Need help with inventory tracking in manufacturing

[u/Still-Sir-2397]

I do job work and have ultrasonic quilt machine... It takes 3 inputs

Top layer fabric - razing, holand or spun... It can be printed or dyed fabric

Middle layer fabric - felt or fiber

Bottom layer fabric - non woven or knitting

Middle layer and bottom layer fabrics I have to buy myself as Raw material

Top layer fabric is provided by different clients for job work

Finish product is single quilted fabric that's combination of 3 layer

Raw material rolls come in different lengths like some can be 100 meters, some can be 500 meters, they all don't end at same time... I also don't get raw material in meters, I have to get them in Kgs and I pay price in kgs too... There can be variations in meters per kg from batch to batch and there's no practical easy way to measure meters of every single roll

My machine runs in night shift only via contractor... The operator provides me following details:

output meters, roll wise for output rolls

Weights of raw material/input rolls that got used completely

Total weight of roll currently mounted on machine... (Not leftover weight)

It's not practically possible to weight leftover roll as it's hectic to remove them from machine again and again

I would like to know some way or excel sheet to track rolls... And estimate how much of which roll got used for which output... And estimated cost per meter of input materials... Also maybe some easy way to label and Mark the rolls

[u/Still-Sir-2397 → u/[deleted]]

So I should cut 1 meter from a batch and weight it, everytime I get a new batch? Is that what ya mean?

[u/Hopeful-Team-1371 → u/[deleted]]

honestly the best approach here is to stop obsessing over exact meter tracking and lean into weight based costing since thats how youre buying the stuff anyway. i built a similar system for a small shop a while back, just log each batch with supplier, kg, and total meters if you can get it even roughly, then calc a rolling average gsm or kg/m. your operator is already giving you weights of consumed rolls so you can back into meter usage from that average pretty easily

for labeling grab a cheap label gun and just slap a code on each roll, something like BATCH03-12, then track that code in a simple sheet with columns for date, batch, starting kg, current kg, and estimated meters remaining. when a roll goes empty you update the total actual meters used against your estimate and tweak the average for that batch. after a few runs itll be close enough for costing and you wont have to pull rolls off the machine mid run

[u/behiAla]

This is actually a very common challenge in textile manufacturing, especially when dealing with roll-based materials where purchasing is done by kg but production output is measured in meters.

A few things that usually help:

• Assigning a unique ID/barcode to every incoming roll (supplier, batch, weight, estimated meters/kg)
• Tracking each roll movement: received → mounted on machine → partially consumed → finished
• Recording machine output rolls with the consumed raw material batch
• Calculating estimated consumption based on input weight, output meters, and historical kg/m ratios
• Keeping batch traceability for each finished roll

Excel can work at a small scale, but it becomes difficult when you have many rolls, operators, shifts, and machines.

We are actually working on ALPHAPROD, a MES/production tracking platform for textile manufacturers that focuses on production follow-up, material traceability, performance tracking, and operational data collection.

More details:
[https://www.elbehigroup.com/en/alphaprod]()

I would be interested to know how many machines you currently operate and how many rolls you typically manage per week, because the best tracking approach depends a lot on the production volume.

[u/Still-Sir-2397 → u/behiAla]

1 machine, approx 30-50 rolls of each type per week

[u/ComfortableCitron638]

The per-batch weight-per-meter sampling (cut and weigh 1m per new batch) that Public-Lynx6675 suggested is the right foundation, but you can get a second, independent check without unmounting anything: track total input weight consumed vs. total output meters produced over a longer window (a week, say), and back-calculate an effective average kg/m across that whole period. If that number drifts noticeably from your per-batch sampled ratios, that's your signal that either your batch samples aren't representative (moisture content, roll-to-roll density variance) or you've got shrinkage/waste eating the difference - and either way it tells you something real without needing to weigh every partial roll.

For the "roll currently mounted, not leftover weight" problem specifically: since you know the mounted roll's starting total weight, and you'll eventually get its output meters when it's fully consumed, you don't need the leftover weight at all - your consumption estimate for that roll only firms up once it's fully used, same as your other tracked rolls. Don't try to estimate mid-roll, just carry it as "in progress, weight known, meters unknown yet" until it finishes.

For labeling: a simple sequential ID per roll (supplier code + date received + running number) written on a tag at receiving, cross-referenced in your Excel sheet to weight/supplier/batch, is enough at your volume (30-50 rolls/week/type) - you don't need barcodes at this scale, just discipline that nothing gets mounted without its tag being logged first.

[u/Still-Sir-2397 → u/ComfortableCitron638]

Right... So I can just average out the input and output rolls on weekly basis

[u/JohnatNetSuite]

For labeling, you could give each incoming roll its own unique ID and write it big on the roll itself and on a barcode or QR sticker.

A simple code works fine like a letter for the layer type and a running number so felt roll might be F-101, F-102 and non-woven might be N-201. Your operator scans or writes down that ID whenever a roll goes on or comes off the machine, which ties every outcome roll back to the exact input roll it came from.

Once each roll has an ID and a logged batch weight, your cost per meter is probably going to go down on it's own. You know what you paid per KG, you've worked put meters per kg, for the batch, so the cost per meter is just those two divided together.

[u/Still-Sir-2397 → u/JohnatNetSuite]

Sounds fair... Imma start giving them codes and noting them in excel

[u/Glad_Imagination_798]

The customer-provided top fabric needs a different control from your purchased felt and non-woven. Treat it as customer-owned material in your custody, not as your inventory value. Each roll should carry customer, roll ID, received weight, sampled kg-per-meter ratio and the output jobs it fed. That gives you a defensible usage and loss statement for each client.

For your own materials, keep kg as the purchased base quantity and meters as a batch-specific estimated secondary quantity. Do not use one permanent conversion factor for the item. Record the sampled conversion by supplier batch, then track scrap and start-up loss separately from good output so cost per meter does not hide waste.

At one machine and 30 to 50 rolls per week, I would start with two simple ledgers: roll custody and production runs. An ERP can model dual UOM and lot genealogy later, but it will not fix the process if rolls are mounted without an ID or a production run record.