Client Profile
A leading manufacturer of kitted consumer products turned to Artisan Technologies to help eliminate shipping errors and improve quality assurance. The client needed a reliable method to verify that each packaged kit contained all required components and to establish complete traceability for every shipment.
The Challenge
The client was experiencing recurring quality issues—kits were occasionally shipped with missing or extra parts, leading to customer complaints, returns, and costly rework. Because the process lacked automated checks and data tracking, there was no way to verify or trace the exact contents of each kit after it left the facility.
The client needed a system capable of:
Detecting missing or incorrect components during the kitting process
Verifying each package’s total weight in real time
Storing verification data for audit and quality tracking
Automatically labeling verified kits for downstream traceability
An intuitive user interface for shop floor operators to use
The Solution
Artisan Technologies engineered and implemented a custom automated weight verification and labeling system that interfaced directly with the client’s ERP, packaging line, and industrial devices.
Key technical and functional highlights included:
Dynamic weight validation: A high-precision industrial floor scale was connected directly to Artisan’s control software via an Ethernet interface. The system continuously measured each kit’s weight as items were added, comparing it against dynamically calculated target weights retrieved from the ERP system.
Custom ERP integration: The Artisan software communicated bi-directionally with the client’s ERP, pulling bill-of-materials data and individual component weights to calculate acceptable tolerance ranges.
Automated label printing: When a kit passed validation, the software triggered a Zebra industrial print engine over a network connection to print a serialized verification label. The label contained barcode and traceability data linked to the ERP record, ensuring full visibility downstream.
Data logging and audit trail: Each verification event—weight readings, timestamps, operator ID, and serial number—was logged to a central database for quality reporting and audit purposes.
Intuitive user interface: An easy to use touch screen user interface was developed using the Ignition platform.
The Results
The system transformed the client’s manual inspection process into a fully automated, data-driven quality check that delivered immediate operational benefits:
Eliminated shipping errors through real-time validation at the point of packing
Improved traceability with serialized label tracking linked to ERP data
Enhanced quality reporting through detailed, time-stamped data logs
Increased throughput by streamlining verification and labeling steps
By integrating precision weighing and industrial printing with enterprise data, Artisan Technologies delivered a robust and scalable solution that ensures every kit leaving the facility meets exact quality standards.