Faq

UniWin

Created for Ravas Europe BV

June 2010 Jacob Blom Alex R Vrijenhoek InfoTech Logistics BV Prof Minckelersweg 4B 5144 NZ WAALWIJK The Netherlands (+31)(0)416-338285

wwwuniwinnl

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 2 of 14

Contents CONTENTS 2

INTRODUCTION 3

GENERAL 4

UNIWIN SPECIFIC 8

UNIMOBILE SPECIFIC 9

UNISCREEN SPECIFIC 12

GLOSSARY OF TERMS 13

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 3 of 14

Introduction

This document describes most of the Frequently Asked Questions of UniWin and UniMobile in specific in combination with the RAVAS mobile weighing systems The purpose of this FAQ is to introduce in an efficient manner a sufficient knowledge of UniWin and UniMobile in order to be able to discuss these IT products with colleagues prospects and costumers We encourage the readers to ask any question which is not yet described in this document

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 4 of 14

General

So what is UniWin UniWin is the name for a group of applications that was specifically written for application in the Weighing Industry In principle UniWin is the main application that runs on a PC and handles customer specific requirements UniWin is capable of handling the following

Maintain the database of so called base files like customers products etc

Maintain the database of the weighings and tickets

Generate and print reports

Import and export data with higher level systems like ERP systems

Connect to lower level systems like Scales PLCs PDA‟s using UniMobile software badge reader and terminals

So what is UniMobile UniWin allows for different types of devices to be connected to it Obviously one of these types would be one or more scales Besides that UniWin also allows for the connection of so called (hand)terminals A terminal is a remote device which an operator can use to execute a weighing and enter all sorts of variables The principle of a terminal is that it has 1 to 4 display lines to ask a question allows for a keyboard to enter the answer Besides that these ID codes can be scanned using a barcode scanner There are a lot of different types of PDA‟s or terminal software programs One of those is UniMobile This is a specific Windows Mobile (Windows CE) application There is even a special version available for touch panel PC terminals using touch screen soft keys called UniScreen So what is UniMobile Connect UniMobile Connect is the same as UniMobile but then with limit functionality Basically this program works in the background on a (hand)terminal and a ERP or WMS system is the main application on this device With UniMobile Connect you can assign a Function key of the terminal to bdquoRead the weight‟ This weight will be transferred from the RAVAS scale into the key register and it will be directly entered into the other application It works the same as scanning a barcode What type of hardware do we need UniWin PC software runs on any Windows PC being Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows Vista or Windows 7 UniMobile will run on Windows Mobile 50 and up or Windows CE 50 and up

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 5 of 14

How about connecting UniWin to ERP type systems Customers often request the data coming from the weighing system to be imported into their ERP or WMS system A UniMobile Stand Alone can only generate a CSV file which should manually be copied to a PC or laptop The customer must take care of the import of data within their system UniWin has a lot of different possibilities to connect to other systems This can be based on CSV files XML TCPIP DDE ODBC and a lot more In theory there are so many ways it is best to ask a customer how they would like to implement the connection One of the most used method is the bdquoshared files bdquoprinciple With this technique we create a file on the server called bdquoshared‟ in the folder there are following subfolders

shared

- data in

- data out

- data rejected

- data archive

Every 5 (or x) minutes UniWin will read all data which is placed in the file bdquodata in‟ This data will be used for new activities and weighings At the same time UniWin will store in the folder bdquodata out‟ all the finished weighing actions The folder data rejected is used to store data which could not be processed as input The folder bdquodata archive‟ is used for storage of all input messages that were read and processed Remarks

UniWin will continuously ldquopollrdquo for messages in this In-folder We expect that other systems do the same for the Out-folder

The Archive-folder will grow extensively We expect that your IT-department sets up a cleanup mechanism

Security and setup of shared folders is handled by the customers IT-department Be aware that user-accounts of users of UniWin Clients most be added with readwritemodify authority on these shared folders

