|
Syrian Industry Absorbing
The Benefits Of Electronic Business
Oriental
Paper Manufacturing Adopts Computerised Systems to Enable it to
Scale Its Export and Local Business
Damascus, Syria -- 17 October 2000 -- Symbol
Technologies, Inc., and Barcode Ware of Syria today announced the
completion of an integrated electronic management system for
Oriental Paper Manufacturing. This company, the largest manufacturer
of tissue paper in the Levant, has implemented a computerised
barcoding system that lets it take control of its business, allowing
it to scale and extend its operations regionally and into Europe,
while cutting costs and delivery times.
"This new barcoding system is a crucial first step for Oriental
Paper Manufacturing as we transform our company into a modern
electronic business," said the production manager of Oriental Paper
Manufacturing. "Having fast, accurate and automatic stock and
accounting systems are clearly of enormous direct benefit - in
addition, we are now well positioned to put in place systems to deal
with our suppliers and customers electronically. We see our company
as being a pioneer in implementing e-business systems in Syria. The
computerised barcode system from Symbol Technologies is the first,
vital link in this process."
The new system, designed and installed by Symbol Technologies'
Syrian Business Partner, Bar Code Ware, comprises barcode scanners,
printers and software to enable tracking and management of paper
stocks.
Oriental Paper Manufacturing has factories that turn pulp raw
material into master rolls of tissues for other manufacturers, which
convert these rolls into various finished products.
Before implementing the new barcoded system, the company had
challenges in accurately managing orders and deliveries to its
customers, as the systems were all manual: paper-based, subject to
human error, and impossible to integrate with the accounting and
production systems.
The weights of paper rolls were noted in handwritten tables as
they were manufactured, and were each marked with hand-written
labels. Every day, the warehouse staff had to make an inventory for
production, which meant manually matching available stocks with the
tables of the day's production runs. Whenever customers were
delivered rolls, the list of rolls being loaded was written onto a
delivery form, which was then copied onto a handwritten formal
invoice.
"This manual system was clearly very inefficient," commented Amer
Shallah, Managing Director of Bar Code Ware. "It was time-consuming,
prone to error, and made scheduling a hit-or-miss affair, depending
on how well the stock controllers judged the process. For this
company wanting to scale up its operations, and to provide its
customers with world-class service, having a proper computerised
stock control system was vital."
"E-business is about saving money, and responding fast to
customer and market demands. The first step in moving to e-business
is taking control of your company - having accurate and easily
accessible information about every item that the company produces,
where it is, and how long it will take to get to the customer. For
manufacturing, warehousing and
distribution operations, barcoding is
the critical first step to enable this," said David Copson, Director
of Middle East and South Asia Operations for Symbol Technologies.
"For Syria to enter the electronic age, companies here need to
follow the lead of innovators such as Oriental Paper, which is
laying the foundations for its transformation into an
e-business."
Barcode label printers were placed on Oriental Paper's production
line next to the scale, which prints a clear label containing the
description of the material and the roll serial number in a barcode
form. The environment was too harsh to install a personal computer,
so Oriental Paper installed a Symbol handheld
terminal (PDT 3000), which drives
the printer directly. The operator enters the relevant information
about the roll (weight, batch number, product type) into this
terminal. At the end of the day, the information is downloaded from
the terminal into a searchable general production archive.
To ensure that there was also a hard-copy record, the terminals
also print out all production details periodically.
Every day, the warehouse manager makes an inventory of all the
stocks using the Symbol PDT terminal, which has a laser scanner. All
orders are also scanned as they are loaded onto trucks, and then
downloaded to a PC to issue a clearly printed invoice.
Oriental Paper Manufacturing implemented a pilot system in 1998,
and recently, when it opened a new factory, it rolled out the
barcode system across the whole company. The operators now
also have Symbol PDT
3100 long-range barcode scanners, to let them scan labels from a
distance, making it more convenient for the operator in difficult
situations next to lifts and trucks.
As the company begins to get more used to the technology, it will
integrate its systems more and more closely: scales will be
connected directly to the systems so that weights do not need to be
keyed, accounting systems will be closely integrated with stock
management systems.
As an interim step towards full electronic commerce, customers
will soon be given software that allows them to fill in their order,
then print out a form with their materials requirement stored in a
two-dimensional barcode. This can be faxed to Oriental Paper
Manufacturing, where the 2D barcode can be scanned, so that the
request is entered directly into the order system, with no
possibility for error.
About Symbol
Technologies
Symbol Technologies, Inc., winner of
this year's National Medal of Technology, is a global leader in
wireless and Internet-based mobile data transaction systems and
services. Symbol provides its customers unique value with innovative
solutions utilizing application-specific information appliances,
data and voice wireless networks, and bar code and data capture
scanning. Symbol and its global network of business partners provide
LAN and WAN mobility solutions from the enterprise to e-commerce for
industries including retail, transportation and distribution
logistics, manufacturing, parcel and postal delivery, healthcare,
education, and hospitality. Symbol's broad range of information
appliances is in use by business and consumers from the factory, to
the office, to the home. Information is available from Symbol at http://www.symbol.com/,
+1-631-738-2400 or +1-800-722-6234.
For press
information:
Symbol
Technologies, Inc.
Doug Picker: picker@symbol.com
+1-631-738-4699
Symbol
Technologies, Inc, Wireless LAN Systems:
Mark J. Ferrone: mailto:mferrone@sj.symbol.com
+1-408-528-2749
Symbol
Technologies Europe, Middle East, Africa:
Helen Rigby: helen.rigby@uk.symbol.com
Terry Palmer: palmert@symbol.com
Michelle
Oelschig mailto:helen.rigby@uk.symbol.com
+44-(0)-118-9457324
Symbol
Technologies Asia-Pacific:
Elaine Tang: tang@symbol.com
Jane Chan: chanj@symbol.com
+65-337-6588
Brodeur
Worldwide for Symbol
Rebecca Irani: rirani@uk.brodeur.com
+44(0) 1753 790700
Michael Gold: mgold@brodeur.com
+1-203-399-8200
For financial
information:
Symbol
Technologies, Inc.
Ken Jaeggi
+1-631-738-2400 or
+1-631-738-4191
Roger
Histop
Spot On Public Relations
mailto:rogerh@spotonpr.com
+9714
349-1686
| 
