Northern Apex Blog

Process Control… RFID Has It Under Control

• September 12, 2022

Data reporting can be a very tedious process for source medical device manufacturers. The functionality of the device needs to be spot-on for it to be considered viable in the medical community. Because there is little to no room for error in this process, medical devices must help decrease error prone manufacturing activities, and in many cases also help companies meet the desired Six Sigma goal for process control.

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Chemicals Not in Your Line of Sight?
RFID Gives You a Clear View

• August 29, 2022

There are known issues within laboratories that involve tracking, inventorying and accounting for compounds, chemicals and reagents. If this issue has ever presented itself in your laboratory, radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions will help you and your staff monitor every chemical that enters and exits your facility.

Even if you are already using barcode technology, there are numerous benefits that RFID offers over barcode.

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LEAN and Green – Reusable Totes, Bins, and Containers Impact Manufacturer’s Environmental Footprint as well as their Bottom Line

• August 18, 2022

Every day around the world companies ship, transport, move, carry, deliver, or receive things. The cardboard, paper, plastic and other materials used to transport these things from here to there are often disposable and much of it ends up in the landfill. In addition to having a significant influence on a company’s finances as a resource that must be continually replenished, disposable containers impact their carbon footprint and ecological impact at a time when companies are actively striving to be good environmental citizens. The use of reusable totes, bins, pallets, gaylords, and other containers is growing at a rapid rate as companies continue to look for ways to reduce both their expenses and environmental impact.

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Order Fulfilment Technology that Impacts the Bottom Line

• Jun 24, 2022

Because concepts like omnichannel and online sales are changing the way companies do business vision and clarity in manufacturing, sorting, warehousing, and shipping of products is more critical than ever. Completing these tasks with accuracy is critical to a company’s bottom line.

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Physical Asset Management

• Jun 13, 2022

Today there are many technologies to help ease the daily tasks of Asset Managers who are responsible for a company’s physical assets. These assets can, for some companies, be valued in the millions of dollars. Of the available technologies few solve more property management headaches than the use of Auto-ID platforms like barcodes and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

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Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0 - Why do I care?

• May 26, 2022

Manufacturers often find their products being sold through distribution channels they had not agreed upon or intended. These unauthorized channels, also called the grey market, though legal and consisting of genuine products, have serious consequences for the original manufacturer or brand owner. A different issue but posing many of the same problems and challenges are counterfeit products. Methods of combating counterfeit products vary depending on the sales models OEMs use to deliver products to market.

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Cross-docking Solutions Explained

• Apr 18, 2022

A company moves a certain number of items per pallet to another facility. By simply adding an RFID label to each box during the production process it can be guaranteed that not only the right number of units were shipped, but that the right units themselves were shipped.

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RETURNABLE TRANSPORT ITEMS

• Mar 28, 2022

In manufacturing, parts are commonly transported from suppliers (both internal and external) to assembly lines in totes, bins or other forms of returnable transport containers. To work efficiently it is vital that the location of these containers is monitored and tracked. This task often proves too labor-intensive to do manually.

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PROPERTY ASSET TRACKING

• Feb 2, 2022

Maintaining accurate records of fixed assets can be a time consuming and expensive task for any company. Items like IT equipment, office equipment, and tools all have value. Tracking these items can increase bottom line profits. Rather than wasting time searching for and replacing lost assets, you can keep track of all your valuable assets with a convenient, easy to use complete asset tracking system that is regularly managed. Often, solutions in this field are integrated into larger ERP systems, but they can be stand-alone solutions too.

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Manufacturers Combat Grey market and Counterfeit Products Challenges

• Jan 12, 2022

Manufacturers have more information available to them today than at any other point in history. The issue for most leaders and decision makers is the relevancy of that information. In its simplest form, the Internet of Things is the capability of a device to post key or critical information about itself over a communication link to other systems, either on in internal network or out to the cloud, for the purpose of decision making or controlling other activities. In the manufacturing world, whether it’s an oven baking ceramics, a machine stacking bottles or time critical operations reporting an input conveyor being empty, the ability to better deliver the information from those devices to those responsible for the systems performance, is the reason the Internet of Things has moved from your house or car to the manufacturing floor.

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Case Study: Shipping the Right Product to the Right Customer

• December 14, 2021

Delivering the right product to the right customer is the lifeblood of any business-but especially so in the Third Party Logistics (3PL) industry. In this case study, we will detail a 3PL company that had the problem of shipping incorrect items of clothing from their warehouse to retail stores. They were dealing with a common problem in outbound order fulfillment: due to human error, the wrong sizes or colors of product were sometimes being shipped out to retailers. The resulting chargebacks to the 3PL supplier drove up operating expenses and were potentially damaging their business relationships.

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Tool Tracking

• November 06, 2021

For a business owner or manager it’s a frustrating and difficult task to track, manage and keep records on the handheld tools, production tooling and fixtures, dies, and castings that are the lifeblood of your operation.

Each category of tool has specific tracking and accounting issues that when addressed have been proven to show a significant return on investment.

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Northern Apex Innovation is Covered by Regional Publication

• July 7, 2017

Recently the latest Northern Apex Innovation was Covered by Regional Publication 'Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly.'

The story relates Northern Apex's development of the IoT Tech Control Platform Modules which help Manufacturers 'Get up to Speed' by allowing them to update existing, legacy equipment to be part of the Industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT). The Northern Apex IoT Tech Control Platforms are solutions allowing the integration of connectivity and data collection for new or pre-existing devices without requiring a redesign of the product, device or equipment. They are designed to give control of IoT networks at the 'edge', i.e. putting some decision making into the hands of smart machinery allowing real-time data processing and saves on overall bandwidth.

Read the full article from Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly

American Woodmark Corporation, Wins Innovation Award of Excellence at APICS 2015

• October 19, 2015

Northern Apex Corporation congratulates American Woodmark Corporation, on winning the Innovation Award of Excellence at APICS 2015. Northern Apex designed and integrated the enterprise wide, RFID solution that earned this award. APICS is the premier professional association for supply chain and operations management. The awards were awarded in Las Vegas.

Innovation Award