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 6 of 14

UniWin and UniMobile do use Bluetooth how safe is this technology

Bluetooth technology is worldwide known for its simplicity and also for its data integrity It is widely used to connect two devices together to share data between each other in a bdquopoint to pointbdquo configurations Two Bluetooth devices must be connected to each other using a special pairing sequence

After the both units have been paired to each other then it is no longer possible for any other RF or Bluetooth device to bdquobreak-in‟ into the dialogue of the two paired Bluetooth devices Over the years Bluetooth has proven itself as a world standard in this area Bluetooth is an open standard for wireless connections between devices over a small distance (approx 10 meters) It is based on the 245 Ghz frequency band We use this to connect the RAVAS indicator to a PDA and the PDA to a Bluetooth printer UniWin and UniMobile do use WLAN how safe is this technology

With WLAN you can make a computer network and connect many computers to one and the same network Networks can be connected with each other also using the Internet UniWin uses WLAN technologies which has uses a high security level which will be password protected

UniWin or RAVAS can not be responsible for the integrity of the WLAN system For security reasons it is recommended to use a minimum of WPA2 security level WLAN also called Wi-Fi is built according to the IEEE 80211x standards and on a regular basis new updates are released creating faster and better connections The x can be anything from a to n which indicates the maximum speed of the connection UniWin uses ports (also called sockets) to communicate with one and other These ports are not being used by standard user needs like files haring or printer sharing The ports used can be configured in the application Most system administrators will use so called Fire Walls to block certain ports from being used These firewalls need to allow the UniWin ports Since they are in a high range (normally ports 5000 and higher) and not used for any Windows functionality this should not be a problem Together with the security level of the WLAN itself it is quite safe to use this technology RAVAS can provide a WLAN tester program to test if a network will allow UniWin to work in the customers W(LAN)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 3 of 14

Introduction

This document describes most of the Frequently Asked Questions of UniWin and UniMobile in specific in combination with the RAVAS mobile weighing systems The purpose of this FAQ is to introduce in an efficient manner a sufficient knowledge of UniWin and UniMobile in order to be able to discuss these IT products with colleagues prospects and costumers We encourage the readers to ask any question which is not yet described in this document

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 4 of 14

General

So what is UniWin UniWin is the name for a group of applications that was specifically written for application in the Weighing Industry In principle UniWin is the main application that runs on a PC and handles customer specific requirements UniWin is capable of handling the following

Maintain the database of so called base files like customers products etc

Maintain the database of the weighings and tickets

Generate and print reports

Import and export data with higher level systems like ERP systems

Connect to lower level systems like Scales PLCs PDA‟s using UniMobile software badge reader and terminals

So what is UniMobile UniWin allows for different types of devices to be connected to it Obviously one of these types would be one or more scales Besides that UniWin also allows for the connection of so called (hand)terminals A terminal is a remote device which an operator can use to execute a weighing and enter all sorts of variables The principle of a terminal is that it has 1 to 4 display lines to ask a question allows for a keyboard to enter the answer Besides that these ID codes can be scanned using a barcode scanner There are a lot of different types of PDA‟s or terminal software programs One of those is UniMobile This is a specific Windows Mobile (Windows CE) application There is even a special version available for touch panel PC terminals using touch screen soft keys called UniScreen So what is UniMobile Connect UniMobile Connect is the same as UniMobile but then with limit functionality Basically this program works in the background on a (hand)terminal and a ERP or WMS system is the main application on this device With UniMobile Connect you can assign a Function key of the terminal to bdquoRead the weight‟ This weight will be transferred from the RAVAS scale into the key register and it will be directly entered into the other application It works the same as scanning a barcode What type of hardware do we need UniWin PC software runs on any Windows PC being Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows Vista or Windows 7 UniMobile will run on Windows Mobile 50 and up or Windows CE 50 and up

