Incoming Goods

Three Biggest Operational Challenges in Incoming Goods

Incomplete or Delayed Material Information from ERP or Suppliers

Materials often arrive with missing or mismatched data (e.g., packaging, batch IDs, expiration), leading to delays in inspection, registration, and staging for production.

Lack of Traceability for Materials and Components

Without clear linkage between received goods and production usage, it becomes difficult to trace material-related quality issues or verify compliance (e.g., ROHS, MSL).

Manual or Paper-Based Receiving Processes

Paper forms and spreadsheets are still used in many factories for receiving and inspection, which are error-prone and make it hard to track non-conformities or vendor performance.

Key Personas Involved in Incoming Goods

Wendy the Warehouse Operator

Scans and verifies materials against purchase orders, checks labels, handles physical reception and staging of goods.

Willy the Warehouse Manager (Larry the Logistics Manager)

Plans inbound deliveries, monitors material flow and locations, oversees receiving accuracy and space allocation.

Quincy the Quality Engineer (Quentin the Quality Manager)

Performs incoming inspections and checks for specification compliance, shelf-life, certifications, and non-conformities.

Simone the Supply Chain Manager (Petra the Procurement Manager)

Ensures correct materials are ordered and aligned with production needs, collaborates with suppliers and monitors delivery schedules.

Pete the Production Manager (Phil the Production Engineer)

Coordinates material availability for production lines, flags critical items, and ensures pre-staging of high-priority components.

Five High-Value Use Cases for MBrain and Mint

1. Use Case: Digital Receiving and Goods Verification

Challenge: Manual verification of deliveries leads to delays, mismatches, and hard-to-audit records.

How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain provides a digital receiving station interface that pulls expected deliveries from ERP. Scanned material IDs and quantities are instantly verified. Mint synchronizes delivery data and provides real-time feedback on receiving completeness and issues.

Benefit: Faster, error-free receiving with full digital records for traceability and auditability.

2. Use Case: Material Traceability with Batch and Serial Tracking

Challenge: Missing traceability of raw material usage in production or repairs hampers quality investigations and regulatory compliance.

How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain attaches batch or serial identifiers to each incoming item and links them to process steps and end products. Mint integrates this with ERP and MES for cross-system traceability (e.g., from delivery to final product).

Benefit: End-to-end material traceability supporting root cause analysis, recalls, and compliance (e.g. ISO, automotive standards).

3. Use Case: Automated Quality Checks at Goods Receipt

Challenge: Incoming inspections are often skipped or poorly documented due to time constraints or manual processes.

How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain supports rule-based inspection workflows triggered by supplier, material type, or lot size. Quality checks and test data (visual, dimensional, certifications) are stored directly in the material record.

Benefit: Higher quality assurance at the gate with clear pass/fail history and supplier accountability.

4. Use Case: Real-Time Non-Conformance and Hold Management

Challenge: Defective goods are not flagged or segregated properly, leading to production disruptions and rework.

How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain enables operators or inspectors to instantly raise non-conformance issues during receiving. Mint updates ERP and inventory status to place goods on hold, trigger escalations, or initiate supplier return workflows.

Benefit: Prevents defective materials from entering production while speeding up corrective actions and supplier claims.

5. Use Case: Incoming Goods Analytics and Vendor Performance Monitoring

Challenge: No consolidated view of supplier quality, delivery performance, or incoming inspection trends.

How MBrain + Mint helps: MBrain logs all receiving, inspection, and rejection events tied to each supplier and material. Mint visualizes trends and KPIs like delivery accuracy, defect rates, and lead times in dashboards or BI tools.

Benefit: Enables continuous improvement, better supplier negotiations, and data-driven sourcing decisions.