Zebra ventures beyond the bar code

A leopard can’t change its spots, but this Zebra can change its stripes. That’s because Zebra Technologies International (Booth 4561) has expanded beyond the bar code sector and into the territory of material flow replenishment.

Company representatives Jonathan Fulton, product manager for Zebra Enterprise Solutions, and Zebra product marketing manager Marty Johnson demonstrated the latest version of the company’s Material Flow Replenishment technologies at ProMat 2011 at McCormick Place in Chicago. The solution is a comprehensive enterprise execution management tool designed to support and automate lean replenishment techniques and provide visibility across the entire supply chain.

Zebra’s Material Flow Replenishment, which is well suited for repetitive, complex manufacturing operations because it creates a smooth process and keeps workers productive at their stations, provides real-time execution information that delivers product from an external supplier or internal storage location to the worker at the point-of-use on the manufacturing floor with easy and actionable instructions. With the push of a wireless call button, a worker can send a product alert request to the appropriate recipient through a number of channels including text, email and phone. Those requests are handled in an optimized priority, which reduces lag time and production line stoppages.

While this is not a brand new product, the latest version has been revised using feedback from end users, said Fulton. Enhancements to Zebra’s Material Flow Replenishment mean end users can decrease inventory by 5% to 10%, reduce labor costs by 15% to 20%, improve asset utilization by up to 10%, reduce cycle times and increase throughput.