Flextronics Manufacturing

Guadalajara, Mexico

The Challenge: Reliable Label Printing for High-Volume Operations
As a world-class Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider, Flextronics delivers a complete spectrum of service offerings that includes component manufacturing, assembly services, design services, logistics services, and contract design manufacturer (CDM) products in 30 countries and five continents. Its customers are global technology companies that demand highly efficient and reliable operations that allow them to be faster and more responsive than ever to market and competitive forces. Omar Palacios, Global MES Implementations Leader, needed a barcode label printing solution for all of the products that it manufactures at its plants in Guadalajara, Mexico and Memphis, Tennessee. Recognized for large-scale, high-volume capabilities, Flextronics simply "can’t afford any down time on its lines."

Loftware’s Solution: Speed and Robustness to Optimize Global Enterprise 24x7x365
For confidence that their products move seamlessly and with on-demand visibility throughout their operations, Flextronics selected Loftware Print Server software and deployed it in a cluster environment across 250 printers. This cluster capability of Loftware’s solution was a critical factor in Flextronic’s technology decision. With Loftware’s solution, Flextronics controls the universe of printer clients through a clustered ‘virtual’ server, with automatic back-up mechanisms in place to cover hardware failures.

With Loftware technology, Mr. Palacios has an immediate view of current configuration and status of all printers. Flextronics also benefits from the time savings and accuracy of centralized storage of label formats to ensure that the print devices print the latest information. Additional efficiencies are made possible by Loftware’s centralized configuration tool and on-demand print client. Loftware also enables easy interaction with the shop floor information systems through XML or csv files.

As Flextronics continues to build its customer base as a contract manufacturer, Loftware technology helps Mr. Palacios to readily print the wide variety of symbologies that his customers demand.

The Benefits to Manufacturing and Logistics: Improving Operations With Fast and Reliable Label Printing As with all manufacturing and logistics providers, label printing is a critical part of Flextronics’ operations to help drive efficiency and profitability in its highly competitive industry. With Loftware technology, Mr. Palacios and Flextronics have experienced:

Robustness, for maximum up-time of the company’s manufacturing lines
High-volume reliability and accuracy, to meet the large-scale requirements of Flextronics’ customers
On-demand and centralized control, for immediate visibility across the entirety of the company’s complex operations

For more information about the label printing solution described at Flextronics or any of the proven products in Loftware’s suite of labeling software and tools for retail barcode and RFID marking, please contact us today.