TT electronics IMS implements Seratel's Reel aMounts

Manufacturing in Rogerstone is typically low-volume / high-mix and kits of material are counted on their return from production. Reel aMounts is replacing traditional, electro-mechanical counting systems, streamlining materials handling in this area. TT’s Materials Manager, Laurence Farrant, says, "Historically the reel counting process was a major bottleneck within the material flow process. Through a semi automatic reel counting machine, each reel could take up to four minutes to count. What Reel aMounts has done is to remove the bottleneck by weigh counting the reel, which takes seconds. A kit of material which used to take two people a shift to process is now done by one person in less than an hour." Reel aMounts links a computer, electronic weighing scales, bar code scanner, bar code printer and a database of component types to provide a solution typically fifteen times faster than conventional counters for tape and reel components. Being computer based, all count information can also be forwarded to the company’s ERP system, viewed in a web browser, printed as reports or exported to Excel for further analysis. Besides reducing costs, the system provides benefits in material availability, traceability and inventory control.