To our valued customers and partners:

Around the world, we are adjusting to a new reality in every part of our lives as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a business, and as individuals, we extend our sympathy to all that are impacted. We also offer our gratitude to those workers and organizations that are on the front lines battling this unprecedented event.

As the Coronavirus and its impact continues to evolve and develop, we at Skywire have taken steps to keep our families healthy and keep our business up and running. We are following guidance from State and Federal health officials and the World Health Organisation to stop the spread of the virus, including requiring that all employees able to do so work from home. We at Skywire are leveraging collaboration and communication tools to provide you, our customers and partners, with uninterrupted, dependable solutions, and service support.

Our team is responding to customer issues and working open cases to resolution. For cases requiring additional testing or troubleshooting, we have established remote access to our engineers. For any of our engineers who need to go on- site we have the following on-site policy. This needs to be confirmed before the visit.

1. We have to adhere to government policy – both State and Federal
2. We have to adhere to customer policy
3. We need to enforce our own levels of hygiene (Skywire policy):

• Hand sanitizers entering and leaving a premise
• Latex gloves should be worn where possible
• Masks should be worn where possible
• Maintain Safe Distancing protocols ALWAYS

Supply Chain and RMA Support

Skywire is working closely with our supply chain and logistics partners to overcome industry-wide disruptions associated with the virus. Our teams are in touch on a daily basis to secure material supply, safely re-initiate production and distribution, and mitigate impact.

We have enacted our business continuity plan with our Service RMA partners to reduce disruption of getting advanced replacements when required. Our teams are providing regular updates to our partners and distributors to ensure minimal impact to customer orders and planned projects.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your Account Manager to ensure your project is not impacted.

Skywire has a great team and we will be working closely with customers to work through this difficult period.

Mobis Parts Australia is responsible for the distribution of parts and accessories for Kia vehicles in Australia and Hyundai in Asia Pacific.

When dated technology threatened the efficiency of their Australian distribution network, they engaged Skywire to help them move to a multi-modal voice solution, that increased their overall efficiencies and scanning accuracy.

Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, and with subsidiaries in approximately 40 countries worldwide, Mobis manages the supply chain for automobile industry heavyweights Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors. Mobis Parts Australia (MPAU) is the automotive supplier’s Australian subsidiary and is responsible for supplying after sales car parts and accessories for Hyundai and Kia vehicles in Australia and Hyundai in Asia Pacific. The company dispatches 6000 – 7000 line items daily, an average of 600 parts per hour. With a high volume of parts flowing in and out of the warehouse, and with stringent cut-off times for morning and afternoon dispatches, even small inefficiencies in the process can have a major impact on productivity and on the capacity of Mobis to manage the volume.

Challenge
When dated technology threatened the efficiency of its Australian distribution network, Mobis looked at voice solutions in the market with the goal to move to a multi-modal voice solution, that increases the overall efficiencies and scanning accuracy. With 59 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles on the road worldwide, and the complexities of after sales parts supply management chain, Mobis needed a sophisticated warehouse solution to match the reputation of its brand – one that could efficiently track stock, pick orders and increase its distribution volume and the bottom line. The challenge was to refresh Mobis’ equipment and adopt a modernised solution that would complement its custom warehouse management system, while solving the issue of Microsoft ‘end-oflife’ support for Windows embedded handheld devices. Importantly Mobis required a solution that provided these added benefits without having to make any changes to their backend warehouse management system

Solution
TRANSITIONING TO A MULTI-MODAL VOICE PICKING SYSTEM
Mobis engaged Skywire as their trusted mobility partner to help design, build and pilot a solution. Working in close collaboration with Mobis, Skywire and Ivanti ran a pilot test using Zebra’s Voice Directed Picking (VDP) solution in a section within the warehouse. The results delivered were extremely promising offering a 15 per cent productivity increase, and an additional 39 per cent reduction in errors compared to voice-only solutions. After reviewing the results from the pilot stage, Mobis opted to go with Zebra’s multi-modal solution: Zebra WT6000 wearable mobile computer with ring scanner running on Ivanti Velocity. This would include a future VDP component, Ivanti Speakeasy, therefore accommodating all of Mobis’ requirements from company-wide IT upgrades, budgets, platform and specific operational needs.

