conditions are among the highest requirements. “Hygiene, stability, quality and a cooperative partnership with our suppliers are the most im-portant criteria for us when selecting hardware,” emphasizes Peter Kunimünch. Since 2005, Bell has used noax IPCs for processing and shipping in the poultry and special meats areas of the Zell plant (Canton Lucerne) as well as for the processing of pork in the main plant in Basel. In Zell, 70.000 - 80.000 chickens a day are slaughtered, carved, and packaged. Bell can manage such quantities thanks to their latest technology, because the requirements for hygiene and traceability, and not to mention price pressure on the market, keep increasing. Since the start of the SAP/Meat_line project in 2007, only noax IPCs have been used for all production processes. Stainless steel trumps all Softproviding’s special solution on the noax IPCs assists Bell’s employees with packaging, labeling, shipping, and the documentation of the individual processing steps for traceability along the entire value creation chain, ‘from farm to fork’.” All functions are available directly on the workstation, under the most hygienic conditions. The compu-ters have a smooth housing of V2A stainless steel without grooves or cracks, where bacteria could accumulate. This makes noax IPCs in the Steel Series especially suited for use in the food industry. Thanks to the use of IPCs in production, Bell has increased its transparency and productivity. One example is packaging: the fresh meat is placed on plastic trays, weighed, and heat-sealed. Electronic scales are connected to the IPC using a RS 232 standard-com-pliant serial interface. It processes the data, trans-mits it to the label printer, and initiates the printing of the labels. Also order picking: the IPCs show the employees whether the picked goods match the order. The computer is subjected to strong vibra-tions from the hoist and from the transport of the cartons – causing no problem for noax IPCs. New computers in an old rack Since the racks from the old solution are still usable, the challenge for Bell was to install the new noax IPCs in the same location. noax’s Panel Series was best suited for this, however – as Bell’s IT professionals requested – the new installation was supposed to be implemented with ten freely-programmable operating keys. The engineers at noax implemented this special development for the Swiss meat processor almost effortlessly. Just like the Steel Series, the Panel Series is also designed for use under strict hygienic require-ments. The front of noax’s Panel PCs is made of V2A stainless steel and the rubber seals installed between the front plate and the TFT display ensure that the devices are easy to clean and disinfect: After each shift, the IPCs are foamed with a disinfecting agent and then sprayed with a high-pressure cleaner. Thanks to their sealed cons-truction according to the IP65 protective standard, noax IPCs withstand the daily cleaning without Continued from page 40 providing ag, a software and IT consulting company active internationally, and headquartered in Basel. The goal was to create a continuous ERP system that incorporates all relevant business processes. These industry-specific expansions of the SAP stan-dard also include a complete solution for produc-tion data acquisition integration as well as process data recording. In addition, softproviding supports its customers with training and exemplary after-sales service. The logical consequence of selecting a homogeneous software solution was the decision to replace the hardware. After an in-depth evaluation, Bell selected Industrial PCs from noax Technologies since softproviding offers these in the context of the companies’ partnership. “noax understood all of our needs and not just with the hardware, but also with construction and interface design. The operation, maintenance, and support also fulfilled all of our requirements,” explains Peter Kunimünch, Director of IT reguarding the selection of noax. Hygiene takes priority “You cannot check quality, you have to produce it in order to put pleasure on the plate.” This is a motto that all Bell-employees have internalized. Quality production starts early: In order to bear the label “Swiss Guaranteed” the entire production process must take place in Switzerland. In addition, personal hygiene and hygienic working Die Verarbeitung stellt höchste Anforderungen an die Hygiene. / The BELL AG Als Tochter des Schweizer Detailhandelsunternehmens Coop ist die Bell AG der mit Abstand größte Fleischverarbeiter der Schweiz. Mit den Produktgruppen Fleisch, Charcuterie, Geflügel, Seafood und Convenience beschäftigt sie rund 3.500 Mitarbeiter an sechs Standorten in der Schweiz. Zum Kundenkreis zählen bekannte Namen wie Coop, Manor, Prodega und BP im Groß- und Detailhandel, McDonalds, SV Group und Mövenpick in der Gastronomie oder Nestlé, Hilcona und Unilever in der den Einsatz bei extremen Minustemperaturen ist in diesen Geräten optional ein elektronisch geregeltes Heizungssystem eingebaut. Dadurch lassen sie sich innerhalb von fünf Minuten auf Betriebstemperatur bringen. Der analog resistive Touchscreen reagiert sehr genau auf Berührungen und ist auch mit Schutzhandschuhen bequem zu bedienen. Kleine Schaltfelder können ebenso leicht aktiviert werden wie große. Auf Kundenwunsch sind die Industrie- PCs mit einer speziellen Schutzfolie erhältlich, die das Touchpanel gegen Laugen oder Säuren ab-schirmt. Teilziel erreicht Bei Bell sind über 400 noax-IPCs im Einsatz, aus-schließlich Modelle der Panel- und der Steel-Serie mit 15‘‘-Monitoren. Diese Geräte steuern viele unterschiedliche Prozesse: die Kommissionierung, die Abfertigung der LKWs, die Dokumentation der Warenflüsse für die Rückverfolgbarkeit der Pro-dukte oder den Druck der Verpackungsetiketten. Seit der Anschaffung der ersten Industrie-PCs gab es keine nennenswerten Ausfälle oder processing makes highest requirements to the industrial hygiene. Lebensmittelindustrie. Störungen – ein großes Plus für ein solch großes Unternehmen, für das Ausfallsicherheit von essen-zieller Bedeutung ist. www.bell.ch, www.noax.com 42 2016 Foto: noax Technologies REPORT REPORTAGE
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