Abstract: A method of manufacturing comprises the steps of providing a batch of articles containing one or more articles in a common step in a process of being manufactured with a machine detectable tag, providing at least one station in the manufacturing process with a detector for detecting the tag, providing a link between the at least one station and a controller, signaling detection by the detector of the presence of the tag to the controller over the link, and assigning the highest priority for processing through the at least one station to the batch.