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 5 of 14

How about connecting UniWin to ERP type systems Customers often request the data coming from the weighing system to be imported into their ERP or WMS system A UniMobile Stand Alone can only generate a CSV file which should manually be copied to a PC or laptop The customer must take care of the import of data within their system UniWin has a lot of different possibilities to connect to other systems This can be based on CSV files XML TCPIP DDE ODBC and a lot more In theory there are so many ways it is best to ask a customer how they would like to implement the connection One of the most used method is the bdquoshared files bdquoprinciple With this technique we create a file on the server called bdquoshared‟ in the folder there are following subfolders

shared

- data in

- data out

- data rejected

- data archive

Every 5 (or x) minutes UniWin will read all data which is placed in the file bdquodata in‟ This data will be used for new activities and weighings At the same time UniWin will store in the folder bdquodata out‟ all the finished weighing actions The folder data rejected is used to store data which could not be processed as input The folder bdquodata archive‟ is used for storage of all input messages that were read and processed Remarks

UniWin will continuously ldquopollrdquo for messages in this In-folder We expect that other systems do the same for the Out-folder

The Archive-folder will grow extensively We expect that your IT-department sets up a cleanup mechanism

Security and setup of shared folders is handled by the customers IT-department Be aware that user-accounts of users of UniWin Clients most be added with readwritemodify authority on these shared folders

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 6 of 14

UniWin and UniMobile do use Bluetooth how safe is this technology

Bluetooth technology is worldwide known for its simplicity and also for its data integrity It is widely used to connect two devices together to share data between each other in a bdquopoint to pointbdquo configurations Two Bluetooth devices must be connected to each other using a special pairing sequence

After the both units have been paired to each other then it is no longer possible for any other RF or Bluetooth device to bdquobreak-in‟ into the dialogue of the two paired Bluetooth devices Over the years Bluetooth has proven itself as a world standard in this area Bluetooth is an open standard for wireless connections between devices over a small distance (approx 10 meters) It is based on the 245 Ghz frequency band We use this to connect the RAVAS indicator to a PDA and the PDA to a Bluetooth printer UniWin and UniMobile do use WLAN how safe is this technology

With WLAN you can make a computer network and connect many computers to one and the same network Networks can be connected with each other also using the Internet UniWin uses WLAN technologies which has uses a high security level which will be password protected

UniWin or RAVAS can not be responsible for the integrity of the WLAN system For security reasons it is recommended to use a minimum of WPA2 security level WLAN also called Wi-Fi is built according to the IEEE 80211x standards and on a regular basis new updates are released creating faster and better connections The x can be anything from a to n which indicates the maximum speed of the connection UniWin uses ports (also called sockets) to communicate with one and other These ports are not being used by standard user needs like files haring or printer sharing The ports used can be configured in the application Most system administrators will use so called Fire Walls to block certain ports from being used These firewalls need to allow the UniWin ports Since they are in a high range (normally ports 5000 and higher) and not used for any Windows functionality this should not be a problem Together with the security level of the WLAN itself it is quite safe to use this technology RAVAS can provide a WLAN tester program to test if a network will allow UniWin to work in the customers W(LAN)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 4 of 14

General

So what is UniWin UniWin is the name for a group of applications that was specifically written for application in the Weighing Industry In principle UniWin is the main application that runs on a PC and handles customer specific requirements UniWin is capable of handling the following

Maintain the database of so called base files like customers products etc

Maintain the database of the weighings and tickets

Generate and print reports

Import and export data with higher level systems like ERP systems

Connect to lower level systems like Scales PLCs PDA‟s using UniMobile software badge reader and terminals

So what is UniMobile UniWin allows for different types of devices to be connected to it Obviously one of these types would be one or more scales Besides that UniWin also allows for the connection of so called (hand)terminals A terminal is a remote device which an operator can use to execute a weighing and enter all sorts of variables The principle of a terminal is that it has 1 to 4 display lines to ask a question allows for a keyboard to enter the answer Besides that these ID codes can be scanned using a barcode scanner There are a lot of different types of PDA‟s or terminal software programs One of those is UniMobile This is a specific Windows Mobile (Windows CE) application There is even a special version available for touch panel PC terminals using touch screen soft keys called UniScreen So what is UniMobile Connect UniMobile Connect is the same as UniMobile but then with limit functionality Basically this program works in the background on a (hand)terminal and a ERP or WMS system is the main application on this device With UniMobile Connect you can assign a Function key of the terminal to bdquoRead the weight‟ This weight will be transferred from the RAVAS scale into the key register and it will be directly entered into the other application It works the same as scanning a barcode What type of hardware do we need UniWin PC software runs on any Windows PC being Windows 2000 Windows XP Windows Vista or Windows 7 UniMobile will run on Windows Mobile 50 and up or Windows CE 50 and up

