BMC selects Zebra to automate operations

Zebra Technologies, an industrial automation company, says Bespoke Manufacturing Company, an apparel manufacturer, has selected S&H Systems and Zebra’s Fetch autonomous mobile robots and fixed industrial scanners to improve visibility and productivity.

Zebra’s solution will improve BMC’s workflow visibility from the initial printing and cutting of fabric to the final phase of packing and shipping, increasing efficiency and productivity and allowing the manufacturer to scale up to meet growing demand.

BMC selected Zebra’s end-to-end industrial and robotics automation solution to enable front-line workers to focus on production. Its entire workflow logistics are delegated to Zebra’s Fetch AMRs and fixed industrial scanners which move, trace and direct workpieces to their destinations.

J. Kirby Best, president and CEO of BMC, says: “With Zebra’s unique solution, we are able to realize significant savings in labor time while retaining an ability to instantly scale up to meet seasonal demand surges, and seamlessly modify our production.

“I am particularly proud that Zebra’s smart and innovative solution allows us to create and keep manufacturing jobs in the United States.”

Zebra’s Fetch AMRs and fixed industrial scanners complement each other to achieve additional synergies and productivity gains. Zebra’s FS20 and FS40 fixed industrial scanners provide visibility into the movement of each piece in production, directing Fetch robots to advance them throughout the workflow from one destination to the next, all the way to the packing and shipping stage for finished products.

Zebra’s Fetch AMRs are fully integrated in the production process, freeing BMC’s human workers to concentrate on the most important professional tasks, in a controlled, safe and collaborative manner.

James Lawton, vice president and general manager of robotics automation, Zebra Technologies, says: “Zebra helps businesses like BMC leverage the power of industrial and robotics automation to unlock new levels of performance that empower their front-line workers to do their best work.

“The combined power of our solution elevates human and robotic performance by augmenting capabilities and coordinating work and movement in real-time resulting in faster fulfillment, timely replenishment and autonomous movement of material for higher efficiencies and customer satisfaction.”

S&H Systems, a Registered Reseller, and a new member of the Mobile Robotics Specialization within Zebra’s PartnerConnect program, designed and integrated the industrial and robotics automation solution, which BMC anticipates expanding across its existing and planned manufacturing sites to meet seasonal production surges and growing demand.

Justin Ray, director advanced technology at S&H Systems, says: “Robotics and machine vision are emerging technologies that increase the efficiency and productivity of front-line workers, but many businesses do not have the internal knowledge to adopt this technology.

“We understand how to efficiently implement a spectrum of technologies to save costs and increase efficiencies and, in the case of BMC, when combined with Zebra’s proven solutions, streamline the production process for our manufacturing clients.”