IMCORP delivers a new solution to better manage parts inventory control

Partners of BlueStar and Motorola Solutions have been innovating new solutions with the state-of-the-art technology contained in Motorola's enterprise products. One notable example is a recent repurposing of the Motorola MK590 by IMCORP for a longtime manufacturing client.

The manufacturer was looking to improve its restocking procedures for smaller parts and miscellaneous hardware, which it managed through a kanban system. When supplies got low, workers would scan a card that triggered a reorder. Rather than mobile or tethered scanners that would move around and potentially get lost, the client wanted a fixed-mount scanning system that would allow workers to walk up to the device and scan the kanban system card for the appropriate item at that location.

IMCORP began working with the Motorola MK590 Micro Kiosk, which is normally used in retail settings for tasks like verifying prices, looking up inventory, and checking gift card balances. The MK590 provided a great option because it is affordable and compact enough to be mounted just about anywhere. The MK590 offers a choice of laser scanning or imaging technology to read a range of bar codes, including 1D, 2D and PDF codes. IEEE 802.11a/b/g networking and Power-over-Ethernet support give the unit the flexibility to connect to wireless or wired LANs.

Extremely useful for the modified application, the MK590 has an available Wavelink Telnet emulation program that would allow the device to communicate directly with the client's iSeries computing system. The manufacturer's iSeries programmers could write a new program without having to learn new skills, and then implement the MK590 solution without risk of losing data.

"They had a need, and based on what we know of their environment, we took a product that is nominally advertised as a price checker and turned it into a fixed-mount scanner for doing barcode lookups in a kanban system," says Bob Lehman of IMCORP. "We verified the functionality of the system in our labs and then delivered a product that allowed them to build a customized solution at a lower cost and in a shorter timeframe than would have been possible otherwise. Our initial feedback from the end user has been very positive."

Distributed by BlueStar, the Motorola MK590 is part of the MK500 series in Motorola Solutions' Micro Kiosk department.