“The take up of the new technology has been rapid and decisive. Operators only need a day to become thoroughly familiar with the new devices. We are already seeing the benefits from the initial roll-out with staff already eager to know when they were going to get theirs.” Darren Bowley Mobis Australia

The rollout is being deployed in multiple phases over a period of twelve months. The first phase of the deployment focused on improving the effectiveness of the wearable devices with tailored scripts developed by Skywire and Ivanti to automate the modernisation of more than 500 screens.This significantly decreased the error rates enabling increased text size, as well as the use of different font colours resulting in faster transactions.

The second phase of the deployment of 30 Zebra’ WT6000 and Bluetooth ring scanners, running on Ivanti Velocity, with more scheduled to be deployed in mid-2020. The Android platform is supported by Zebra’s Lifeguard program and will ensure the ongoing security and integrity of the solution. Most importantly, Mobis can run different applications on the mobile system and enjoy the freedom to innovate as needed, taking its operational excellence to the next level.

Darren Bowley, Warehouse Operations Manager at Mobis Australia said, “We needed a solution that would help increase productivity while seamlessly integrating with our warehouse management system. The rugged, multi-touch capacitive display on the WT6000 makes it easy for our workers across the supply chain to read and enter data, even while wearing work gloves. Moreover, it meant we could easily add voice-directed applications at any time to increase both the accuracy and speed of our pick and scan operations”.

The final deployment phase will include the adoption of voice picking using Ivanti Speakeasy and will roll out in 2020 post the migration to Android devices.

Built to last, Zebra’s first head mounted display is a breeze to use. The HD4000 delivers everything you need in an enterprise-class mobile device accessory – it’s easy to use, deploy, integrate and most importantly, comfortable to wear all day.

Improve productivity and task accuracy with the first of its kind rugged HD4000 Enterprise Head-Mounted Display. Put the information your workers need right into their real-time field of view, enabling hands-free directed action workflows that increase order processing, repair and production volumes – without adding staff or expanding your production lines. Get more out of your workforce and your Zebra mobile computers with the HD4000 — the only see-through wearable display built for the enterprise.

Crisp, sharp image quality
Your workers need the highest quality visual experience. And with the HD4000, they’ll get it. Developed in collaboration with Six15 Technologies, a leader in wearable optical displays, the HD4000 delivers unmatched color, contrast and image clarity, plus a focal distance that is optimized for head-mounted applications to minimize eye fatigue.

Rugged, yet feather-light for extraordinary comfort
The accessory architecture eliminates the need for an integrated battery, processor and wireless radios. Only components required to deliver augmented reality functionality are required — a display, camera, head tracker and microphone. As a result, the HD4000 weighs about an ounce — significantly lighter than any other enterprise wearable display.

Easy to manage and easy to integrate into applications
There are no batteries to purchase and manage, no wireless radios to configure and no OS updates to manage. And with ready-to-use Warehouse Templates that support leading WMS apps and Application Programming Interfaces, plus an Android HDK that supports many standard interfaces, it’s easy to integrate into new and existing apps and workflows.

What are the ways to build up and optimize your supply chain and increase accuracy in your inventory? Jim Hilton, Zebra’s Vertical Strategy Lead in Manufacturing, Transportation and Logistics shares on the how technology solutions and investments can speed up order fulfillment.

Today’s omnichannel marketplace has raised consumer demands and expectations higher than ever. The roles of supply chain organizations are changing. Many manufacturers and third-party logistics (3PL) partners are having to adapt fulfillment models to accommodate the shrinking retail space and consumer demand for more personalized products, which is causing SKU counts to multiply far beyond the level that many retailers and their industry partners could forecast a few years ago. Retailers are also becoming more reliant on manufacturing and 3PL partners to help process orders and returns, which is a workflow that many are still trying to define.

