Taking Pictures of Outbound Material - In the Manufacturing Shop floor

[Awais]

We have the traditional practice of taking pictures of outbound shipment . This definitely is a very unreliable way of taking pictures, involving a lot of waste. We use this simple $150 Camera
I am looking for a solution which is much easier to take pictures , in all/more angles of the outbound shipment without the person having to move around trying to cover as many angles possible and then take another picture of the paperwork to keep a track of which picture maps to which order , and then have to backup in a local drive at end of each week.

Could anyone help with any better / easier / effective ways , on how you all go about this Outbound picture taking process - in a manufacturing shop?

 

[japayson]

Try looking at results from a search "picture database software". You may find something that fits your need.

 

[John Predmore]

Digital cameras allow immediate review and retake of a photo; I don't understand why you say they are unreliable and wasteful. I don't know how big are your shipments. I think a person walking around taking pictures is a very flexible cost effective solution, especially if you count the person as doing inspection. It would take a commensurate amount of time for an inspector to provide the same level of inspection of photographs, if the pictures were taken automatically with no human involvement. Maybe you need high and low angle photography and it is time consuming to move and climb a stepladder on multiple sides of the shipment.

My first idea was the turntables which spin a skid to shrink-wrap it - you wouldn't have to move the step ladder between photos. Then I remembered that home inspectors use a flying drone to take pictures of the roof and all different angles, which is cost-effective for them. I am guessing your shipment is smaller than a house. Can you tell us exactly what you consider unreliable and wasteful in the current procedure?

 

[Johnny Quality]

We have the traditional practice of taking pictures of outbound shipment .

Why?

 

[hogheavenfarm]

I have always used this method, and it has paid off numerous times when the customer complains about missing shipments, damaged goods, improper packaging, etc. Pretty standard procedure around here to photograph all high dollar outbound items, I also do inbound items (as shipped condition, damaged packaging, damaged product or raw materials). Not particularly time intensive provided the pictures can all be dumped into a corresponding job file.

 

[Miner]

My company does the same for specific product lines as a precaution for shipping damage claims or to prove correct wiring as shipped if there is a history of customer's rewiring the product on installation.

Riffing off @John Predmore 's turntable, you could take a video as the turntable rotates. An alternative would be to permanently mount multiple cameras around the staging area and take the pictures simultaneously.