Successful Digital Product identification

Abstract: The purpose of this master thesis project is to explore the different possibilities available today forEpiroc Rock Drills Tools AB to digitally identify their products, with primary focus on Down-The-Holedrill bits for blast drilling. This report provides a thorough investigation on currently availabletechnologies that could be applied for digital product identification, a benchmark study of thestrategies applied by other companies and in other business areas with similar goals and relatableconditions. Also, a review and survey on key performance indicators which could be connected to theproduct identification process to join data information to increase the potential value for both thecustomers and the company. Moreover, this project explores the challenges with implementation ofsuch procedures.Based on theoretical research, the benchmarking study, practical learnings from an experimental testas well as practical understanding and expertise from colleagues and suppliers, the following fourapproaches have been identified as having the best feasibility for actual implementation, presentedin priority order from highest to lowest implementation possibility considering all factors:1) Inserted tags into drill bits2) Re-attachable tags3) Printed data matrix labels4) Surface inscriptionA survey was conducted towards business line managers to identify customers current situation andfuture needs. The responses revealed interest and motivation for this project.A field test revealed that Xerafy Dot-iN XS tags placed in a top position of the bits had the bestsurvivability and chance for further developments of inserted tags into drill bits.For future work the goal should be to find which approach that can best be implemented to theentire product range. The best option for one product type might not be applicable for other producttypes, therefore a combination of the presented approaches might be considerable to fit allproducts.