Many automotive businesses need to keep records of VINs for several purposes, but a greater use case of VIN scanning is in automotive manufacturing. To prove the title “VIN OCR scanning technology saves time, reduces errors and labor work ad costs,” this article will discuss a case of one of the largest manufacturers in the world, Nissan, and how they leverage VIN OCR technology to automate their procedures to save time, reduce errors and labor costs.
Let’s first discuss the wrong VIN stamping and the loss it can cause to an auto manufacturer, then, we will state the problem and the OCR scanning solution Nissan leveraged to overcome it.
How Wrong VIN Stamping Can Cause Losses To a Vehicle Manufacturer
Automobile manufacturers stamp the VIN on a vehicle’s door frame and other places, i.e., sticker, barcode, engine, etc. The VIN stamped on all of these places must match, or if it does not, the vehicle’s destiny is at the scrapyard. It is a great loss to the manufacturer; hence the error should not occur. As of today, state-of-the-art manufacturing plants encounter the issue of incorrect VIN stamped on vehicles. However, it is now rare for such cases to happen in highly automated plants.
The Problem
The vehicle VIN was stamped on the engine compartment at the Sunderland plant, UK of Nissan. The inspection of the VIN stamped is carried out before waxing and shipping. The VIN inspection requires labor – an operator is required to validate the VIN on the engine and on other locations of the vehicle, in addition to the vehicle papers and documents. Some VINs are stamped on multiple vehicle locations, for example, under the carpet of drivers’ seats. To inspect, the operator needs to go into the vehicle and use accessories like a torch or flashlight to ensure that the VIN stamped is correct. Too much hassle! Right?
After inspection, the vehicle was either passed or declared as failed in the case of correct and incorrect VIN, respectively. Some operators were injured during this inspection procedure and went through safety issues. These outdated and highly problematic procedures are no longer an issue because Nissan has now adopted AI technology coupled with OCR to automate this process.
The Solution
Nissan integrated a VIN inspection system leveraging the power of OCR where the VINs were read through VIN OCR technology at the time of stamping and at the end of production lines to confirm the VINs were correctly stamped and matched. This process was coupled with software that captures the images of VINs being affixed in several places throughout the production and then stores them in databases. In the end, before waxing and shipping, the operator can verify through these images and match them with VINs on the vehicle’s manifest to pass this test.
What Benefits VIN OCR Scanning Provides and How?
- Reduces time: VIN OCR scanning reduces the time spent to do an operation. The above case proves this statement as the time taken for inspection procedures is reduced since now it's just an instant scan and validation of the VIN stamped, not going back into the vehicle manually and using flashlights to confirm.
- Reduces manual errors: Error reduction is also a great benefit that OCR VIN scanning solution provides, as manually reading a VIN under the condition of being inside a vehicle can easily result in the misreading of VINs. Hence, a quick scan resolved any errors due to humans reading the VINs.
- Reduces Labor and costs: Labor work, as well as costs, are reduced because, with the integration of VIN OCR, there is no need for operators to go inside the vehicle and inspect the vehicle, which is a reduction in labor work. Also less manpower is now required cuts off the overall costs of the company in terms of provision of salary,. Secondly, the risk of health and safety issues is minimized in addition to cost reduction since medical facilities and aid provision is not required as such cases won’t happen.. Therefore, the VIN scanning solution reduces the effort of manpower and saves labor costs.
Vehicle Databases VIN OCR for Automotive Businesses
Vehicle Databases provides VIN OCR API to automotive businesses. They can automate their business process just like Nissan Manufacturer is doing and can reduce the workforce effort, errors, and times to perform business operations to enhance efficiency and productivity while saving costs.
If your business needs an automotive VIN scanner solution, book a demo with us today, and let’s get started!
