Supply Chain
QinetiQ can now offer a low-cost yet secure end-to-end Iridium satellite based managed service solution to commercial customers. … And to demonstrate system performance, one of the small tracking devices was fitted to the front of James Cracknell’s sled, to successfully track the progress of Team QinetiQ as they raced through the spartan and harsh Antarctic environment during their race to the South Pole.
Delivering secure, worldwide, near real-time information, QinetiQ’s easy to use system is based on commercial “off the shelf” technology and has a proven track record operating in the harshest environments around the world. In addition to asset tracking, QinetiQ is able to support this system with a managed service that adds functionality including performance monitoring, equipment redundancy and equipment support/repair. Positional information is derived from a GPS receiver built into the tracking device which can also be set up to relay other data, including video.
The asset tracking service is designed around a lightweight/ low power tracking beacon that sends regular updates via the Iridium low earth orbit satellite constellation. Once received at a ground station the data is then transmitted via a secure internet link to wherever the information is required. It can also be uploaded back up to the Iridium satellite system if the data is needed at remote / mobile ground terminals.
Belt Driven Roller Conveyor
FKI Logistex has announced the North American launch of the Logistex NB200 Narrow-Belt Driven Roller Conveyor, a flexible system that is part of the company’s new Logistex Case Conveyor Solutions (LCCS) product family. The FKI Logistex NB200 offers maximum system throughput rates by using time-tested, proven algorithms for release modes and zero-pressure accumulation.
The NB200 provides customers with the option of three standard release modes, which can be changed quickly and easily with selectable switch settings. The NB200 conveyor offers enhanced ease of maintenance and reduced belt wear. The conveyor includes a unique self-tracking feature that recognizes when the belt has shifted to the left or the right, reducing maintenance requirements. The conveyor also operates without the use of a chain, eliminating the need for oil and making it ideal for clean environments such as food, beverage and pharmaceutical processing facilities.
The conveyor includes the ability to switch between slug and singulation release modes to match the flow demands of an application. The NB200 also offers an innovative dynamic auto-slug feature, which is a built-in option that allows the NB200 accumulation zones to selfmonitor product density and move groups of product downstream when space is available. This option increases accumulation throughput by 10 percent over other similar accumulation methods.
Emily Smith -
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PBL Software Solution
Click Commerce and Miro Technologies have announced they have entered into a strategic business alliance to complete and market an aftermarket maintenance and logistics software solution for the aerospace and defense and commercial MRO industries. Best-of-breed capabilities from each company’s software suite will be further enhanced and interfaced to be compliant and industry leading with respect to performancebased logistics (PBL) concepts.
“By adding more PBL-specific functionality and tightly integrating our product offerings, Miro Technologies and Click Commerce will bring much-needed, defined PBL software support to a fastgrowing market,” said Vincent Monteparte, CEO and president of Miro Technologies. “We are pleased to be leveraging Click Commerce’s decades of expertise in managing and optimizing spare parts inventories for the sustainment and service networks.”
Supply Chain Visions (SCV), a partner with University of Tennessee and a leading consultancy and visionary resource in the PBL arena, worked closely with in-house project teams from both Miro and Click Commerce in recent months to provide business process and software functionality assessments of their combined solutions and to map out strategies for a complementary PBL solution offering. A comprehensive assessment approach was employed, including a series of onsite interviews, detailed solution reviews, and follow-up workshops in La Jolla and Chicago, all linked to key PBL tenets and supporting supply chain management (SCM) best practices. ♦
* Compiled by KMI Media Group staff