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PRINTER MANUFACTURER ACHIEVES ULTIMATE FLEXIBILITY
Daily, Xerox pumps through hundreds of its new, popular four-color printers
on a down-and-back powered roller conveyor line. Over the line's total
length of 136 ft, there are 127 individual power zones that
direct printers on slave pallets to individual workstations in eight
major areas. There, custom configuration of the printers as well as
installation of hardware and software and final testing occurs.
In addition to keeping the footprint of the system to a minimum, only
9,700 sq ft, the system offers Xerox maximum control over the
configuration process. As a result,  the company has the ability to
manage the process in whatever order needed to meet the day's orders as
well as accommodate surges in throughput at the end of the quarter.
Due to the many possible printer configurations, production efficiencies
can be achieved by changing the role of each workstation for a given
production cycle. The control
system is PC-based using Think & Do for logic with an I/O bus device network.
"The flexibility and reliability of this line has
eliminated potential problems as demand for these printers takes
off," says Doug Henkle, manufacturing engineer.
For a comprehensive review of this project as published in Modern
Material Handling, contact
FloStor for a reprint of the article.
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