Faster package handling with wireless system
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/1999
The six major hubs in the United States serving Federal Express' national and international cargo customers sort about 3 million packages a day. It's an enormous job to move and track all those packages and ensure they get to the right people by the time that they expect the package."We are always on the look out to find new tools that are going to make us even better at what we do," says Dick Pilbeam, a systems analyst at Federal Express. In particular, Pilbeam was looking for a way to trim processing time while equaling or improving package tracking accuracy.
Today, the package delivery giant uses a wireless data capture system that allows mobile bar code scanning. This gives workers the freedom to scan large and multi-piece shipments without having to bring them to a centrally located fixed scanner in the hub, saving extra handling of packages and wasted time. This added mobility is especially helpful because a package may be scanned up to nine times on its journey through the Federal Express system.
The radio frequency data communication (RFDC) capability of the scanning units also means that workers can send data directly to a host computer and receive information from it. Where ever someone pulls a trigger on a scanner in the hub, the scanned data is sent directly to the database which is immediately updated. Just as important, the worker doesn't have to walk as much as one step to make that update happen.
The new system has also paid dividends in Federal Express' international operations. It cuts down the time packages need to clear customs and improves package throughput.
"The RFDC system allows us to more efficiently handle our package volumes throughout our system," says Pilbeam.
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