Ruckus Wireless, Inc. is providing Wi-Fi products to the Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing Corp. USA facility in Lincoln, Neb. that includes the use of hundreds of mobile phones and iPads. The facility produces recreational and utility vehicles and includes more than 2 million square feet of manufacturing, back office and warehouse space and more than 2,600 employees.
Kawasaki uses a number of wireless applications, including quality control and inventory management systems, digital signage and inter-staff voice communications that rely on devices ranging from Wi-Fi phones to iPads and barcode scanners.
“We view Wi-Fi as a strategic tool for optimizing operations as part of our continuous improvement practice, because we use it daily to literally run our plant manufacturing operations,” said Paul Kramer, IT manager for Kawasaki Motors. “As a result, a reliable and robust system was simply no longer negotiable.”
Kawasaki Motors upgraded to the Ruckus system from a legacy Cisco Wi-Fi system, the company said.
–Wireless systems equipment and support company Tessco Technologies saw its business hold steady during the most recent quarter, although its year-over-year numbers continue to be affected by the company’s move away from a large third-party logistics relationship.
The company reported that its core revenues were basically unchanged; revenues were at $144.9 million, down from the $204.5 million it reported during the same period last year, but the latter figure included $58.9 million in third-party revenue and would have otherwise registered around $145.6 million. Net income was down to $4.4 million, compared to $5.4 million in the prior-year quarter.
Sales of wireless infrastructure and mobile accessories products from Tessco’s Ventev division were up 19% year-over-year and accounted for 13% of the company’s overall revenue for the quarter. Tessco said that the public carrier market produced 15% revenue growth year-over-year, while revenues from the retailer, independent dealer agent and carrier market fell by 11% and revenue from private and government system operators decreased by 0.8%.
–Distributed antenna system supplier TE Connectivity has unveiled additional high-density modules for its FlexWave Prism DAS that enable the units to support up to 75 MHz per band with two frequency bands per module. The new modules have a 40% smaller remote unit and increased power efficiency.
TE said that the unit is well-suited for providing 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz or 2600 MHz MIMO and 800 MHz digital dividend services in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific markets, and that the FlexWave Prism modules support migration from 3G to 4G because they support so many different frequencies with high power output. The modules will be showcased at the upcoming Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.
—Corning Inc.’s DAS has been installed at the World Market Center Las Vegas, improving coverage at the three-building showroom and trade complex.
“The results have been terrific! Offering reliable wireless coverage makes a great first impression — especially on those who’ve been hesitant to visit us because of the lack of cellular access,” said Pedro Zapata, COO for the World Market Center.
The installation also included Corning’s MobileAccessHX, a two-watt amplifier which optimizes the number of antennas required for distributing coverage across the complex’s large spaces. Corning collaborated with Communication Technology Services to install the system in less than three months.