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 5 of 14

How about connecting UniWin to ERP type systems Customers often request the data coming from the weighing system to be imported into their ERP or WMS system A UniMobile Stand Alone can only generate a CSV file which should manually be copied to a PC or laptop The customer must take care of the import of data within their system UniWin has a lot of different possibilities to connect to other systems This can be based on CSV files XML TCPIP DDE ODBC and a lot more In theory there are so many ways it is best to ask a customer how they would like to implement the connection One of the most used method is the bdquoshared files bdquoprinciple With this technique we create a file on the server called bdquoshared‟ in the folder there are following subfolders

shared

- data in

- data out

- data rejected

- data archive

Every 5 (or x) minutes UniWin will read all data which is placed in the file bdquodata in‟ This data will be used for new activities and weighings At the same time UniWin will store in the folder bdquodata out‟ all the finished weighing actions The folder data rejected is used to store data which could not be processed as input The folder bdquodata archive‟ is used for storage of all input messages that were read and processed Remarks

UniWin will continuously ldquopollrdquo for messages in this In-folder We expect that other systems do the same for the Out-folder

The Archive-folder will grow extensively We expect that your IT-department sets up a cleanup mechanism

Security and setup of shared folders is handled by the customers IT-department Be aware that user-accounts of users of UniWin Clients most be added with readwritemodify authority on these shared folders

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 6 of 14

UniWin and UniMobile do use Bluetooth how safe is this technology

Bluetooth technology is worldwide known for its simplicity and also for its data integrity It is widely used to connect two devices together to share data between each other in a bdquopoint to pointbdquo configurations Two Bluetooth devices must be connected to each other using a special pairing sequence

After the both units have been paired to each other then it is no longer possible for any other RF or Bluetooth device to bdquobreak-in‟ into the dialogue of the two paired Bluetooth devices Over the years Bluetooth has proven itself as a world standard in this area Bluetooth is an open standard for wireless connections between devices over a small distance (approx 10 meters) It is based on the 245 Ghz frequency band We use this to connect the RAVAS indicator to a PDA and the PDA to a Bluetooth printer UniWin and UniMobile do use WLAN how safe is this technology

With WLAN you can make a computer network and connect many computers to one and the same network Networks can be connected with each other also using the Internet UniWin uses WLAN technologies which has uses a high security level which will be password protected

UniWin or RAVAS can not be responsible for the integrity of the WLAN system For security reasons it is recommended to use a minimum of WPA2 security level WLAN also called Wi-Fi is built according to the IEEE 80211x standards and on a regular basis new updates are released creating faster and better connections The x can be anything from a to n which indicates the maximum speed of the connection UniWin uses ports (also called sockets) to communicate with one and other These ports are not being used by standard user needs like files haring or printer sharing The ports used can be configured in the application Most system administrators will use so called Fire Walls to block certain ports from being used These firewalls need to allow the UniWin ports Since they are in a high range (normally ports 5000 and higher) and not used for any Windows functionality this should not be a problem Together with the security level of the WLAN itself it is quite safe to use this technology RAVAS can provide a WLAN tester program to test if a network will allow UniWin to work in the customers W(LAN)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 5 of 14

