Sweden’s leading window manufacturer Elitfönster, uses TOUGHBOOK for more flexible warehousing

Increased efficiency and security

For some time now, all the trucks in the window manufacturer Elitfönster's outbound warehouse have been equipped with rugged portable TOUGHBOOK G1 tablets in order to make the warehouse work more effective and safer for the truck drivers. The detachable robust devices, conveniently placed in a docking station near the driver's seat, provide all the information that the truck drivers may need when working at the outbound warehouse.

Elitfönster with its head office in Vetlanda in Sweden, was founded in 1924 and is currently Sweden's leading window manufacturer. The company has more than 1,000 employees and produces approximately 550,000 windows per year.

After a long period of having all its warehousing information on paper, in large piles of documents and overfilled files that took up space and were demanding to work with, the company decided to find a digital solution. Not least because the truck drivers needed to have all the necessary warehousing information close to hand in their trucks. Not having to leave the trucks, for example, to retrieve, update and record warehousing information would make the drivers' work more efficient, flexible and safer.

After trying several different solutions, the decision was finally made to use Panasonic's robust TOUGHBOOK G1 tablet, which both the company's management and employees found had the properties that were required to streamline the work, particularly in the company's large outbound warehouse in Lenhovda. The user-friendliness and durability of the devices provided the main attraction for Elitfönster's employees. The fact that the devices can be used in all kinds of weather conditions and while wearing gloves, as well as their long battery life, also contributed strongly to the decision to install TOUGHBOOK G1 devices in the trucks.

“We felt a great need to digitise the company's vast amounts of paper-based information, which was previously kept in folders and piles of paper on the table,” explains Jens Sandvej-Grandin, Production Manager at Elitfönster. “We needed a solution that was durable, easy to carry, and could be used while wearing gloves, which TOUGHBOOK was able to offer. Our robust devices allow us to receive and manage all information digitally. In addition, our employees can disconnect the device from the truck and hold it in their hand while picking the goods in the warehouse thereby allowing access even in confined areas.”

“Thanks to our new digital solution, we have halved the time it takes for the goods to go from reception to production,” says Rasmus Kihlblad, Team Leader at Elitfönster. “In addition, security has increased, and we can keep better track of exactly where in the warehouse the goods are located. The three main assets the TOUGHBOOK possesses are its user-friendliness, flexibility and the increased security it offers.”

TOUGHBOOK G1 – Developed for extreme environments

The rugged 10.1" Windows TOUGHBOOK G1 tablet is equipped with a high-performance Intel Core vPro i5-6300u processor and a 14-hour battery life, with the option to replace the battery during operation. The device has several flexible configuration options that allow it to be equipped with, for example, a 2D barcode scanner, GPS, Micro SD, 2. USB 2.0, wired LAN or smartcard reader.

Elitfönster also uses a number of Panasonic's rugged Android TOUGHBOOK N1 handheld computers for warehouse management. They are equipped with a built-in barcode reader, positioned to reduce the load on the user's wrists. The handy size also allows the device to be used with just one hand.