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Mastering The Meters Licking stamps isn’t an option for mid-sized and large businesses. Indeed, their messaging needs often go far beyond applying postage to a letter. When a small business tires of using manual methods, it looks for a postage meter or mailing system. And when it looks, it turns to Pitney Bowes Inc., the leading provider of informed mail and messaging management. Pitney Bowes, whose worldwide operations are headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, is a Fortune 500 company with $4.2 billion in annual sales and more than two million customers.
So why is a company that is overwhelmingly dominant in an industry looking to improve its operations by investing in automated data collection (ADC) technologies? According to Vanessa Siveyer, Pitney Bowes manufacturing manager, "All companies, regardless of size or market position, must continually strive to improve operations. With the increase in overseas competition, it is imperative to optimize the use of our skilled labor force and eliminate manual, error-prone recording." The final assembly operation at Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems Division has responsibilities well beyond merely building postage meters. The operation also affixes serial number labels, performs extensive quality tests, and boxes and palletizes the meters. Perhaps most important, the operations management must know exactly where every single unit is at all times. Postage meters are tightly regulated and controlled by the United States Postal Service because meters contain and dispense money. Manual Systems Created Difficulties
So Pitney Bowes called in Intermec Technologies Corporation and Advanced Technical Support, Inc. (ATS), an Intermec Premier Solutions Partner based in West Hartford, Connecticut. ATS specializes in developing ADC systems for manufacturers and distributors. "At first, it seemed like a simple labeling need, but after rolling up our sleeves and really getting to understand the business, it was obvious there was a lot of potential for streamlining and improving the accuracy of the process," recalls David Engelhardt, president of ATS. The Intermec/ATS/Pitney Bowes team designed a client/server system operating entirely in a 900-MHz radio frequency (RF) environment. The hand-held data collection devices are RF and the bar code printers are RF as well. "RF technology has given our process engineers the freedom to reorganize the manufacturing lines as product lines evolve and as we devise more efficient manufacturing processes," comments Siveyer. "In fact, we’ve already completely reengineered one line three times, and this summer we’re picking up the whole thing and moving it to another floor. RF technology allows us to do this without spending a dime on rewiring."
Complexity Is Hidden After the meter travels down the line and is repaired or rebuilt along the way, it moves to the serial number labeling station. Things get complicated here, because the newly manufactured meters enter the line at this point as well. But the ADC system hides the complexity and simply asks the operator to scan the bar code on a repaired/rebuilt meter or, if it is a new meter, press one key on the Janus. The ADC system determines the model, assigns the next available serial number, ensures uniqueness, eliminates the possibility of serial number gaps, and prints the appropriate label to an Intermec RF 3440 thermal transfer printer. "The Intermec 3440 printer’s 400 dots-per-inch (DPI) resolution made it possible for us to print every element on the label, including UL logos and Pitney Bowes’ logos. They are all really beautiful," says Martin Wittmann, ATS development leader for the project.
When a meter arrives at the exit station, an operator simply scans the bar-coded serial number label. The ADC system follows the business logic and prints a pallet ID on the box label. the operator at the end of the line puts the box on the pallet called out for the label. "The ADC system not only collects data, but also enforces business rules and empowers operators by giving them immediate feedback about their actions. That’s the goal of all ADC systems we design," says Engelhardt. |
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"We
were tracking serial numbers in manual logs and we also used an
application that, at times, required users to change data in the
database directly. Serial numbers on box labels, used for tracking
the units after final assembly, had to be keyed in. These manual
and disconnected systems were taking a lot of time to maintain,
and they made tracking more difficult," says Jean Larson, Pitney
Bowes systems analyst for the ADC project.
Postage
meters enter the manufacturing line at one of two points, one for
repaired/rebuilt meters and one for newly manufactured meters. An
operator at the repaired/rebuilt entry point uses an RF Intermec
Janus 2020 hand-held computer to scan the serial number bar code
on the meter. In real time, the ADC system verifies that the meter
is "allowed" to enter the line by performing lookups in
a Microsoft Access database. Then, a record of the meter’s
entry is created an time-stamped.
New
meters and rebuilt meters cannot be placed on the same pallet, and
since there are no distinguishing features on the box, ATS built
flexible business logic into the ADC system to allow Pitney Bowes
to define the rules for building pallets.