Overview
Customer : BioTec-Klute
Country : German
Industry : Public health
Application : Field service
Product Solution : CP30 mobile computer
Partner : AISCI Ident
The pest control company BioTec-Klute has equipped its field service technicians with new mobile data collection devices (MDE) of CipherLab CP30 type. They provide reliable information on the kind and the intensity of the infestation and thus further increase the pest control efficiency. The implementation partner is AISCI Ident, a specialist for automatic identification.
Bait stations and catch boxes equipped with barcodes
For the efficient pest prevention and control, BioTec-Klute uses the so-called monitors – bait stations or catch boxes equipped with a barcode and providing information on the kind and the intensity of the infestation. The integrated scanner of CP30 detects the barcode; the associated information is retrieved from the central database and displayed.
For the purpose of data exchange, BioTec-Klute has developed its own web portal which enables a smooth communication. Some of the bait stations even provide information to the quality management representatives of the customer directly per SMS or email – for example, when a mouse gets trapped. This saves the customer’s time as he doesn’t have to check the traps once a day in any case and thus guarantees the compliance with the German animal protection act.
In order to enable a full and comprehensive documentation of these procedures, the pest control company has equipped its service technicians with mobile data collection devices which help ensure the maximum transparency and, consequently, a quick intervention to eliminate the problem. It can happen, for example, that big food producers have more than 1000 such bait stations in use. In such cases, efficient processing of the data collected plays a crucial role.
Robust touch screens of MDE devices are important for field activities
“Since our technicians, while on site with the customer, have to partly enter information manually, the MDE devices used in the past were particularly likely to have defective touch screens”, this is how Wilhelm Bock, EDP manager of BioTec-Klute, describes the main problem with the predecessor products in everyday work. “This was one of the main reasons why we wanted to switch the device provider to another as soon as possible, so we contacted our long-standing partner AISCI with this issue.
“Together, we decided to introduce CP30 of CipherLab. With its compact design and powerful features, it offers the desired flexibility and the potential to sustainably optimize and accelerate the work processes of BioTec-Klute. Reliable and easy to handle, CP30 meets, according to the manufacturer, all the requirements and offers the optimum total cost of ownership (TCO).
Time and paper savings
The data communication is performed in the following manner: “On CP30, there is an application installed which was developed by us; it is required for the data collection in the field and for transmitting the data after the corresponding service action has been completed”, explains Bock. “All data collected by our Field-Service Technicians are then sent to our server via the File Transfer Protocol (FTP).” Then, these data are loaded into the BioTec-Klute database where they are available via a web portal to the customers and, if necessary, to their auditors.
Another important aspect is the capability of remote servicing of the program and of the data update, as well as the localizing, e.g. via the management solution Mobi Control. “Furthermore, our technicians use the office suite available on CP30 for all of their work-related mail traffic and for creating or sending their action reports for internal purposes”, says Bock.
“The bottom line is that both our customers and ourselves save a lot of paper this way, which definitely has a positive impact on the environment.”
Efficiency and reliability have increased significantly
“Another important requirement of BioTec-Klute was the capability for the service technicians to work with the devices everywhere online”, adds Timo Kohlmeier, the responsible project manager on the part of AISCI Ident. “In the past, the price of the MDE devices available on the market and especially of those which had an integrated barcode reader, was, plain and simple, too high.”
The CP30 of CipherLab which is relatively new on the market would currently provide, in the opinion of Timo Kohlmeier, an almost unbeatable value for money for a MDE device having an integrated barcode reader. “For this reason, we have also recommendedit to our client BioTec-Klute”, says Kohlmeier. “Nowadays, about 20 such devices are in use.” And the decision has proven to be worthwhile – not only because the performance, compared to the previously used product of a competitor of CipherLab, has significantly increased since November 2012 when the devices were introduced. The reliability of the MDE devices in the practical use significantly improved, too. “And the time that both the technicians and ourselves in the central office need for the remote maintenance of the devices has reduced, too, compared to the predecessor models”, mentions Wilhelm Bock of BioTec-Klute another advantage. “Today, all of us work in a much more efficient and relaxed manner.”
