Success Story

WELCH ALLYN CHECKS THE SCOTTISH ASSEMBLY FOR COMPAQ

One common use of scanners is for the identification of components on an assembly line. For instance, Compaq Computer Manufacturing Limited uses Welch Allyn linear imaging scanners for commodity tracking at its manufacturing facility in Erskine, Scotland. The scanners have to be capable of reading component barcodes that can vary considerably in quality.

Compaq is the world's second largest computer company, and the largest global supplier of personal computers. The company manufactures and provides a wide range of hardware, software, services and solutions. Based in Houston, Texas, it is ranked as 28th in the 1999 Fortune 500.

The company's Erskine plant manufactures PCs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. To eliminate error, it uses barcodes wherever possible, substituting them for data that would otherwise have to be entered by hand. This includes the processing of materials on the assembly line. Vendors supply a wide range of components such as hard drives, floppy drives, and video cards, and each of these is identified with its own individual barcode.

Each barcode contains details such as date of manufacture, production line, and batch number. This means the detailed history of any component can be rapidly traced - which is part of the requirements of the ISO quality standard. The barcode data can also be used during the manufacturing process to ensure that all the components being used are the correct ones.

Until recently, the Erskine facility used laser scanners to read the barcodes, but last year Compaq started exploring faster and more durable alternatives. Equipment Technician, Andy Miller, explains: "We are using the scanners 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unfortunately, the laser units had a finite life, and were showing signs of damage.

"In some cases, the mechanical components wore out, and in other cases, the scanners were slow at reading the barcodes - and an extra two or three seconds on each reading soon adds up. We also had a problem on sunny days, as the scanner line couldn't always be seen very easily. As a result, in September last year we decided to look at some alternatives."

Compaq was recommended Welch Allyn's new linear imaging scanner, the IMAGETEAM 3800 Very High Density (VHD) model, which he had seen at a trade show. The scanner was in the late stages of development, but Compaq was able to obtain one to start evaluating it.

"We wanted a scanner that was faster than the laser units, very reliable, rugged, and which could satisfy all of our scanning requirements, " says Andy Miller. "In effect, we were looking for the 'Holy Grail' of scanners that could do virtually anything. The new Welch Allyn unit came as close as possible to meeting all of our needs."

The IMAGETEAM 3800 VHD is a high performance, hand held scanner with the ideal blend of features for Compaq's needs - a bright and sharp aiming line which can be read easily in sunlight, combined with high resolution imaging, delivering exceptional reading performance.

Because some of the barcodes on components can be of fairly poor quality, Welch Allyn modified the units, incorporating a very high density specification that produces an even better reading performance.

Andy Miller continues: "The ability to read almost any barcode is very important. For instance, a batch of 50,000 components could arrive with poorly printed barcodes. Even in such difficult situations, the Welch Allyn scanners enable us to read the barcodes."

He adds: "We chose the scanners because they are very reliable, accurate, and have no moving parts. They read all the barcodes we need them to read, and they were also more cost-effective than other alternatives. For instance, we previously spent a lot of money on repairs on the laser scanners. We can now effectively save that money, because the IMAGETEAM 3800s come with a five year warranty."

The operators also seem to like the scanners. "We have had comments such as 'Brilliant!' and 'Can I take it home with me!'" says Andy. "We have had no negative comments at all. Basically, the operators like the units because they're reliable and enable them to get on with the job they're paid to do."

Initially, the manufacturing plant purchased 500 of the Welch Allyn scanners. It has been very pleased with their performance, and is currently buying further units.

Back to Success Story Index