Overview
What is a Tracking Point?
A tracking point is a physical location where unit information such as the batch number or serial number of a unit is captured.
Every inspection station must have a tracking point defined but several stations may share the same tracking point.
Tracking points are required for three reasons:
Tells a station which unit needs to be displayed. For example a unit passes a bar code reader tracking point. The bar code reader records the unit serial number and passes it along to the Inspect system. Inspect then knows the specific unit that must be displayed to the inspector.
Records the last known location of a unit.
Tells the system how many units have passed a given point on the production line in a given amount of time. It can then be used in reports to calculate the defects per unit during a given time span.
Inspection Types
Serialized: Serialized tracking points are used at stations where every single piece is inspected, so using it in a report will give you the correct sample size for all pieces, good and bad.
Batch (non Serialized): Batch tracking points are used in places where either only some of the pieces are inspected, or the pieces are not identified with a unique identifier. In this case, you will need to manually tell the system how many total units were manufactured to give you the production counts (see here). When you use batch tracking points in reports, a (B) will follow the tracking point name, telling you the tracking point type.
Tracking Point Groups and Types
It's important to understand the difference between tracking point groups and tracking point types.
Tracking point group - a collection of tracking points. You create tracking point groups to capture the sample size over several tracking points. For example, if an assembly plant is building a model on two separate lines it is possible to capture the entire sample size and all of the quality data from both lines through a tracking point group.
Tracking point type - this is used to specify the way in which the tracking point records which unit is passing by. For instance it could be a barcode scanner, RFID scanner or manual entry. This is for reference and reporting purposes only. It does not affect the way the tracking point works.
The graphic below shows how groups and types are used. Note that one or more stations are associated to each tracking point.
Example
In the example pictured below, note that there are three tracking points displayed:
Tracking Point 1 – The tracking point gets its data from a bar code reader that feeds Stations 1 and 2. The unit scanned at Tracking Point 1 is shown on their screens.
Tracking Point 2 – Some units continue down the line and are scanned into Tracking Point 2 which relays the unit ID to Station 3.
Tracking Point 3 – Units diverted to the repair line pass Tracking Point 3 which relays the unit ID to Station 4.
How to Set Up Tracking Points
You need to carry out the following steps:
Create a tracking point type
Create the tracking point
Assign tracking point to tracking point group (optional)
Creating Tracking Point Types
Select the Plants tab.
Click Tracking Points.
The upper-left pane contains tracking point groups, the lower-left pane contains tracking point types and the right pane contains tracking points.
Click the add icon (
) below the bottom-left pane.
Type the unique tracking point type name.
Click OK.
The tracking point type is created.
Creating a Tracking Point
Select the Plants tab.
Click Tracking Points.
Click the add icon () below the right pane.
Enter a Description. Be as descriptive as possible.
Enter a unique code to identify the tracking point.
Select the plant and area where the tracking point is located.
The plant and area specified here are only used for grouping results in the Tracking Point Summary report.
Select a tracking point type.
Use the Inspect Type field to select the type of production process:
Batch should be used when you're collecting data for nonspecific units. These are units without an identifying serial number, such as athletic shoes.
Serialized should be used for units that have identifying numbers, such as automobiles with VIN numbers.
If required, enable Refresh Unit Checklist when tracking occurs. This will ensure that any stations using the tracking point display the latest checklist.
Click OK.
The tracking point is created.
Tracking Point Groups
This is a collection of tracking points. You create tracking point groups to capture the sample size over several tracking points. For example, if an assembly plant is building a model on two separate lines it is possible to capture the entire sample size and all of the quality data from both lines through a tracking point group.
Create a tracking point group
Select the Plants tab.
Click Tracking Points.
Click the add icon () below the upper-left pane.
Enter a description for the group.
In the Inspect Type field select whether the tracking point group is serialized or batch.
Click OK.
The tracking point group is created.
Assign tracking point to group
Select the Plants tab.
Click Tracking Points.
Select one or more tracking points and drag them onto a tracking point group.
The tracking points are added to the group.