Case Study: Production Counting

Airmate Selkirk, located in Winters, Texas uses fixed position barcode scanners and Cornerstone Automation Systems, Inc. (CASI) to automatically collect real time production data and verify correct items are being shipped.

The Production Counting Problem

Airmate-Selkirk manufactures air vents and grills in its Winters, Texas manufacturing facility and ships them to retail outlets such as Home Depot and Lowes, as well as building wholesalers. With today’s complex and competitive marketplace, Airmate-Selkirk needed to get real time production data from the floor and automate the scanning of items into their enterprise system in order to reduce the touch labor involved.

Solution for Production Counting

In order to eliminate the problems and provide a competitive edge, CASI was contracted to install a production counting system using their standard SolidCount™ software.

Production Counting System Overview

Handheld scanning using RF terminals were used in the past but this method was too slow and cumbersome. A secondary problem was that the RF unit did not provide conformation that the scanned item was successfully transmitted to the AS400 host located remotely in Dallas, Texas.

In addition to the labor savings of the system, the SolidCount™ system provides reports giving management a realtime view of the manufacturing operation. More advance reports are also available for systems like this using the SolidWebReports Module.

The SolidCount™ system as installed for Airmate-Selkirk utilizes fixed position barcode scanners, a CASI 1050 Industrial Computer and SolidComm™ software to achieve a very rapid & efficient carton scanning and production counting system.

Hardware Description

The SolidCount™ system as installed for Airmate-Selkirk utilizes fixed position barcode scanners, a CASI 1050 Industrial Computer and SolidComm™ software to achieve a very rapid & efficient carton scanning and production counting system.

CASI-1050 Industrial Computer

The Model 1050 control console (item now replaced by 1100AC) is a single point interface that controls the entire SolidCount™ system. The conveyor control console consists of an Intel based motherboard with a Pentium IV processor, Intel Raid 1(mirrored) 80 GB hard drives, and a 17 inch high resolution monitor.

Data Logic DS6300 Fixed Position Scanner

The recent introduction of the new Datalogic DS6300 provides integrators with an extremely powerful scanner with performance on par with much larger and expensive units. The DS6300 was chosen for this application due to the poorly printed and often damaged UPC barcodes and the sizable depth of field required. The read rate of the DS6300 in this application is over 99% and has changed many minds at Selkirk about fixed position barcode scanner performance. Before the CASI SolidCount™ system was installed, another vendors unit was used in attempt to perform this application and failed miserably. It is the opinion of the engineering staff at CASI that only the DS6300 would provide an adequate read rate in this difficult application.

Data Logic Gryphon Hand Held Scanner

The Datalogic Gryphon was chosen due to high degree of visual operator feedback, as it has a large green light on the gun and projects a green dot on a successfully scanned barcode. CASI has found that typical retail scanners from other manufacturers are designed for more quiet environments like retail where the standard beep works just fine.

System Operation

Operation of the system is very simple. When a shift begins, the operator simply begins scanning items as they travel down the conveyor toward the case sealer. The operator pushes the carton through the scan zone where either a UPC or case code is read. The CASI 1050 provides both audio and visual operator feedback using the speaker system and a two color light tree. When the carton gets a successful scan, the operator hears a "swoosh" sound and a green light comes on. A red light stays on until the AS400 acknowledges the data has been received, which turns off the light and causes the system to play three quick bells. The system works very well as the operators cannot always watch the light tree but can always hear the sounds producing a quick and efficient rhythm of carton scanning and case sealing.

Exception Processing

When an exception such as a no read occurs, the CASI 1050 plays a low tone sound and flashes the light tree. The supplied Gryphon hand held scanner is used to manually scan the damaged or difficult barcode. Once the barcode is scanned, the green light lights up and the good scan sound is played. The operator waits for the system to access the remote AS400 and plays the database acknowledges sound when the AS400 acknowledges the scan.

Statistics on both scanners are maintained in the SolidCount™ system. False triggers skewing the read rate and production count are avoided by demanding that every carton be scanned by either the fixed or hand held scanner.

The No Surprises Approach

Following the standard CASI System Implementation Methodology, the critical parts of the system were modeled at the manufacturing center in Prosper, Texas. Once all the components were working properly, the customer is invited to the manufacturing center to view the system. This prevents unnecessary interruption of the client’s facility and produced an install of a complex system that was finished quickly.

Benefits from the New Efficiencies

Scanning orders into the AS400 has become much more efficient using the SolidCount™ system. Both the supervisors and the operators like the system and feel it makes their jobs easier to do. The operators like it, as it’s much easier to simply move the carton past the fixed position scanner rather than use a hand held unit. The supervisors now have access to real time reporting tools on production.