequence sign off blocked |
| Quantities not checked | In and out quantities reconciled |
| Filed in a box | Searchable by job, part, operator or date |
What the shop floor and the office notice
Operators scan instead of writing. Supervisors can see which operation every job is at without walking the floor. The office no longer retypes completed cards, and quantity problems appear at the operation where they happen, not at packing. When the auditor asks for a job from last year, the route record is on screen in seconds, with every operator, machine and time.
The same scans feed other things you may want later, such as order status for customers and actual times against quotes.
Route changes become cleaner as well. When engineering adds an operation, for example a stress relieve before finish machining, it is added to the job's route in one place and every operator sees it at the right point, instead of relying on a handwritten note squeezed onto the card.
Are route cards your weak link?
- Route cards have been lost or damaged.
- Split batches are tracked on handwritten cards.
- Operations have been skipped without anyone noticing.
- Completed cards are retyped or boxed.
- Audits mean searching for old paperwork.