One of the big challenges with 3G devices is the 3G network can be a significant drain on batteries. With rugged devices like the Intermec CN3 and Motorola MC75, you can purchase extended batteries that essentially double the battery capacity. The goal with those batteries is to help achieve a full shift of work without having to recharge the device.

In our experience, operating for a full shift (at least 8 hrs and up to 10-12 hrs) while using 3G is pretty hard to do without intermittent recharges. We strongly recommend a vehicle charger.

The following steps provide the best settings to maximize 3G battery life. This applies to all Windows Mobile devices, including version 5, 6, 6.1 and higher.

Auto-shutoff

To change the auto shut-off setting, click on Start -> Settings and then click on Power.

Click on the Advanced tab to view/change the auto shut-off settings. We recommend that you check ‘Turn off device if not used for’ (under Battery Power) and set the interval to either 3 or 5 minutes.

Backlight Setting

The backlight setting has a major effect on device battery life. To change the backlight setting, click on Start -> Settings and then click on Backlight.

On the Backlight screen you can change settings for both battery power and external power and also modify the keypad backlight setting.

We recommend that you check the following options and set the brightness level to the lowest possible setting (that is still readable under working conditions) to conserve battery power.

We hope this helps. If you have other ideas on maximizing battery life, please leave a comment.

Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery in Frostproof, FL is now using a wireless inventory control system from BizSpeed.  Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery is the largest citrus nursery in Florida. The owner of the nursery, Phillip Rucks, needed a way to track thousands of citrus trees that are growing at any given time.  Phillip found the solution he needed during the summer of 2008 when he deployed BizSpeed’s “goRoam Mobile Inventory” system to manage greenhouse inventory.  The system uses Symbol-Motorola MC9090 Symbol MC9090 handheld computers that have wireless and barcode capability, along with a Motorola wireless network.  These mobile computers have the rugged ability to withstand a greenhouse environment.

The challenge Phillip Rucks faced was there were thousands of tree varieties, ages, and grades growing at the same time, located over several acres.  Phillip Rucks has to track each tree’s growth and status as Work In Process (WIP) inventory for delivery on specific dates to customers.  The head grower, Cliff Gaddis, was keeping track of inventory and locations with paper & clipboard, spending many hours per week determining inventory counts, status, inventory location and production forecasts.  If a tree was moved, it was extremely difficult to track down its location and status.

Working with Eric Claiborne of BizSpeed, Phil configured BizSpeed’s goRoam mobile and server software for his greenhouse inventory.  Configured for the Greenhouse, the goRoam software allows an inventory clerk to barcode scan and update inventory data anywhere in the greenhouse.  Updates are real-time with a direct wireless connection to a central server, and inventory is updated as soon any activity occurs.

Rucks’ citrus trees are grown on 3200 movable benches, with each bench holding up to 311 trees.  For a given table, the clerk uses the mobile computer to enter tree variety (liners or budded trees), grade of the trees,  quantity on bench, associated customer, root date, bud/graft date, estimated finish date, notes, and the bench location.  The shipping screens support scanning benches as they are placed into a truck, which automatically records products shipped to the customer by barcode and prints a Shipping Ticket.  Each bench has a unique barcode label and each row in the Greenhouse has a unique barcode label that identifies the range and row for that bench.  At any time, reports can be run that will show inventory locations, varieties, grades, customers, quantities, etc.

All reports are stored on a local server and can be run from the goRoam.Mobilehub site which runs in a web-browser.  Because the software runs from a web-browser, all work and reports can be done from any PC either inside the building or outside the building if the server is made available to the Internet.  Items, customers and reports can be updated in goRoam at any time.

As a result of the goRoam system, Rucks has the ability to accurately “see a picture” of inventory at any time, from anywhere.  This makes it is easier to immediately book new sales, complete inventory valuation reports and manage inventory.  And, the head grower can now focus on growing trees and managing his crew without being concerned about inventories.

Mobile Greenhouse Menu – Click to Enlarge:	Mobile Edit Bench Screen – Click to Enlarge:
Browser Inventory Location Screen  Click to Enlarge:	Browser Inventory Transaction Screen  Click to Enlarge:
Browser Inventory Edit Screen  Click to Enlarge:

To find out more about BizSpeed and goRoam, please visit www.bizspeed.com

About BizSpeed:

BizSpeed is an enterprise software and services company focused on extending business applications to mobile, wireless and web users.  BizSpeed solutions provide and collect information at the point of need, which helps clients achieve a “faster business”.  BizSpeed provides complete mobile solutions for pickup and delivery, inventory tracking, field sales, field service, asset management and inspections.  BizSpeed mobile solutions support barcode and RFID, and are certified on Symbol, Motorola and Intermec hardware.

sales @ bizspeed.com

About Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery, Inc.:

Phillip Rucks Citrus Nursery is the largest citrus nursery in Florida. Rucks has a state-of-the-art 5 acre greenhouse that was one of the first to conform to current state agriculture guidelines See Article -TheLedger.com , including full decontamination entrance/exit, stock tracking, rolling/pneumatic benches and wireless inventory.  Rucks provides containerized trees, budwood, liners and seed.  For more information, contact Phillip Rucks at 863-635-1948.

