Tecno Italia is a highly specialized company in the design and construction of power tool tightening systems. They have been active in automotive applications for several years, designing and integrating solutions best fit for customer specifications and requests.

Each screwing operation in the industrial sector is stored in a central computer system with a series of technical data for each screw or bolt used. A certified server receives this data and guarantees its retention for at least 10 years. The data is sent continuously by the screwing systems, which are equipped with a WiFi connection.

The Situation
Currently, each car to be manufactured has a specific identification sheet detailing the parts and operations needed in production. Operators in their workstation assemble the required parts (right door, seat, wheels, etc.) by identifying each unique component through barcodes.

Previously, operators were using industrial cabled handheld readers. These were heavy, uncomfortable to wear, expensive and easily damaged if dropped. Some slightly damaged 1D barcodes were unreadable, and there were reflection problems with shiny material labels. Because of this, the operator had to stop, go to the computer to manually enter the code or ask the plant manager to replace the reader causing a disruption to work flow.

The Solution
Tecno Italia created a workstation with an industrial terminal / PC. Operators are now using an OPN-2006 (1) to scan barcodes, and use its SPP Bluetooth communication to send the data to a BT. RS2323 adapter (2).

Tecno Italia also developed a cradle (3) for the OPN-2006, allowing each operator to have two OPN-2006’s available at a time. Because of this, scanning error has been virtually eliminated in production, and operation efficiencies have improved. More than one thousand OPN-2006’s are now used in FCA (Fiat Chrystler Automobiles) plants around the world.

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