Packaging manufacturers like the Welch Packaging Group, Elkhart, Ind., can't afford to be boxed in by unreliable equipment and unacceptably slow computer systems, especially when some orders are produced, packed and shipped within three hours of receiving the order.

Replacing legacy mobile computers that were increasingly slow and unresponsive, and that kept dropping connections to the wireless network was the answer. But replace them with what? With new wireless computers. These machines reduced time for monthly cycle counts by 33%, from three days to two, saving 12 days of labor each year.

With lead times as short as two hours and runs on two shifts everyday, Welch Packaging's high-volume and just-in-time operations include a 100,000-square-foot factory, a 75,000-square-foot warehouse and a 50,000-square-foot building for hand-assembly. They use wireless computers throughout production, inventory and warehouse operations to track materials and orders.

Because the company covers so much ground and all work there is custom, an operation like theirs requires accurate inventory and reliable equipment.

Kevin McCormick, who works in the Elkhart facility and has used the old and new equipment, says, “The new computer boots much faster, the screens come up much faster and the scanner is better. It has enough range for me to read bar codes on the top rack of the warehouse without getting out of the vehicle, and it can read through shrink wrap.”

An additional benefit has been that annual inventory operations improved. Previously, taking inventory cost Welch Packaging about 1,000 man-hours in wages and lost productivity. Now it's so accurate that it only takes one worker an hour each day using the mobile computer for cycle counting—adding to a quick return on its investment.

LXE 770-447-4224