Mason reaches for Apollo

Captec supplies B Mason and Sons with Apollo microbox and panel PCs for integration into its manufacturing controls systems.

Captec has supplied B Mason and Sons with Apollo microbox and panel PCs for integration into its manufacturing controls systems.

Mason supplies rolled copper and copper alloy strip for the electrical, electronics and automotive industries.

It uses a fleet of fork-lift trucks to facilitate materials movements in its production process.

It is these movements and requests between trucks and materials control that have been automated using the Captec computers.

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 proved too fragile for the manufacturing environment, so Captec provided a more robust, ruggedised industrial PC for the factory floor.

The resultant platform was an industrial panel PC (PPC) mounted on the forklift trucks.

They are programmed with a dedicated shell front end, communicating in real time via wireless access points.

The installation of the PCs fully automated the production process.

The truck mounted PPCs 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.

But recent Heath and Safety Executive guidelines led Mason to alter this PPC.

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

The outcome led Captec to supply the manufacturer with 12V DC Apollo microbox PCs.

This 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 moved to other production tasks, providing more flexibility in the manufacturing process, speeding up material supply lines and factory machinery efficiency.

The company has also experienced a reduction in the incidence of collisions between trucks, while transporting their four tonne coil loads.

Back to top