Apple Rubber Products, Inc.

Apple Rubber was founded in 1971 in Lancaster, NY, just outside the city of Buffalo. Today, they are a leading designer and manufacturer of seals and sealing devices serving the needs of countless industries around the world, from automotive and aerospace to pharmaceutical and medical devices.

The Challenge:

With their continued growth Apple Rubber came to VPN Systems with a need to build and design a wireless network that would improve their internal efficiencies and meet the increasing demands of their customers.

The challenge was to build a wireless data network around their existing ZigBee 2.4GHz infrastructure, while enhancing their daily business operations. In August of 2007 VPN Systems performed a wireless site survey that is now the foundation of Apple Rubbers' wireless network.

The Solution:

With their new network in place Apple Rubber was able to make use of the latest mobile computing technology. Using mobile computers (Motorola MC9090G), they were able to more accurately track the flow of materials through the plant in real-time. Materials and orders are more easily located and the workers can focus on their assigned tasks rather than on searching for missing or misplaced orders.

Part of the challenge in implementing their new mobile computers was to provide integration with their existing ERP and WMS System (IQMS). Being able to integrate a mobile version of the software onto the mobile computers made it possible for their users to track and move their inventory in real time.