How about connecting UniWin to ERP type systems Customers often request the data coming from the weighing system to be imported into their ERP or WMS system A UniMobile Stand Alone can only generate a CSV file which should manually be copied to a PC or laptop The customer must take care of the import of data within their system UniWin has a lot of different possibilities to connect to other systems This can be based on CSV files XML TCPIP DDE ODBC and a lot more In theory there are so many ways it is best to ask a customer how they would like to implement the connection One of the most used method is the bdquoshared files bdquoprinciple With this technique we create a file on the server called bdquoshared‟ in the folder there are following subfolders

shared

- data in

- data out

- data rejected

- data archive

Every 5 (or x) minutes UniWin will read all data which is placed in the file bdquodata in‟ This data will be used for new activities and weighings At the same time UniWin will store in the folder bdquodata out‟ all the finished weighing actions The folder data rejected is used to store data which could not be processed as input The folder bdquodata archive‟ is used for storage of all input messages that were read and processed Remarks

UniWin will continuously ldquopollrdquo for messages in this In-folder We expect that other systems do the same for the Out-folder

The Archive-folder will grow extensively We expect that your IT-department sets up a cleanup mechanism

Security and setup of shared folders is handled by the customers IT-department Be aware that user-accounts of users of UniWin Clients most be added with readwritemodify authority on these shared folders

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 6 of 14

UniWin and UniMobile do use Bluetooth how safe is this technology

Bluetooth technology is worldwide known for its simplicity and also for its data integrity It is widely used to connect two devices together to share data between each other in a bdquopoint to pointbdquo configurations Two Bluetooth devices must be connected to each other using a special pairing sequence

After the both units have been paired to each other then it is no longer possible for any other RF or Bluetooth device to bdquobreak-in‟ into the dialogue of the two paired Bluetooth devices Over the years Bluetooth has proven itself as a world standard in this area Bluetooth is an open standard for wireless connections between devices over a small distance (approx 10 meters) It is based on the 245 Ghz frequency band We use this to connect the RAVAS indicator to a PDA and the PDA to a Bluetooth printer UniWin and UniMobile do use WLAN how safe is this technology

With WLAN you can make a computer network and connect many computers to one and the same network Networks can be connected with each other also using the Internet UniWin uses WLAN technologies which has uses a high security level which will be password protected

UniWin or RAVAS can not be responsible for the integrity of the WLAN system For security reasons it is recommended to use a minimum of WPA2 security level WLAN also called Wi-Fi is built according to the IEEE 80211x standards and on a regular basis new updates are released creating faster and better connections The x can be anything from a to n which indicates the maximum speed of the connection UniWin uses ports (also called sockets) to communicate with one and other These ports are not being used by standard user needs like files haring or printer sharing The ports used can be configured in the application Most system administrators will use so called Fire Walls to block certain ports from being used These firewalls need to allow the UniWin ports Since they are in a high range (normally ports 5000 and higher) and not used for any Windows functionality this should not be a problem Together with the security level of the WLAN itself it is quite safe to use this technology RAVAS can provide a WLAN tester program to test if a network will allow UniWin to work in the customers W(LAN)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 6 of 14

UniWin and UniMobile do use Bluetooth how safe is this technology

Bluetooth technology is worldwide known for its simplicity and also for its data integrity It is widely used to connect two devices together to share data between each other in a bdquopoint to pointbdquo configurations Two Bluetooth devices must be connected to each other using a special pairing sequence

After the both units have been paired to each other then it is no longer possible for any other RF or Bluetooth device to bdquobreak-in‟ into the dialogue of the two paired Bluetooth devices Over the years Bluetooth has proven itself as a world standard in this area Bluetooth is an open standard for wireless connections between devices over a small distance (approx 10 meters) It is based on the 245 Ghz frequency band We use this to connect the RAVAS indicator to a PDA and the PDA to a Bluetooth printer UniWin and UniMobile do use WLAN how safe is this technology

With WLAN you can make a computer network and connect many computers to one and the same network Networks can be connected with each other also using the Internet UniWin uses WLAN technologies which has uses a high security level which will be password protected

