Pick-to-light system for replenishing manufacturing kits

A mobile parts apparatus for use in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• a manufacturing kit having a plurality of independent part compartments for holding differing component parts to be used in a specific work task;
• a network interface operable to receive manufacturing kit specification data from an external system;
• a processor in communication with said network interface to process said received manufacturing kit specification data;
• a display in communication with said processor for displaying an overlay of said manufacturing kit illustrating each said part compartment of said manufacturing kit;
• a barcode scanner in communication with said processor and operable to read barcode data associated with said manufacturing kit, to thus inform said processor of a specific type of said manufacturing kit being used by the apparatus;
• and
• said display generating different colors, in response to signals from said processor, for said parts compartments of said overlay being displayed on said display that correspond with specific parts bins of an external parts storage system, to further aid said user in identifying locations of said external parts storage system where parts are to be obtained from during a part replenishing operation being performed on said manufacturing kit.

A mobile parts station for use in a manufacturing process, comprising:

• a manufacturing kit having a plurality of independent part compartments for holding differing component parts to be used in a specific work task;
• a network interface operable to receive manufacturing kit specification data from an external data source;
• a processor in communication with said network interface to process said received manufacturing kit specification data and to provide information to a user to aid said user in replenishing said manufacturing kit with parts from an external parts supply;
• a barcode scanner in communication with said processor and operable to read barcode data on said manufacturing kit, used to identify said manufacturing kit, to thus inform said processor of a specific type of said manufacturing kit being used;
• said mobile parts station further being in communication with said external data source to obtain part information during a part replenishing operation performed on said manufacturing kit;
• an interactive display for displaying an overlap map of said manufacturing kit on said display, said overlay map illustrating said independent part compartments of said manufacturing kit, each of said part compartments able to be illuminated with a predetermined color and indicia to assist a user in replenishing said manufacturing kit;
• and
• said interactive display enabling a user to select a specific manufacturing kit to be displayed on said display from a plurality of different displays being displayed on said display.