Traceability in Digital Industry

In comparison to a typical manufacturing environment where materials make up approximating 50% of the total product cost, in the electronic industry, this percentage is closer to 80%.

Materials play an important role in the product process. Manufacturers will benefit from quicker access to more comprehensive data so they can track and analyse productivity and quality. Traceability systems provide an effective solution, putting process changes in context while detecting inefficiencies and singling out waste.

Research estimates in 2011, returned merchandise costs consumer electronics manufacturers, communication carriers and retailers $16.7 billion ¹ . It also reflected that 5 – 6 percent of the returned merchandise were defective products ¹ . With a traceability system in place, even small, incremental improvements in warranty processing will have a significant impact on overall profitability.

1 David Douthit, Michael Flach and Vivek Agarwal, (2011), A “Returning Problem” Reducing the Quality and Cost of Product Returns in Consumer Electronics, Accenture.