This article delves into the innovative application of industrial mobile computing solutions in the high-end consumer goods manufacturing industry. Through a practical case study of the globally renowned consumer goods company Kao's Shanghai factory, this article demonstrates how the paperless workshop solution driven by the rugged AUTOID Pad Air tablet overcomes production information management challenges, providing a comprehensive optimization solution for the digital and modern transformation of production processes.

User Background

Kao's Shanghai factory began operations in 1993, specializing in the production of liquid detergents, shampoos, conditioners, and other hair and skin care products. On May 13, 2020, Kao ranked 604th on the 2020 Forbes Global 2000 list. Kao ranked 132nd on the 2018 Global 500 Brands list.

Challenges

With increasing demands for production leanification and agility, Kao's Shanghai factory's traditional production information management model, which relies on paper process cards and manual records, faces severe challenges. Specifically, workshop data collection and distribution suffer from delays, high error rates in manual data entry, lagging information processing, and precise traceability of the entire process from raw materials to finished goods is extremely difficult with traditional paper records.

The traditional paper- and manual-centric production information management approach exposes numerous bottlenecks in modern manufacturing environments:

• Information flow delays: Workshop production data cannot be collected and synchronized in real-time, causing management decisions to rely on lagging information and resulting in slow response speeds.
• Poor data accuracy: Manually filling out process cards and transcribing data easily introduces errors, directly impacting production quality analysis, process improvement, and compliance.
• Low overall operational efficiency: Separation of production, recording, and data entry processes creates efficiency gaps, leading to unnecessary time and manpower waste.
• Difficulty in full-process traceability: Relying on fragile, hard-to-retrieve paper records cannot meet the requirements for fine-grained traceability and quality management of the product lifecycle.

By deploying the AUTOID Pad Air paperless workshop solution, Kao's Shanghai factory achieved significant operational and management value:

• Effective improvement in production efficiency: Achieved real-time collection and flow of production information, reducing production downtime caused by information waiting or errors, and optimized production cycle time.
• Fundamental improvement in data quality and accuracy: Through electronic entry and automatic verification, human errors were significantly reduced, laying a reliable data foundation for improving production quality and process stability.
• Operational cost savings: While reducing direct material costs such as paper and printing, it also lowered related labor management costs through process optimization.
• Enhanced management response and scheduling capability: The transparency and real-time nature of production data enabled production scheduling to respond quickly based on accurate information, optimizing management.

Kao's Shanghai factory adopted a paperless production management solution centered on the AUTOID Pad Air industrial tablet computer:

• Deployment of rugged mobile terminals: Deployed rugged AUTOID Pad Air tablet computers at various key points in the production site (materials, production, processes, etc.) as stable and reliable mobile data workstations.
• Achievement of real-time data collection and synchronization: Operators could immediately record process parameters, quality data, and other information on the tablet computers during the production process. Through comprehensive Wi-Fi network coverage in the workshop, real-time synchronization with the backend management system was achieved, ensuring smooth and timely information flow.
• Full-process traceability: Enabled the tablet computers to be used for the rapid and accurate identification and tracking of materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods, providing technical support for achieving end-to-end traceability management from source to destination. This strongly supported Kao's goal of production management digital transformation.