Rugged Tablets for -20°C Cold-Storage Forklift Operations: Yucheng Case Study
Cold storage is the harshest environment a warehouse tablet will meet. Batteries lose capacity, screens slow down, adhesives fail and ordinary devices shut down in the middle of a task – usually while the operator is standing in the cold air lock with a pallet on the forks.
Harbin Yucheng Logistics runs forklift operations inside a low-temperature warehouse. The company needed a terminal that would keep working at -20°C, integrate with its warehouse management system, and accept the professional barcode scanning modules its differentiated scenarios required. It deployed the TERVEX I10J, mounted above the forklift control console.
Challenge: Repair Costs and No Scanning Module on Ordinary Tablets
The company had been using ordinary consumer tablets on its forklifts. Repair costs were high, failures interrupted work, and - critically - there was no way to add a professional scanning module to match different operating scenarios.
That last point is what made the difference between a device that is merely hard-wearing and a device that actually supports the process: receiving, put-away, picking and inventory checks each need a different mix of scanning, mounting and software behaviour.
Solution: I10J Tablets With Detachable Barcode Module
The I10J is fixed above the forklift control console through a vehicle mount and integrated with the warehouse management system, so operators receive their task instructions from the vehicle itself.
Instead of a paper list, the operator works from the information in the instruction - product name, code, form, quantity and location - and confirms each step on the tablet.
When an instruction is completed it is uploaded to the server over the WiFi LAN. The administrator can then query real-time job records, goods status and warehouse usage information without chasing a shift report.
The integrated barcode module can also be detached and used as a handheld warehouse inventory tool, which turns one device into two roles and removes the need to buy separate scanners for stock counts.
Results: 30% Lower Labour Cost and Zero Low-Temperature Downtime
The I10J can be connected to a barcode scanner through the USB port to scan and confirm the barcode of the target goods, so the closed-loop process runs from task issue through execution to completion.
Employees can query operation records and cargo status in real time, which reduced the customer's labour investment cost by 30%.
Most importantly for a cold-chain operation, the I10J works normally in a -20°C environment. Avoiding low-temperature shutdowns removes the equipment damage and the lost time that come with a device that dies between two racks, and it is what makes an efficient warehouse information layout possible in a freezer.