However, to successfully serve the demands of today’s customers, collective operations need to be more flexible, agile, and capable of sharing data in real time. In other words, these unprecedented collaborations require smart technology solutions that can provide greater transparency and connectivity throughout the entire supply chain operation. Increasing utilization of mobile, RFID, barcoding and printing solutions – as well as more advanced Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain systems – can empower all parties to satisfy customer demands in the optimum (i.e. the most efficient and most cost-efficient) way. It is also necessary to improve internal visibility between distribution centers and selling channels, which is essential to attaining a higher level of inventory accuracy.

Respondents to Zebra’s recent Future of Fulfillment Vision Study estimate their current inventories are only 66 percent accurate. This needs to improve greatly to survive in the e-fulfillment age.

The best way to improve collective inventory planning and management – and prevent out of stocks and/or overstocks – is to ensure your partners are taking steps to improve visibility into their individual operations. Your supply chain forecasting is based on data aggregated from partners. Therefore, your ability to improve inventory accuracy rates are inherently influenced by your entire supply chain’s inventory reporting. If you or your partners flow outdated or “best guess” inventory counts into your shared planning systems, then you risk further shortages or overages. The former leads to costly fulfillment and customer satisfaction issues. The latter also impacts your bottom line as you now need to find a way to move the inventory – and store it in the meantime. It also makes it challenging to automate order processing.

Did you know that the priority investment areas for warehouses is sophisticated technology such as barcode scanning devices and interconnected solutions? Here are five advantages why investing in extended range scanner technology can help reduce cost and time. 

Customer demands are influencing warehouse operations. As expectations rise for fast, efficient delivery of goods, the warehouse is seeking accurate, resilient, fast technology that can cope with whatever is thrown at it, quite literally.

Warehouses are utilising every conceivable shelf space to increase inventory capacity and reduce the overall cost of storage. Using vacant vertical space means boxes are stacked higher, putting barcodes out of reach or in awkward nooks and crannies for a short-range scanner. It’s no surprise that research has revealed that a priority investment area for warehouse managers is sophisticated technology such as mobile devices, barcode scanning devices and interconnected solutions to reach these elusive barcodes and keep up with rising supply chain demands.

As the pressure created by consumer demand continues, the onus is on warehouse operations to be innovative and efficient in use of space and identification of stock. Efficiency, accuracy and resilience are the name of the game.

Standard short-range barcode scanners simply are not going to acquire the data with the ease, precision and convenience required in modern warehouses. As a result, extended range barcode scanning solutions are becoming essential. They give warehouse operators the ability to acquire product information at any point with minimal effort, which saves time and, in turn, reduces the overall cost of operations.

Specifically, investing in extended range scanner technology brings the following five advantages:

1. Speed
Speedy scanning means increased productivity and overall efficiency. Seeing as most operations need to be done ‘ASAP, extended range barcode scanners are vital time savers. A forklift driver, for example, can scan quickly and safely from the cab. If he or she can shave 12 seconds off every scan by staying seated, that’s an hour saved per 300 scans. In addition, extended range scanners scan sequentially, meaning that the operator can hold down the trigger to identify multiple items.

2. Intuitive operation
Extended-range scanners generally utilise omnidirectional scanning technology, meaning that aligning the scanner and barcode is unnecessary. This is essential for a vertically stacked warehouse and reduces time taken to acquire information. Combining the omnidirectional support with long-range capability means the operator no longer wastes time pacing the warehouse floor continuously to scan goods.

3. Unwavering performance
In an operating environment that’s typically dimly lit, dusty and dirty, long-range barcode scanning technology will continually provide ‘first time capture’ from afar. Whether scanning 1D / 2D barcodes, OCR, photos or documents with the grubbiest barcode stuck under numerous layers of shrink-wrap, the accuracy and precision of the best ones will not falter.

4. Resilience
Any scanner used in a warehouse environment should be able to withstand the most punishing conditions, including extreme temperatures, liquid and chemical spills, being dropped at ladder height or dropped in water. They should also boast an extreme level of shock tolerance and continue to function superbly even after repeated drops onto concrete – or being driven over. (It happens.) Fortunately, ultra-rugged extended-range scanners will meet these minimum requirements – and more.

