Moving People thanks to the PANMOBIL AutoID-Technology
The public transportation services of cologne (KVB) moves 850000 people on a daily base in cologne and surroundings. By servicing and maintaining of their many busses and trains KVB trusts PANMOBIL – technology, so that there are enough public transportations available daily and so that the complex local traffic network of cologne of nearly 60 lines are always and at any time reliable.
AutoID instead of laborious paperwork
KVB Warehouse foreman Thomas Fabricius
8:30am: a damaged tram is driven into the repairing hall. Last night the lock of the drivers cab has been damaged and must be replaced. Warehouse foreman Thomas Fabricius and his team need to work fast, so that the tram is ready to be back on the cologne rail tracks in no time. In the material management warehouse they are responsible for the procurement of spare parts and budgeting. The faster they work, the faster the repair team in the workshop are able to bring the tram back on track. “We used to keep records in writing for these repairing processes which were very circuitous and time consuming.” Fabricius tells us while taking out the replacement lock out of the warehouse shelf. "We keep track in our SAP – Computer – System what is damaged, what needs to be replaced, we note the material number of the new and old parts, so that we have an overview of our material stock at any time. The manual writing and registering in the computer system was absolutely not modern anymore, it has cost us too much valuable time, too many transmission errors happened! Ever since we have the PANMOBIL – scanner we are able to work faster and more effectively.”
Automatic junction with the company owned SAP – System
From the repairing team Mr. Fabricius receives a stock requisition, on which amongst others the identification number of the tram, the mileage and the parts which need to be repaired are registered. This stock requisition also has a 1D barcode, which contains the exact same data. With PANMOBILS SCANNDY, which stands stationary fixed in the swan neck holder in presentation modus, available on all working stations, the barcode has been captured. The special firmware on the SCANNDY, which has been individually programmed for KVB by PANMOBIL, prepares the AutoID – data so that they are immediately entered in the correct fields of the SAP mask. Next to the captured data all keystrokes such as function keys pressures, tabs and returns are also transmitted, which normally would be triggered manually by the staff in between the scan inputs. The main advantages are an enormous working load which is taken away, low error inputs and with that it makes the firmware to an ideal Middleware between data collector and ERP – systems. These in the first step captured data, Mr Fabricius now completes with the data needed for the spare parts. For every spare part there is an individual material card, which has a 1D barcode and contains which part it is, how much it costs and where it is stored. The material card with the damaged lock for the tram in the repairing hall, is been additionally captured with SCANNDY and the data automatically land on the right spot in the SAP mask next to the data noted before. This automatic repairing documentation happens in seconds, so that Mr Fabricius and his co-worker deal with the next assignment immediately.
Mobile assignment for inventories and reordering
For inventory control directly in the workshop SCANNDY is appreciated by the repair team because of its mobility. The warehouse team walks around with SCANNDY on the belt clip from shelf to shelf and controls frequently what needs to be ordered at the stored C-parts. By scanning the barcodes on the labels and by entering the desired number of pieces you make sure that at any time you have replenishment of spare materials. In the administrative office, the warehouse team SCANNDY simply connects to a computer and the required ordering data is available automatically in Microsoft Excel, a list which you can directly and easily transfer to the central warehouse. The EMMWare with SCOUTtechnology which is optionally available on the PANMOBIL – devices can be used by any user and configures completely independently without an programming knowledge. Next to an automatic export of the collected data to Excel you can set it for example so that the data will be sent via the integrated mail client to any place on earth or to be overridden to a FTP server. Once set EMMWare performs these tasks completely automatic. For the shipping the computer needs, an active internet connection to the SCANNDY. A special feature why the PANMOBIL devices are used in international logistics and industry.
Secure identification with smartSCANNDY
For the reliable identification of repairing materials and components, the KVB is yet another mobile data collector of PANMOBIL on duty: smartSCANNDY. It is equipped with an 1D barcode laser module and recognizes by means of the tiny barcode labels on the individual components what it is exactly. Therefore through capturing the barcode the laser team is able to view immediately on the computer monitor, which technical characteristics the component has, what needs to be replaced. The treatment of wrong components is therefore excluded and leads KVB to a higher security through minimizing those frequent source of error.
Hans-Rolf Rollar, manager of material staging and disposals at KVB
“The reason why we decided to go with PANMOBIL – devices was that we could adjust the devices individually to our needs” tells Hans-Rolf Rollar, manager of material staging and disposals at KVB. “ So we were able to eliminate problems in the integration phase rapidly. This was the crucial point where we said: this is the product that suits us!” Rollar particularly emphasizes the simple functionality and handling of the devices. The firmware on SCANNDY and smartSCANNDY has to be configured on the computer only once and single handed. Afterwards it can be transferred centrally on each scanner. Once the firmware is adjusted, Rollar and his team can do this independently, they don’t need an own scanner for individual production steps, but to carry out all necessary programs and data collection tasks used by the company on a single device class. ”Thank god we have the PANMOBIL scanner now” Rollar worships. “They facilitate the work for us essentially, they are hardly any sources of error, a work relief which the staff do not want not miss anymore. We are since more than 10 years a loyal PANMOBIL customer. The service works! We have a personal contact person whenever there are any problems and fast support. In the future we have further structural changes in front of us. We will definitely come back to the counsel and the great AutoID – counselling of PANMOBIL. We even may extend our system on RFID – technology. But that is not decided, yet."
More AutoID – News
The PANMOBIL Newsletter reports frequently about further project out of the AutoID – world:
