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Part sent to subcontractor. Returned 3 weeks later. Was it inspected? Reworked? Every step documented.
Solution Overview
Part sent to subcontractor. Returned 3 weeks later. Was it inspected? Reworked? Every step documented. This solution is part of our Productivity domain and can be deployed in 2-4 weeks using our proven tech stack.
Industries
This solution is particularly suited for:
Aerospace Automotive Manufacturing
The Need
You send materials out to subcontractors for heat treat, plating, welding, machining. They're specialists—you don't have the equipment or expertise in-house.
Work ships out. Weeks later it comes back with a packing slip saying "work completed." But you don't actually know what parameters were used. Was heat treat at the right temperature and time? Did certified welders do the work? Did they use the right wire? Are surface finishes acceptable?
You can't verify what actually happened.
AS9100, NADCAP, IATF 16949 all require documented, traceable processes—including subcontracted work. You can't answer basic questions: "Which lots did Vendor X process in Q3? What was the specific heat treat recipe? Who did the work and what certifications did they have?"
A field failure happens. Root cause points to a subcontracted process. You discover work records don't exist, or they're in the subcontractor's paper files that are inaccessible or lost.
The subcontractor has their own quality system. There's no standardized data capture at their facility. No real-time visibility into process parameters or personnel qualifications. No automated inspection protocol. Items just return with a certificate (if you're lucky). Critical processes might be NADCAP-certified, but the documentation of actual execution is missing or inaccessible.
You bear the compliance risk for work done elsewhere. That gap between control and responsibility is exactly what auditors and customers exploit.
The Idea
A Subcontractor Work Tracker connects your facility to subcontractor facilities via a secure portal. You get real-time visibility into work, process parameters, personnel certifications. Subcontract work transforms from black box to auditable, traceable process.
Work order issuance establishes baseline visibility. You create a work order specifying process requirements, acceptable parameter ranges, required equipment certifications, required personnel qualifications. It's transmitted electronically to the subcontractor's portal. They can't begin work until they formally acknowledge. First control point established.
Real-time process parameter capture replaces the "work completed" mystery. As work happens, critical parameters flow directly into the system: heat treat temperature and hold time, plating bath composition and immersion duration, welding amperage/voltage/wire speed, surface finish measurements, material chemistry. This comes from equipment sensors—furnaces, plating controls, welding machines via Bluetooth/WiFi. No manual transcription. Immutable timestamped records at execution point.
Operator certification enforcement adds accountability. Before work begins, technician credentials are verified against NADCAP/customer-approved databases and internal records. System logs which certified operator did the work and documents their qualifications at execution time (not retroactively). Parameter deviation? Real-time alerts to both subcontractor quality manager and your quality engineer. Corrective action while work is in progress, not after scrap created. At completion, subcontractor photographs finished components and uploads: material certificates, process execution records, inspection results, any deviations or rework details.
Receiving inspection validates completeness and compliance. Your receiving inspector uses mobile app to verify: components match work order, required docs present, parameters in spec. Incomplete docs or out-of-spec? Auto-quarantine hold. Items can't move to next step until resolved. Prevents subcontracted work flowing silently into inventory only discovered later. Rework tracked completely: both original execution and rework recorded and linked, preserving full history.
Scorecard system provides long-term subcontractor visibility. Over time, system tracks which subcontractors consistently execute within spec, which hold valid NADCAP certifications, what rework rates each generates. Informed decisions about which subcontractors to trust with critical work. Identify performance trends requiring intervention.
For rigorous traceability requirements (aerospace, pharma, medical device), system auto-generates audit-ready AS9100-compliant reports: process specification, actual parameters with timestamps, equipment serial numbers and calibration status, operator certification at execution time, completion date, photographs. Single document satisfying compliance requirements.
How It Works
flowchart TD
A[Manufacturer Initiates
Work Order] --> B[Define Process
Specifications] B --> C[Select & Verify
Subcontractor Cert] C --> D[Transmit to
Subcontractor Portal] D --> E[Subcontractor
Acknowledges Job] E --> F[Verify Operator
Certifications] F --> G[Execute Process &
Capture Parameters] G --> H{Parameters
In Spec?} H -->|No| I[Alert & Log
Deviation] I --> J[Complete Processing
& Document] H -->|Yes| J J --> K[Subcontractor Photos
& Upload Records] K --> L[Ship to Manufacturer
with Documentation] L --> M[Receiving Inspection
Verification] M --> N{Acceptance
Check} N -->|Fail| O[Quarantine & Issue
Corrective Action] N -->|Pass| P[Update Subcontractor
Scorecard] O --> P P --> Q[Traceability Report
Generated]
Work Order] --> B[Define Process
Specifications] B --> C[Select & Verify
Subcontractor Cert] C --> D[Transmit to
Subcontractor Portal] D --> E[Subcontractor
Acknowledges Job] E --> F[Verify Operator
Certifications] F --> G[Execute Process &
Capture Parameters] G --> H{Parameters
In Spec?} H -->|No| I[Alert & Log
Deviation] I --> J[Complete Processing
& Document] H -->|Yes| J J --> K[Subcontractor Photos
& Upload Records] K --> L[Ship to Manufacturer
with Documentation] L --> M[Receiving Inspection
Verification] M --> N{Acceptance
Check} N -->|Fail| O[Quarantine & Issue
Corrective Action] N -->|Pass| P[Update Subcontractor
Scorecard] O --> P P --> Q[Traceability Report
Generated]
Subcontractor Work Tracker ensures outside processing remains visible and traceable from work order issuance through receiving inspection, with real-time process parameter monitoring, operator certification verification, and automated compliance documentation.
The Technology
All solutions run on the IoTReady Operations Traceability Platform (OTP), designed to handle millions of data points per day with sub-second querying. The platform combines an integrated OLTP + OLAP database architecture for real-time transaction processing and powerful analytics.
Deployment options include on-premise installation, deployment on your cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP), or fully managed IoTReady-hosted solutions. All deployment models include identical enterprise features.
OTP includes built-in backup and restore, AI-powered assistance for data analysis and anomaly detection, integrated business intelligence dashboards, and spreadsheet-style data exploration. Role-based access control ensures appropriate information visibility across your organization.
Frequently Asked Questions
Deployment Model
Rapid Implementation
2-4 week implementation with our proven tech stack. Get up and running quickly with minimal disruption.
Your Infrastructure
Deploy on your servers with Docker containers. You own all your data with perpetual license - no vendor lock-in.
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