UK-based manufacturer of rugged mobile computers, TouchStar Technologies, is pleased to announce that educational resource specialists, Findel Education, has selected TouchStar to support a new “hands free” technology upgrade to their warehouse picking operation.

About Findel

Findel is an eCommerce educational resources supplier, supporting the needs of both schools and nurseries within the UK and international marketplace. Findel brands and websites offer more than 32,000 products to customers, covering everything from art and design materials, stationary, sports and science equipment through to IT hardware, furniture, and facilities.

Challenges

Headquartered in Hyde, Cheshire, Findel’s distribution centre and offices in Nottingham employ 300 people. Speed and efficiency are key objectives for the operation, from ensuring an easy and simple ordering process for their customers, through to efficient and accurate fulfilment within their distribution centre.

Investment in their IT infrastructure is therefore critical to Findel’s operation. Rugged mobile computers play a fundamental role in supporting key warehouse processes. Ensuring the business has access to reliable, futureproof and user-friendly RF technology is key. With the existing wearable devices within their picking function nearing end of life, Findel knew that they had to look at upgrading their existing rugged hardware estate to maintain efficient operations.

Solution

To manage the upgrade, Findel selected UK based rugged mobile computer and scanning specialists, TouchStar, to manage the process from specification through to testing, go live and ongoing support.

Anthony Peach, Production Manager explains “We are now moving towards our third generation of TouchStar devices within our operation. Touchstar devices had proved themselves inherently reliable within our operating environment over a significant number of years, so it made sense to talk to them about how we would look to upgrade. We use a “pick from conveyor” system to pick a large number of small items for goods out. Given the large number of orders requiring fulfilment in our operation, we knew we needed to look at another hands-free solution for our operators that was both lightweight and reliable. We also required a high-resolution screen to provide clear picking instruction”. 

Working together with TouchStar to select the best solution for the operation, Findel selected Zebra’s TC21 wrist mounted solution. With its large 5-inch high definition touchscreen and lightweight compact design, the device offered a best fit solution and a logical upgrade path to Findel’s current rugged wearable device. Paired with a Bluetooth ring scanner, the TC21 is mounted on the user’s wrist to provide a user-friendly, futureproof and scalable hands-free scanning solution. Undertaking a thorough testing process, TouchStar worked closely with Findel from proof of concept and onwards towards the full deployment of the upgrade.

Anthony continues, “As we move towards the go live of the system, we are excited by the numerous process improvements the new technology will deliver. Throughout the testing phase, it became clear that the new TouchStar solution was a step up in terms of speed and clarity of display, it was also well received by all our operators. In TouchStar, we have found a company that not only understands our requirements today, but also for the future. Their industry experience is clear, and their recommendations and technical expertise led to a successful outcome in the testing of the new solution. The localised support we have received from TouchStar has been excellent and we look forward to a successful rollout of the technology upgrade.