Captec helping to lift the load

Captec have supplied B Mason and Sons with a series of powerful Apollo microbox and panel PCs, for integration into their manufacturing controls systems.

Captec, the market leading supplier of innovative and bespoke industrial PC's, have supplied B Mason and Sons with a series of powerful Apollo microbox and panel PCs, for integration into their manufacturing controls systems.

B Mason and Sons, who supply rolled copper and copper alloy strip for the electrical, electronics and automotive industries, use a fleet of fork-lift trucks to facilitate materials movements in their production process.

It is these movements and requests between trucks and Materials Control that have been automated using the Captec supplied computer platforms.

Historically, to facilitate the operation of the production control system, small, lightweight, hand-held, DOS based units with TCP/IP stack and wireless network capabilities, were used to communicate between vehicles and the central operating system.

These units however proved too fragile for the manufacturing environment, so B Mason turned to Captec to provide a more robust, ruggedised industrial PC solution for the factory floor.

The resultant cost-effective platform supplied by Captec, was an industrial Panel Personal Computer (PPC) unit, programmed with a dedicated shell front end, communicating in real time via wireless access points, mounted on the forklift trucks.

The installation of the PCs fully automated the production process.

The truck mounted PPC's send and receive requests for new materials via the PPC display.

The driver and truck collect and ferry the materials to the required position in a seamless manufacturing process.

Recent Heath and Safety Executive guidelines have, however, led B Mason and Sons to alter this PPC lead solution.

Due to a new ruling stating that a driver can not operate any vehicle with a live screen, a re-evaluation of the system was required.

The outcome led Captec to supply the manufacturer with a series of their powerful 12 volt DC Apollo micro box PCs.

This small IPC is still mounted on the front of the forklift, but now controls a separate, fold-away display for when the truck is inactive.

The PPCs have been relocated to other production tasks, providing more flexibility in the manufacturing process, speeding up material supply lines and factory machinery efficiency.

The newly installed Captec computer platforms have vastly improved manufacturing efficiency, through the reduction of production downtime, when machines lay idle waiting for fresh supplies.

The company has also experienced a reduction in the incidence of collisions between trucks, while transporting their four tonne coil loads! According to B Mason and Sons, the introduction of the Captec computer equipment has assisted in the overall improvement of output and a more efficient production control system.

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