Because bottlenecks build one tote at a time
Work-in-progress (WIP) jams are silent killers in batch manufacturing. Unlike machine failures, they creep in slowly—accumulating totes between forming and firing, or stacking unfinished batches in inspection queues. By the time someone notices, production flow is already compromised.
Real-time WIP tracking fixes this. By monitoring the location, age, and volume of each batch in the process, you can spot congestion early—and take action before flow stalls.
Start by tagging WIP containers, racks, or pallets with:
QR codes or barcodes for manual scanning
RFID tags for automatic tracking
Batch IDs linked to digital traveler records
Each movement—press to dryer, dryer to kiln—is logged in your MES or WMS. Now, supervisors can view real-time dashboards showing:
How many batches are in each work center
Dwell time per location
Units waiting vs. units completed
When dwell time exceeds thresholds, the system alerts the floor lead. “Press 2 WIP waiting for dryer exceeds 2 hours—check upstream/offload schedule.” These alerts are actionable, not just descriptive.
In one tile plant, tracking WIP helped solve a persistent bottleneck between glazing and firing. Glaze crews were overproducing during the day, overwhelming the kiln load team. By visualizing WIP levels live, supervisors staggered shift timing—and smoothed the backlog in a week.
WIP visibility also supports capacity planning. If drying is the current constraint, you can throttle forming output or schedule extra shifts in the kiln. Real-time WIP data becomes the heartbeat of production flow—visible, manageable, and optimized.
Ultimately, what you can’t see, you can’t fix. Real-time WIP tracking turns invisible queues into visible opportunities.