5. Short-range capability
A common misconception is that extended-range scanning technology is only applicable for barcodes that are out of reach. On the contrary, extended-range scanners offer excellent capability at short range as well. A barcode a few centimetres away is just as attainable as one that is 21m away – straight up, across or diagonally. This eliminates the need to purchase multiple devices, improving return on investment (ROI) whilst securing rugged, accurate scanning equipment for all your warehouse needs.

A word of caution, though: consistent accuracy can still be a ‘long shot’ with some long-range (and even extended-range) scanners. Before you make a scanner selection, put it to the (extreme) test. See if it can capture a target barcode 21 metres away. Confirm that it can handle the volume of scans that demanded during a typical ‘peak season’ day. The scanner should be accurate every time, whether it’s the first or 1000^th scan of the day. The performance of your fulfilment operations depends on this accuracy, as you will see by the results of our latest Future of Fulfilment Vision Study.

Contact Skywire to chat about your Warehouse solutions

The ultimate device for all of your unconnected workers

For associates without mobile voice and data, the simple act of locating a supervisor to answer a question or looking up item availability can take minutes, putting service quality and sales at risk. Introducing the EC30, the right-priced mobile device with the right mobile connections for today’s unconnected associates. This small, lightweight and durable device offers the mobile voice and data features your associates need to bring a new level of efficiency and accuracy to core everyday tasks.

Contact Skywire to find out more information on the EC30 Enterprize Companion.

Enterprises are constantly looking for technological solutions to empower their workers. What enabling technology can we adopt this year to improve our business understanding?

As the operations of enterprises become increasingly mobile and automated, there is a need to develop a common, central point of orchestration of disparate sensors, devices and automation platforms (the instrumentation layer) to coordinate the combined value. Customers are looking for technology to enable the automated smart tasking of their workers empowered via prescriptive analytics and mobile software to close the loop that the prescribed actions were taken.

In view of a labor pool that is not increasing at the rate required to meet accelerating demand, enterprises are looking for technological solutions that can enable the automated smart tasking of their workers empowered via prescriptive analytics and mobile software to overcome their challenges. Given the complexity of their workflows, finding the right domain expertise for the job is key to a successful digital transformation. So too will be orchestrating human and robot workflows in a synergistic way across the warehouse and distribution center as well as the retail store.

Customers are asking for automation and workflow augmentation solutions to optimize the performance of their limited and in some instances, shrinking, skilled labor pool. Given the growing complexity of workflows and the need for digitalization to enable automation, the need for domain expertise has become critical to success.

Computer Vision: Delivered through modalities such as scanners, robots and other edge solutions, focused on creating a digital business environment. As camera technology becomes “intelligent”, customers will be able to monitor their environments and workflows and make automated decisions to improve customer experiences (such as frictionless checkout, automated shelf inventory control, loss prevention, quality control, and object/item/action recognition) and improve the understanding of their operations.

Augmented Reality (AR): Using AR technologies to direct workers to task assignments, guide new workers or find lost items by overlaying information on the information from the camera – on their mobile computers or wearable devices.

Robotics: Instead of replacing workers, robots will assist workers by guiding workers through their workflow and transporting items and completed work, taking away mundane travel time to give back to the worker for high-value tasks. In this way, robotics solutions can “take the robot out of the human” and allow companies to reallocate their human labor force toward the greatest area of need and highest value. However, workflow optimization solutions today typically focus on either human tasks and workflows, or robotic tasks and workflows, with little to no crossover (and therefore, synergy) between the two.

Cooperative orchestration between automation systems and human workers will be critical to achieving the highest levels of productivity improvement in the not-too-distant future.

Did you know that there are more than 10 million legacy Windows® devices in today’s warehouses? And with the end of Microsoft support for its mobile operating systems coming soon, you need to make sure you have an upgrade strategy to ensure there are no security or productivity hiccups in your organization.

Honeywell has a solution to help make the transition easier. The new Android-based CK65 rugged mobile computer is built on the Mobility Edge platform, which dramatically streamlines deployment and management of your mobile devices. Validate one device, then deploy across many, enabled by a common platform.

Mobility Edge also means these new devices are upgradeable through Android R – a generation past competitive devices. And Honeywell guarantees security updates beyond Google’s last patch, for the longest security lifecycle in the industry.

Learn more: https://www.honeywellaidc.com/.