BLOW AND STAB RESISTANT: IPC FOR THE FOOD INDUSTRY

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1 BLOW AND STAB RESISTANT: FOR THE INDUSTRY Management Summary Industry computers () for the food industry have to conform to several laws and requirements: The case material has to be stainless steel , An extreme water jet protection, which can withstand the daily high pressure or steam jet cleaning requires the fulfilment of protection level IP69K. Extreme temperatures from -20 to +60 degrees Centigrade are encountered in the processing sites and cool houses the devices have to withstand these conditions in continuous operation. Yet a sore point often remains: many s are delivered with touchscreens that have sensitive surfaces, which cannot stand up to the rigors in the special environment found in the food industry. A touchscreen acts as a combined input and output device controlled by touching part of the screen. Today we know this through smartphones and tablets but computers with touchscreens allow for the friendly, keyboard-less use of industry software. 1

2 This allows for the entry of data and the issuing of commands through a simple, touch orientated interface. The use of specially written applications provides an intuitive user experience that takes provides the information from back end systems in a clear and logical manner and passes the data to the back end for processing. Well-designed screens allow for faster and safer use as with a traditional keyboard, which isn t suited for many environments anyway. Projected capacitive touch Resistive touch OPERATION WITH FINGERS AND GESTURES Today there are two technologies on the market. The projected capacitive touch or PCAP is made up from two isolate layers with a conductive pattern. When a finger finds itself at a crossover point of the lines of the pattern the capacitance of a capacitor changes and a stronger signal is received on the receiving stripe. The benefit of this system is that the sensor can be applied to the underside of a sheet of glass, so that the operation is carried out on a wear-resistant surface. This is the version that we know from smartphones and tablets. This technology is only partially suitable for industry computers, because interaction with gloves or wet hands is not recognized. In the tough environment of industrial processes work gloves are often a requirement the operation with naked fingers is often made difficult through dirt and moisture. COMFORTABLE OPERATION WITH GLOVES Resistive touchscreen on the other hand react to pressure. The two electrical conductive layers are connected at the point of pressure. The layers build a potentiometer where the resistivity is measured in order to determine the point of pressure. An outer, polyester layer and behind it a glass or plastic sheet are held apart by spacers. As this system can be used with gloves and in poor lighting conditions the display can be better seen, most manufacturers of industry PCs use this technology. The outer polyester layer suffers from severe abrasion, when in continuous use in harsh environments. The harsh cleaning chemicals typically used in the food industry can also lead to damage, such as making the layer blind (display not viewable) as well as mechanical problems: when used in slaughter businesses, where the operator uses the terminal with chain mail gloves or a knife; this can lead to holes in the surface or abrasion. This makes the device unusable, until the panel is replaced. 2

3 from SLA: resistive and robust THE NEW GENERATION FROM SLA For these reasons SLA, experts for process optimization and IT solutions in the food industry, have produced a new generation of industry PCs protected in a stainless steel case. The display unit with a diagonal of 15 or 19 uses an impact resistant surface, which protects the touch surface. A new technology ensures that the touch is registered, even with chain mail gloves or wet fingers. The stab resistant surface also protects the touchscreen from mechanical damage, whether a knife, screwdriver or any other pointed object is used. Unlike the glass used in resistive systems, the panel does not splinter when it breaks. Therefore, even when extreme force is used, the operator will not be injured. It also means that there can be no contamination of the food products through glass splinters. These s were developed for divergent areas of the food industry such as process management, ERP and MES connection, as well as cool-house management. Businesses in the meat processing industry use them for workstations including veterinary findings, classification, salmonella sample registration on the slaughter line as well as for cool-house management. The s also prove themselves on a daily basis for goods receiving, dispatch and various processes in the production. 3

4 complex processes in a user friendly manner Technical high performance in a tough environment SLA SPECIALISTS FOR USER FRIENDLY SAP DIALOGS Efficient user interfaces, which lead to an free results and a minimum of input, are a major advantage for the daily work flow. Numerous examples from the food industry prove just how quickly and simple such complex processes can be accomplished using user friendly interfaces. The specialists from SLA model and implement processes and dialogs in the production and logistics are of slaughter businesses, deboning, production and processing. In order to do this, they must integrate industry specific devices, like Fat-O-Meter (FOM), AutoFOM and scales, RFID technology, programmable logic controllers (PLC), scanners, labelprinters and pricing machines in a fail-safe way. Hundreds of devices from leading manufacturers are supported and can be easily integrated or replaced in just a few minutes. A special strength of the SLA is the complete integration with the industry modules of the market leading ERP system from SAP. With modern graphical dialogs it is possible to make a direct integration into the SAP inventory management as well as the immediate apportioning of storage locations based on captured quality data or a connection to the SAP deboning cockpit with the management of purchases of premium cuts. HARDWARE THAT EARNS ITS NAME Just like the display unit and the graphical user interface, the rest of the is designed specially to meet the high standards required in the food industry. That is why the case is made out of stainless steel in Germany and fulfil the specifications of the protection category IP69K. They contend with the contamination from dust and dirt, vibration and shock in continuous operation. The completely protected case can be cleaned with steam and high pressure water jets as well as disinfectant and thereby fulfils the highest standards of hygiene. In temperature ranges from -20 to +60 degrees Celsius, with high humidity and difficult lighting conditions high level of computing power and user friendly interfaces are available. 4

5 Inside the terminal Intel processors combined with up to 8GB RAM are at work. The usual serial, parallel, USB and network interfaces are also available as well as audio, VGA, SVideo and SATA ports. With a large number of options, the devices can be adapted to suit every customer or sales partners need. Barcode scanners, RFID or WLAN can be easily integrated. In network operation the terminals can use Citrix or Linux Server as well as Windows. Depending on the area of application, PLCs, conveyors and warehouse technology as well as numerous devices from the food production industry can be attached. TRENDSETTING TECHNOLOGY The excellent protection properties in connection with the advances in PC technology open up new areas of implementation in many industries and areas. They lend themselves well for use in the automobile industry or the mechanical engineer or plant construction, the integration in clean room technology or laboratories and production areas in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The SLA cooperates here with software and system houses, who want to jointly develop new applications. manifold applications The stainless steel from SLA are robust, stab resistant and powerful Hardware that really earns it name! NIKO BRAND, Director, Brand Qualitätsfleisch 5

6 SLA The SLA Software Logistik Artland GmbH, based in Quakenbruck has been optimizing business and production processes in the food industry since With extensive industry knowledge, ERP solutions are implemented, supplemented and connected to all modern peripheral devices including RFID systems in the production process in order to make company workflows more efficient, more secure and more profitable. SLA is the market leader in Europe for solutions for meat processing from slaughter on. A further business area is comprehensive internet applications such as the MEAT INTEGRITY SOLUTION (MIS) and industry portals such as GLOBALG.A.P. as well as POS apps for sales. The company s own industry PCs and software components for third-party providers complete its product range. SLA s customers include Bedford, Bell, Rügenwalder Mühle, SFZU/Ulmer Fleisch, VION and Westfleisch. You can find more information online at SLA Software Logistik Artland GmbH Friedrichstr. 30 D Quakenbrück Fon: +49 (0) Fax: +49 (0) kontakt@sla.de Image rights: SLA Software Logistik Artland GmbH Lilyana Vynogradova / Shutterstock.com