From Paper to Pixels: Why Sheet Metal Fabrication Needs a Digital Traveller
Walk into many sheet metal shops today, and you’ll still find one of the most critical workflows running on a surprisingly fragile medium: paper. Job travellers, or the packets of instructions that follow a part from cutting to bending to finishing, remain the backbone of production in thousands of fabrication plants worldwide.
But as manufacturers across industries move deeper into Industry 4.0, paper travellers stand out as a bottleneck. They’re slow, prone to error, and disconnected from the digital ecosystem that modern manufacturing depends on. For fabricators under pressure to produce more with fewer people, staying on paper is becoming a liability.
Why Paper-Based Travellers Fall Short
The risks of paper workflows are familiar to anyone who’s worked on a busy shop floor: instructions that go out of date as soon as a job changes, delays when paperwork is misplaced, and bottlenecks when rework requests circulate manually. In an environment where precision and speed define competitiveness, those gaps cost time, money, and customer trust.
Even more critically, paper creates a visibility gap. Managers and planners can’t easily see what’s happening in real time. Problems only surface after delays accumulate or quality issues reach the customer — far too late to react efficiently.
Digital Travellers as a Connected Worker Tool
Digitizing the traveller process transforms it from a static set of instructions into a dynamic, connected workflow. Instead of carrying paper packets across the shop, operators access live job data on mobile devices. Updates to nesting or bending instructions are pushed instantly, eliminating the risk of working from outdated versions.
Defect reporting also changes dramatically. Instead of waiting for paperwork to circulate, operators can log issues immediately, triggering automated re-cuts or corrections. This feedback loop feeds directly into production dashboards, giving managers real-time visibility into throughput, quality, and potential bottlenecks.
This shift aligns closely with IIoT principles. Just as connected sensors give machines a digital voice, digital travellers give operators a digital channel that connects human work with the same immediacy and precision that IoT has brought to machines.
Industry Pressures Driving Change
The move from paper to digital isn’t just about convenience. It’s a response to some of the most pressing challenges facing metal fabricators today:
• Skills gap: With experienced operators retiring, shops are onboarding less-experienced workers. Digital travellers reduce the learning curve and make it easier for new generations of workers, who are already comfortable with mobile technology, to thrive.
• Productivity pressures: Margins in sheet metal are tight. Eliminating waste, reducing rework, and improving delivery speed are non-negotiable. Digital workflows enable “right first time” production.
• Resiliency: Supply chain disruptions demand agility. Real-time production visibility allows shops to adjust schedules or reroute jobs the moment an issue arises.
• Sustainability: Eliminating paper packets and reducing scrap through better defect tracking supports broader environmental goals.
From Small Shops to OEMs: A Scalable Path
One of the most promising aspects of digital travellers is their scalability. A small subcontractor can digitize overnight, moving from paper packets to mobile instructions with minimal disruption. At the other end of the spectrum, large OEMs can deploy connected traveller systems across multiple plants, unifying operations and reducing complexity.
This democratization of connected-worker technology mirrors trends across IIoT: powerful tools that once required massive IT investments are now accessible to organizations of all sizes.
Conclusion: The Future of Fabrication Is Paperless
The pressure on fabricators is clear: deliver more, faster, and with fewer resources. While Industry 4.0 can feel daunting, digitizing the traveller process offers a practical first step — one that immediately improves throughput, quality, and responsiveness.
By moving from paper to pixels, sheet metal shops are not only solving today’s bottlenecks but also connecting their operations to the broader IIoT ecosystem. In doing so, they create a foundation for resilience and competitiveness in a manufacturing landscape that’s only getting faster.
About the author
By Doug Wood, Director of North American Sales, Sheet Metal Solutions, Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence
Related articles:
- Before the AI Magic: Why Manufacturing’s Biggest GenAI Problem Is Still Data
- AI as a Skill Multiplier in Manufacturing, Not a Replacement
