Any new ideas?

 

It’s difficult in today’s world with 6 billion minds to generate a truly new or original idea. The best way to originate a process that improves on what is already in place is to modify ideas and inventions from other fields and change them to fit in a manufacturing environment. Knowingly or not, this happens all the time. The best sources are in the business of doing thing fast. The bat code came from the grocery industry and it has been utilized in a huge assortment of applications since it’s inception. The next wave, I think, will come from the fast food industry and their ability to fill orders paperless and do this with a low instance of error and very efficiently.  No one writes anything down at Taco Bell when I order my taco. The order taker does not yell out my onion options to the cook but miraculously they get it right and on time.

Bar codes allow industry to collect a large amount of data quickly and accurately. Data that can be stored for later recovery, manipulated and used to calculate important metrics and analyzed to make a variety of business decisions for the future.  This invention has proved itself as a priceless commodity to save time and collect data. 

What could be the next invaluable time saving device industry will adopt? I should first list some advantages before managers move on to read something else because this idea will raise some eyebrows and cause a voice of concern.

1.     Track employees location through out the manufacturing facility. Safety is #1. Hiding in the rest room will just no longer work.

2.     Automatically clock employees in and out based on position and time frame.

3.     Serve to improve communication and replace 2 way radios.

4.     Use as a scanner for bar codes on routers and work orders.

5.     Input important data to a central server manually or automatically through sensors.

OK. You have already guessed, it’s your cell phone but remember it’s not just a phone, it’s a computer and computers are irreplaceable in any industry. I’m thinking about a phone app that clocks you in when you turn it on, are in the correct location and are within a scheduled time period The phone and text functions are rendered unusable while app is active unless an approved or emergency call is received.  If someone decides to text a friend or make a personal call, the app records it and notifies the correct personnel. Now forget that it is a phone. Everyone in your plant has a mini computer / communication device inside your facility. Best of all… the company did not spend any money. Everyone already has a phone. Just download the phone app, log in to start using.

Still, skeptical. Give it some time and really think about the possibilities and the realization that your concerns can be curtailed by effective programming and secure implementation.