Bluetooth® Wireless Printing in Extreme Environments

Success Story – Dutch Flower Wholesaler Heyer Optimizes Truck Drivers’ Workflows With Bluetooth® Printer Adapter

Entreprise francaise internationale 1 | mpi tech

Printing in an Extreme Environment

Heyer Blomstergrossisten B.V. (www.heyer.se) is a Dutch flower wholesaler that buys in large quantities on the world’s largest auction market, namely FloraHolland. Most of the stock is delivered to their customers in Sweden and Finland. A fleet of 10 air-conditioned trucks ensures that the flowers and plants remain fresh during their transport over hundreds or even thousands of kilometers.

Problem

Drivers have to deliver a large number of customers every day. At each stop, the driver needs to print the delivery note and the corresponding invoice. A Motorola handheld device allows the driver to connect directly to Heyer’s ERP to generate and retrieve the documents. In the past, a holder was created to receive the handheld device. On the base of this stand, a connector allowed the device to be connected to a printer.

However, this solution was not completely stable and it happened regularly that the Motorola device could not establish its connection with the printer. It also happened that the low temperatures of the truck caused the printer to malfunction, both with the paper and the toner. So Heyer set out to find a replacement solution.

Wireless printing in extreme environments

Wireless bluetooth printing in extreme conditions

Heyer’s IT department was looking for a solution that could work in the cargo hold of a truck at temperatures as low as 5°C. On the printer side, a Ricoh model with solid ink specially designed for low temperatures was chosen.

Once this problem was solved, they had to find a reliable method to connect the Motorola handheld device to the printer. The physical connection between the media and the device was not satisfactory, so a wireless connection solution was chosen.

Proposed Solution: Bluetooth® Printing

When Heyer’s team discovered MPI Tech’s Bluetooth Print Box, they immediately decided to give it a try. Finally, after a trial period, they came to the conclusion that wireless file transfer between the handheld device and the printer completely met their needs.

But to do this, customization was required: the Bluetooth Print Box circuit boards were removed from their original casing and integrated directly into the Ricoh printers. The printers were then installed in the trucks’ cargo bays on custom-designed shelves right next to the flowers.

Advantages

A Reliable Mobile Printing Solution

Our customer Heyer is very satisfied with their new wireless printing solution. It is stable, reliable, and easy to use. In addition, the driver can start printing without having to be next to the printer, especially just before entering the cargo hold.

Finally, this solution is much less vulnerable than the previous one to the cold and wet conditions of this environment.

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Streamline the Publishing Chain

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Reduce Infrastructure Costs

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Standardize Documents

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