Integrator's RF Solution Increases Data Collection Accuracy By 95%

APL Logistics (APLL) (Oakland, CA) designs and operates global supply chains. The company provides shipment consolidation and deconsolidation, global freight forwarding and customs management, regional warehousing and distribution networks, and IT solutions that increase supply chain performance and reduce costs. APLL needed a mobile computer solution that could accommodate AS400 terminal emulation and a custom software application for a PC-based warehouse management system (WMS). The company required a solution that would increase data collection accuracy and capture more information. That's where Bar Code Integrators (BCI) (Lake Bluff, IL) came into the picture.

BCI provides solutions and integration for bar code printing, data capture, and mobile computer technologies. For the hardware components, BCI installed a Symbol 802.11b wireless LAN backbone and a Symbol PDT6846 portable data terminal. The PDT combines mobile computing, integrated bar code data capture, and optional wireless communications. WaveLink's Avalanche device management system (provides centralized agent-based client management within a network), Avalanche TelnetDClient (a telnet service for Windows NT), RF Enable, and Studio (allows organizations to migrate existing solutions into a wireless environment) software programs were all implemented. APLL downloaded the Studio application simultaneously with the emulation software via the Avalanche System allowing terminal users to access both applications.

APLL has now improved data collection accuracy and is capturing more information for its warehouse processes. "We eliminated 95% of errors that previously had not been caught. The system has also helped expose hidden weaknesses we had in our warehouse operations," said APLL's programmer, Tom Jordan.