PR Contact:
Doug Hollowell
dhollowell @ bizspeed.com

866.270.0541

Using Motorola fixed and mobile RFID readers, BizSpeed helped Knox Nursery deliver a 12 month payback on work in process (WIP) and inventory management.

Knox Nursery is a wholesale nursery based in Winter Garden, FL.  As a wholesale grower, Knox has approximately 8 acres of greenhouse space  where seasonal variety plants are grown to order and shipped across the US. Half the plants are shipped via FedEx and half are shipped via truck.

Each order has to tracked through the whole growing process – which is the nursery equivalent of a manufacturing process. Trays are planted via conveyor belts, where the process automatically runs a Print-and-Apply barcode to attach an serialized barcode and encoded RFID tag.

BizSpeed worked with Knox Nursery IT Staff to integrate RFID tracking into their existing manufacturing WIP and ERP software.  The integration points included:

• RFID encoding station to encode and test barcode labels with RFID serial number. Includes a touchscreen PC with an optical scanner to activate the encoder.  Upwards of 20,000 trays can be encoded each week.
• RFID scan to inventory – as trays roll into the greenhouse, the RFID reader confirms entry into production and updates the inventory tracking status.
• Mobile RFID scanner to take inventory of locations – this is done by location table (42 trays at a time) with wireless queries to the inventory system for updates.
• Mobile rework tracking with barcodes – when trays contain plugs (seeds) that need to be disposed or consolidated to a different tray for further growing, they rework and consolidated trays are scanned with a barcode and the inventory system is updated wirelessly. These are done via barcode due to the close proximity of RFID tags and the need to uniquely identify each tray.
• RFID shipping – two shipping portals were implemented. Each receives approximately 50% of the shipping traffic.

• RFID Rack Shipping – for large orders, trays are shipping in racks via truck. The shipping area a group of portals, each with a touchscreen and alert light + alarm. The operator uses the touchscreen to select the order to ship. The screen(s) then show all products on the order and as the trays are moved through the portal, the ship count is decremented. If a tray is not supposed to be on that shipment, the alarm sounds so the shipper knows to stop and remove the tray. Once complete the shipper touches the screen and a shipping list is printed.
• RFID FedEx Shipping – for smaller orders, trays are shipped via FedEx. The operator uses a touchscreen to select the order and the box sizes. The touchscreen shows the items on the order and as the shipper moves the items on the conveyor past the reader, the order is updated. Once complete, the operator presses the ‘box filled’ and the shipping system access fedex.com to generate the shipping label in real-time. A second label is printed with the package contents and both labels are attached to the box. Customers can receive the FedEx tracking numbers for tracking.

RFID mobile inventory portal – trays move all through the greenhouse during their growing season. A mobile portal was implemented to allow scanning all trays that pass the portal and recording their table (inventory location) and serial number.

RFID is a very good fit for the nursery industry. Barcodes allow scanning of individual trays, but in bulk it is too cumbersome and difficult because the barcodes get covered with water, dirt, leaves, etc. and each one must be cleaned to read it.  RFID allows quick, accurate scanning without requiring direct line of site.

The project was started with a pilot and RFID site survey. These are critical to understand RFID’s effectiveness in your environment. One example of the pilot’s findings was that we could not read all tags once trays were put in a rack – we could only read approximately 85% due to the rack acting as a Faraday cage. This helped in the process design to scan trays before entering the rack.

Knox Nursery was able to achieve close to a one year payback. Knox and BizSpeed are marketing the RFID integration components and GrowersOwn (Knox’s Nursery ERP system) to other growers.

To see how the system works, watch the following videos or read an additional writeup at Greenhouse Grower.

 

Title	RFID Shipping with FedEx
Description	Shows the FedEx shipping line using RFID scanners to verify items packed and make a web service call to FedEx to generate the FedEx shipping label.  The Fedex tracking number is sent to customers for advanced ship notification and tracking.  Uses Motorola/Symbol XR400/XR440 fixed RFID readers and Zebra printers.

 

 

Title	RFID Shipping Portal
Description	Shows the rack shipping process with barcode scanning of pick tickets to initiate loading, and the RFID portal to confirm contents packed. Uses Motorola/Symbol XR400/XR440 fixed RFID readers.

 

Title	RFID Tag Encoding – seed sowing into production
Description	Demonstrates the RFID tag encoding station used to encode plant trays prior to putting them into production.  The encoding station encodes tags read by a barcode scanner on an assembly line – volume can be up to 20,000 tags at a time in peak season. The RFID equipment is Symbol/Motorola XR400/440 fixed readers setup as a shipping portal.