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Symbol Product Release
DaimlerChrysler Improves Productivity with Mobile Computers
Article courtesy of Frontline RFID
Sept. 14, 2005 -- DaimlerChrysler is deploying a new mobile computing solution at its Kassel plant in Germany to reduce costs and improve productivity. The company will use rugged computers and mobile computing management software from Symbol Technologies Inc. to collect data during producing, including delivery of material, warehousing and shipment of axles for commercial vehicles.
The company will use Symbol's MC9000 computers and its Mobility Services Platform (MSP) at the plant.
"We selected Symbol mobile computers for their robustness, ease of use, and flexibility to install our own applications. The Symbol MC9000 has significantly enhanced the efficiency of DaimlerChrysler's staff," said Karsten Götze, partial project leader, WLAN Infrastructure within the SAP Automotive project at DaimlerChrysler in Kassel. "For the first time, a DaimlerChrysler plant is using a single mobility solution within their complete production cycle."
According to Kevin Prouty, senior director of manufacturing solutions at Symbol, this new installation is unique in that multiple applications are running on one device. Legacy installations of mobile equipment in the automotive industry are typically aimed at one specific application. In addition to tracking inventory levels, the bar code system validates that the correct parts are being used. "This unifies several systems," Prouty said.
The facility, which produces axles for commercial vehicles, gathers large amounts of data about production, storage of products, shipping and receiving and delivery of finished products. The new solution replaces some existing manual and bar code systems that required data entry and hand counts.
The Symbol computers are directly connected to DaimlerChrysler's SAP Automotive System via the Mobisys Solution Builder, an SAP-certified add-on tool.
Using the Mobility Services Platform (MSP), DaimlerChrysler can automatically manage, deploy and install new applications on all Symbol mobile computers and remotely test the devices.
"DaimlerChrysler implemented Symbol's enterprise mobility solution because they fulfilled all of our requirements for a technology partner -- providing continuous service and support from purchase decision through deployment, as well as a future-proof Windows-based platform that can easily integrate with a wide variety of applications we are currently using now and plan on using in the future," said Götze. "In addition, the Symbol MC9000 mobile computers are also rugged enough for our usage in a production plant -- withstanding drops to concrete floors and outside influences like dust particles in the air."
"The MSP platform gives [DaimlerChrysler] the ability to see what each devices is doing," Prouty said. "They've already had the ability to centrally manage all of their desktop PCs, all over the world; mobile devices are just as important, but that functionality hasn't been there in the past."