BellHawk has introduced an improved product labelling module, which is to be used along with the Bell-Hawk Cloud based web-mobile Manufacturing Execution System (MES).
The main constraint faced in migrating MES to the cloud system is the efficient printing of the barcode labels in local manufacturing plants from a remote server. This remote server runs the MES system via the Internet. In the latest version of BellHawk V6.2 automated barcode printing system, this issue has been addressed.
The automated barcode printing system incorporates the BarTender Automation system from Seagull Scientific for the label layout and to equip the print drivers with a variety of barcode printing options. The system is installed on a Windows 7 Professional computer, which can be stationed in each manufacturing plant to serve a number of barcode printers. The following provides details of how the barcode printing system works. First, the material handler armed with a mobile computer accesses a web browser for entering data about the incoming material, production material or the material being shipped. This data is communicated to the cloud-based MES application via the Internet. The option of choosing the labels for the materials is provided to the user on the web-browser screen. The second step is sending a web-services request from the server to a BellHawk application that runs on Windows 7 Pro Computer in the remotely located plant. The Windows machine retrieves the print request and also the name of the label format from the Cloud server MES database. Then the BellHawk remote application retrieves the label format from the local database. The application matches the named fields present in the label format against the values present in the MES system using the web-services requests. After the look up is complete it populates the values in the required label format and calls the BarTender SDK to print a one label or a series of labels. The labels are finally printed on a wireless mobile printer on a desktop printer located nearby or on the belt of the user. Though there are a number of steps involved in the process, all of them happen automatically without user intervention.
Source: http://www.bellhawk.com/