CipherLab and CodeWare Connect Cabling Giant PRAKAB, Return 300,000USD in Savings
Profile
Established in Prague in 1919, PRAKAB is Europe's premier manufacturer of cabling products. Privately owned by the SKW Group, the company installed an Oracle-based database system in 2002 to streamline its operations and to facilitate communication with its home office in Austria. PRAKAB then gave systems integrator CodeWare a challenge: design a complementary data capture system to more fully automate manufacturing work processes.
CodeWare selected CipherLab and its versatile hardware for the project, initially utilizing the CipherLab 720 portable terminals before upgrading to the CipherLab 8370 Wireless Light Industrial Mobile Computers in 2005.
Deployment
Over a two-month period in 2002, CodeWare bundled the CipherLab handheld terminals with its Application Generator software and networked them to fixed terminals at master stations within the PRAKAB complex. All raw materials, machinery and finished products were given unique barcodes to streamline the work process (start machine, add material components, etc.). Each master station was designed to support up to 18 mobile terminals, and enabled employees to collect and transmit data in batches to PRAKAB's existing Oracle database via a standard LAN connection.
In less than six months, the CipherLab deployment returned PRAKAB's initial investment of €300,000 through the elimination of costly input errors and downtime, estimated at approximately 10 work days per year. Ordering response time was shortened to two hours.
In 2005, CodeWare and PRAKAB upgraded the data collection system to incorporate CipherLab's 8370 Wireless Light Industrial Mobile Computers. For an industrial customer such as PRAKAB, the 8370‘s cost effectiveness was a very important consideration: not only does it have the rugged durability needed for the warehouse setting, it is easy to use and adaptable to any communications platform. At PRAKAB, it enabled bi-directional communication from the field to the main system, and further shortened response time from two hours to 30 minutes.
About the CipherLab 8370 Wireless Light Industrial Mobile Computer CipherLab's 8370 handheld mobile computer is ideal for use in demanding warehouse, manufacturing, distribution and retail logistics settings and is compatible with multiple wireless platforms for instant access to networked devices. With an industrial index of IP65, an easy-to-read backlit LCD screen, 350-meter coverage and up to 40 hours of battery life, it is able to function effortlessly in harsh environments.
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