UniWin or RAVAS can not be responsible for the integrity of the WLAN system For security reasons it is recommended to use a minimum of WPA2 security level WLAN also called Wi-Fi is built according to the IEEE 80211x standards and on a regular basis new updates are released creating faster and better connections The x can be anything from a to n which indicates the maximum speed of the connection UniWin uses ports (also called sockets) to communicate with one and other These ports are not being used by standard user needs like files haring or printer sharing The ports used can be configured in the application Most system administrators will use so called Fire Walls to block certain ports from being used These firewalls need to allow the UniWin ports Since they are in a high range (normally ports 5000 and higher) and not used for any Windows functionality this should not be a problem Together with the security level of the WLAN itself it is quite safe to use this technology RAVAS can provide a WLAN tester program to test if a network will allow UniWin to work in the customers W(LAN)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 7 of 14

Can you show me a typical system layout On Line

Bluetooth WLAN LAN

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC With Bluetooth running UniMobile running UniWin

Stand Alone Bluetooth LAN

USB connection

RAVAS Indicator PDA PC with With Bluetooth running UniMobile Microsoft ActiveSync

with Windows Vista and Windows 7 you need to install Microsoft Mobile Device Centre

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 8 of 14

UniWin Specific What are the main features UniWin is a standard kernel for Industrial Weighing and logistic applications UniWin contains a lot of features and it is best to read other commercial documentation The main feature would be that customer specific applications can be build using a configuration tool and not a programming tool resulting in a lower cost price What about Weights amp Measures approval UniWin is officially approved for the European (NMI approved) and American (NTEP Approved) market In principle the approval is for all Serial devices being used in a static weighing situation The Bluetooth connection used by the indicator and UniMobile is not known yet What are minimum system requirements UniWin needs to run on Windows 2000 XP Vista or 7 Furthermore it is generally equipped with a monitor of minimum 600 x 800 pixels UniWin is generally using WLAN for the mobile applications of RAVAS and UniMobile Stand Alone needs usually a USB connection for data transfer How does licensing work There are several licenses for UniWin Also there are some add-on modules which can be licensed Please read the price list for more details For online solutions the minimum required would be one UniWin and a UniMobile license for each (hand) terminal Licenses are ldquoone-offrdquo fees This means there are no other annual fees Is there an annual maintenance fee A customer is free to buy a maintenance contract on the licenses We strongly advise a customer to do so It covers the charges for telephone support and upgrades to newer Windows platforms This annual fee is based on the license costs and not on the set up and installation costs

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 9 of 14

UniMobile Specific

What are the main features UniMobile is a (hand) terminal or PDA application which allows operators to record weighing data and extra data fields like product code costumer code location and quality codes etc Most efficient way is to use the scanner for these data fields Explain On Line Off Line Stand Alone This is the mode in which UniMobile is running

OnLine When UniMobile is directly connected to UniWin (Normally via a WLAN) UniMobile and UniWin communicate online where UniWin generates the questions and does the Weighing UniMobile is used for entering data

OffLine The questions are uploaded to UniMobile and the weighing results are downloaded back to UniWin using a Synchronize operation This mode of operation is mostly done when a full WLAN coverage is not available in the area of operation So a user synchronizes his unit with UniWin and operates Off Line usually for some hours after that he syncs again to upload the weighings etc to the UniWin system

Stand Alone A separate dialog is configured and copied to the UniMobile All weighings and data entries are registered in a CSV file A customer can copy this file and extract the data into his own spreadsheet No UniWin is used for these applications

Note I - in principle an application only runs in one of the above modes Note II - switching between On line and Off Line has to be done manually on the mobile (hand) terminal How do I know which mode of UniMobile to use The question can only be answered depending on the clients request If a client wants direct view of what is happening with the mobile units he needs an OnLine version (Trade off for On line is that it will need a WLAN infrastructure which might be expensive) If they do not need that but want the flexibility of reporting and communication with other systems offline might be the solution (No WLAN investment) When a customer wants and can generate reports and information flow on its own it will probably only need the standalone and interpret the CSV result file itself UniMobile can use existing WLAN infrastructures Are there functionality differences between the modes Yes the functionality of UniWin is high and that cannot all be implemented in UniMobile Remember UniMobile is simply a ldquoDumb Terminalrdquo which asks questions So in Online mode the functionality is the highest because UniWin and UniMobile are in a constant connection where UniWin validates each entry On Line For Offline and Standalone the UniWin server application is simulated within UniMobile itself The differences lay mostly in the fact of how a dialog is executed UniWin has a lot more features for asking a question displaying information validating input and calculating values For normal operations UniMobile Offline and Standalone will have enough functionality

