24 SCANNING&WAREHOUSING
and reduce labour time. Ian Scott, supply director at Mulberry,
MULBERRY BAGS LABELLING SYSTEM M
ulberry, the luxury British fashion brand, is using the Ultimate labelling solution from Episys to cut costs
explained: “We produce hundreds of thousands of labels every year from our Ultimate labelling solution and partnership with Episys will grow with our business. When you’re printing such a high volume of labels it’s crucial that we have a robust system. Our goal is to make sure that we meet the customer’s demand, that is an important challenge for us, and having the right labelling solution is a huge help.” Mulberry uses the Ultimate solution to
print its labels across seven different locations, which includes its warehouse in Somerset, from where all products are distributed, its four retail outlets, head offi ce and distribution offi ce in London. Scott continued: “Ultimate is an important part of our business. We need a consistent
system across the business, which links with our core IT infrastructure. It’s crucial that our signage is consistent, and Ultimate makes sure that it is. We make amendments to price information on our products at our factory stores, so it’s vital that we have the fl exibility to be able to print and attach labels at the factory shop.”
The Ultimate labels provide a range of
information, mainly size, unique product code (UPC) and barcode information for employees and consumers. “The benefi ts of the Ultimate system have been the excellent training on the system, and the reliable robust software which links to our existing system. Ultimate links with our existing systems and our IT team have had no problems in connecting Episys with our core system, which moves stock around the business. Our core system provides Ultimate with the size and information and UPC required for every product. This actually saves time, because it prevents people having
BAUR INCREASES WAREHOUSE STAFF EFFICIENCY
German e-tailer BAUR has implemented an EXTEND7000 mobile SCADA system from developer SCHAD. BAUR is using the mobile SCADA system to enable the extension of monitoring and control of automated processes to ordinary mobile devices, smartphones or tablets. BAUR operates three large, fully automated logistics departments at three locations in Germany, responsible for controlling warehouse receiving docks, high-rack storage machinery, conveyor belts and sorting technology. At these sites, BAUR operates a variety of different conveyor systems and 14 stacker cranes controlled by over 60 programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which are monitored around the clock from the company’s central control room’s WinCC visualisation system.
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011
Roland Säum, BAUR technical services project manager, said: “To ensure the most effi cient workfl ows, employees should be able to receive logistics technology notifi cations and have access to system controls anywhere at any time. EXTEND7000 helps us by avoiding unnecessary walkways, improving the effi ciency of staff deployment and saving time – thus increasing productivity.” EXTEND7000 was integrated into the existing system control concept and is now directly coupled with the Siemens S7-300/400 control systems through a transmission control protocol (TCP). To achieve this, it was not necessary to modify the existing control programmes or restart the central processing units (CPUs). It has resulted in employee effi ciency increasing by 15% and the company’s support
telephone call costs reduced by 60% since its installation earlier this year. Previously each of the 35 engineers in
service carried normal mobile phones with call tariffs. Today, smartphones are being used with more cost effective ‘call & surf ’ tariffs. Since call times have now been reduced by 60%, the additional costs incurred by contract conversion were immediately covered. Since EXTEND7000 does not source through the existing WinCC visualisation system, it also functions as a SCADA backup in the event of a WinCC failure.
“The use of mobile technology simplifi es and optimises communications and effi ciency of operations,” added Säum. “EXTEND7000 offers an affordable and functionally rich solution for mobile monitoring and control of all our logistics technology.”
to key things again, in because it’s done automatically, so there’s no duplication or errors, which also cuts costs,” added Scott.
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