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Appliedmaterials

Technology: VB, COM, SQL Server
Time Frame: March 1997 - November 1997

KACI (Kitting and Cage Inventory) was designed to be a custom inventory tracking system for a division of Applied Materials manufacturing. It utilizes barcode scanners and Zebra barcode printers throughout the process. KACI uses ActiveX server (OLE Automation) components to link to the legacy material management system.
This opening screen is the order master, which shows all the active orders currently being worked on.

When a new order is generated, KACI must control a terminal emulation ActiveX server to retrieve the bill of materials for the order. This raw data then has to be parsed and structured into a usable format.

KACI's main screen allows the user to manipulate and restructure the order in any way he sees fit. The use of icons gives the user a visual cue on the status of a selected part. From this screen, the user can check parts into storage, pick them into totes for kitting, and generate reports on the current progress of the order.

Some parts for an order do not need to be checked in. These kanban parts are always on location, and work on a kanban replenishing system. KACI will automatically check the order for parts in kanban and update the order inventory as necessary.

The final process is putting the parts into bags for shipping. KACI will track which parts went into which bags. Parts can be put into bags by simply scanning the label on the bag and then scanning all the part labels to go into that bag. KACI will also drive an auditing system down the line which accounts for each bag it creates.

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