Pipeline sections ready for installation [Image: Pixabay Succo]

This was a system for a Canadian engineering company. They had a contract to build a state of the art pipe manufacturing plant and establish a pipe warehouse in a square mile of desert.

Tracking

1. Each section of pipe through each step of manufacture and test.
2. Rework, controlling the number of repeats before telling the operator to scrap the pipe.
3. Print out a certificate of compliance for each section and record manufacturing and test data.
4. Track each section into a stock rack identified with a barcode.
5. Track sections onto to trucks for shipment and send certificates of conformity to customers.

Desert environment

As there was no wireless coverage in the desert, the mobile computers used store and forward technology to record pipe drop-off locations and to direct trucks to pipe pickup locations.

The pipe racks had ruggedized UV-resistant barcode labels to stand up to the harsh desert conditions. Each pipe rack label had specially constructed sun shade to minimize glare when scanning in bright sunlight.

The mobile computers and their scanners function very well in the desert heat