What we learned installing devices in four buildings of a customer's factory

We installed SeamStream devices in four buildings (B, C, D and E) of a customer's factory in Indonesia. Installation in B and C was in June, and in D and E in August and September. We quote about 7 min 30 s per line for placing the devices. What took time this round was everything outside the devices: the network, labels and charging. We have written it down in the order it happened, for factories planning a similar installation.

What counts as installed

We fixed the definition first. A line counts as installed on the day its data starts arriving in the system. Training ran in this order: PPIC (production planning and inventory control), cutting, warehouse, then the lines, and TAPs were handed out during line training. For each building, training progress in five areas (PPIC, IE, cutting, warehouse and production) and device installation status were tracked on one progress board. The floor staff in charge update it themselves.

Wi-Fi

The last cell left empty on the board was Wi-Fi in building E. We found in June that there was no wireless access point (AP) for production. In August the plan was to buy the equipment first, and then it turned out there was no network there at all. When installation in building E started on 27 August, it was still the only "not ready" cell on the board. It was filled on 22 September.

Even in a building that already has a network, it is better to set up a dedicated network for the production devices first.

How many devices per line collector

At first we read "70 devices per line collector (LSU)" as a spec. When we checked, memory was already at around 96% with 70 devices connected. Normal is 70–80%. So 70 was really the count at which memory was nearly full. The software allows up to 100, but going past that is risky, so we fixed the limit per LSU at 100. We turned off the relay function that lets devices pass signals to each other, because closely packed devices flood the network with signals. The LSU goes in the middle of the line, with the devices around it in a circle.

Labels and charging

In building C's cutting room, labels on denim before washing could not be read, so the pieces could not move on to the next process. On 29 September we fixed it by printing the barcode larger and bolder. QR printers have the same issue: raise the print speed and the print comes out too faint, and a faint QR will not scan. Test the labels before you test the devices.

We also had a report of faulty docking station (DS) batteries. It turned out charging was slow: 10 to 12 hours to full. We are still checking whether it is safe to use them while charging.

What we checked before installing in each building

Before starting installation in each building, we checked Wi-Fi, the label printers (garment labels for cutting, material QR labels for the warehouse), tablets and the LSU, DS units, chargers, tablet stands and PDAs.

In short

Looking back, the installation time depended more on the network and labels than on the number of devices. SeamStream's device setup and installation are at https://ssm8.app/.