The forklift driver picks up a pallet with goods and proceeds to the shipment scanning area, i.e., the measuring area. After entering the measuring area, the sorting operator carries out the pallet and forklift identification procedure. This consists of reading the forklift code (a label with a code attached to the forklift), the pallet code, and the postal code using a handheld terminal – these data are registered by the PDT3146 radio handheld terminal and sent via an application to the WaveLink server. At the moment the forklift is identified by the handheld terminal operator, the weight of the pallet on the raised forks is automatically measured. The weight data is transmitted via an RS-232 link to the VRC forklift terminal, and from there, it is transmitted to the TCP/IP server. Upon collecting and comparing all data, the server sends them to the Oracle server, which, after saving the data in the database, returns information about the shipping destination along with confirmation to the forklift driver. After this process, the operator receives information on the screen regarding the destination of the given shipment, which prevents errors in sorting palletized shipments.
The primary task of the TCP/IP server is to combine the data arriving from the handheld terminal (forklift code, pallet code, postal code) and the forklift terminal (forklift code – fixed; the same as on the identifier placed on the forklift, package weight). At the end of the weight measurement procedure, confirmation of the correct execution of the procedure and the pallet’s shipping destination appear on the forklift terminal.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 6/2004.