Datanet has automated the way BE Switchcraft keeps track of its progress on the electrical switchboards it makes for large buildings.
Datanet deployed Zebra Technologies’ radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to automate BE Switchcraft's tracking progress and updating clients, both previously manual tasks.
South Australia-based BE Switchcraft has built switchboards for buildings such as Parliament House Canberra, Adelaide Convention Centre, and Port Moresby Football Stadium.
Datanet state manager & RFID consultant Steve Jenkins said, “We worked closely with BE Switchcraft to truly understand their challenges before recommending Zebra’s RFID solution, and subsequently helping with the implementation.”
BE Switchcraft managing director Anthony Spadavecchia said its recent client growth had caused progress-tracking to be unmanageable without automation.
“The data collected became outdated before we could even analyse it. We then upgraded to a barcode scanning solution. While this had its merits, it required physical scanning of the switchboards and their accompanying documents by our staff, which was not fully optimised for our manufacturing workflows.”
Datanet deployed Zebra’s FX9600 Fixed RFID readers, RFID antennas and an RFID label printer which collects data on each stage of the switchboard manufacturing process.
The data is then integrated with BE Switchcraft’s MYOB enterprise resource planning system, which makes updates on the status of each project and financial data associated with the projects accessible to BE Switchcraft’s entire team.
Anthony said the “real-time visibility into what was happening on our manufacturing floor” would help continue the company’s “rapid growth.”
