Re: Work Instructions Distribution
Hi Cove friends,
What high tech method or tools do you use to distribute work instructions to your assembly lines? Currently we use hardcopies with pictures showing step by step instructions. I owuld like to move our processes to the 21st century.
Thank you!
I once worked at a cellphone refurbish site where each workstation had a PC. At the time I was using the paper method, but with the growing number of models (somewhere around +30) we were getting contracts for, this became cumbersome real fast. We had model-specific instructions for virtually every critical task, and binders were just no longer acceptable for timely distribution.
Being the document control coordinator at the time, my solution was to convert all the original files to print-restricted PDF's, and deploy them on a shared server which could be accessed by all the workstations. This did not incur any costs (other than the man-hours needed to make the adjustment), and the binders quickly became a thing of the past. The only downfall was that when updates occurred, some would forget to close their files at the end of the day. I had to let our IT department know so they could force-close the files that I specified, but this workaround was still 100 times better than the paper route, and it even saved the company a little money. Not the most optimal solution, but it was a no-cost solution, and I had to act fast.
That was my experience...but there are a lot of companies that still use paper because they simply have no other options, maybe for cost reasons or whatever. I hope my example will at least turn a light bulb on for you.
Brian