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 10 of 14

Can it weigh with a fixed tare Yes UniMobile supports the tare feature in many ways Either a fixed tare is entered or a tare is calculated based on other entries or the tare value is the weight of the previous weighing Can it do a Tare and Gross weighing Yes and No UniMobile supports the feature of a first and second weighing However the second weighing is always done directly after the first weighing So after the first weighing the operator is asked to confirm to take the second weighing Can it also be used without a scale Yes connecting to a scale is optional To which scale (indicator) can it connect In principle we can say it connects to any indicator as long as the indicator can communicate with the mobile device using Bluetooth or RS232 The communication protocol can be defined within UniMobile itself An indicator can constantly output weight information output weight information on a Poll request or only output weight information after an actual weighing Can it print barcodes Yes UniMobile can be connected to a printer using a cable or Bluetooth UniMobile can send ASCII formatted text to the printer meaning it can also send Escape sequences to print barcodes The printer of course needs to support printing of barcodes Can it take pictures Yes a feature in UniMobile allows it to use the Camera of the Mobile device and take one or more pictures In the Online mode the pictures taken should be placed on a shared directory For Offline and Stand Alone the pictures should be copied manually from the device (PDA) to the PC using a USB connection Note that we have found that camera functionality is supported best by Windows Mobile 60 and higher Note not all PDA‟s do support this functionality Any other special features Yes one special feature is that it can also ask for a Signature A blank box appears on the screen after which a user can place his signature and the contents is saved as a jpg file What about multilingual support UniMobile in the Online mode supports multiple languages (depending on languages defined in UniWin) For Standalone and Offline only one language is supported and needs to be specified at order

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 11 of 14

What is a UniMobile dialogue In principle each dialog contains the following

On start up optionally a username must be entered

The main ID codes of the weighing are entered

Multiple references belonging to the weighing are entered Including optional pictures etc

Optionally a last question (YesNo) indicating ldquoReady to start weighingrdquo If not confirmed the system will re-ask all the references (not the code)

The weighing is performed and all data is saved to UniWin or the local csv file

Return to asking the main code for the next weighing So the minimum requirement of a weighing is a Code What type of questions can we ask There are several types of questions

Most simple is a question and a box in which (ID)data can be entered This data can either be typed in (using on screen keyboard) or the integrated barcode reader can be used to record the data

The data entered can also be linked to a base file This means that the code entered must match a code in that base file Eg when asking for a customer number the code entered must exist in the base file customers

It is also possible to show a selection box This box shows multiple options from which the operator can choose The amount of options is not limited however the number of selections shown on the screen depends on the screen size and varies between 1 and 9 A selection box can be shown for YesNo questions or selecting

Note For any type of question the standard edit box is shown Other combinations of the above are also possible like selecting a customer from a selection list What can we configure in UniMobile In Online and Offline configuration is done by UniWin For standalone you can define

A maximum of 90 questions

All text displayed for errors during the weighing process etc

A ticket layout

A maximum of 90 base files For each question you can also define

A default value

Type of entry Any data Only numeric Logical (YesNo)

An option to indicate if the question should be asked or not

A flag to indicate if the value is mandatory

A flag indicating if the value should be confirmed So after entering a value the question and value are re-shown to the operator for confirmation

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 12 of 14

My customer wants to use UniMobile for multiple activities Is that possible Yes UniMobile supports multiple dialogues So depending on the activity a different dialogue for entering different data can be selected For standalone versions it will also generate multiple CSV files What does the Stand Alone CSV file contain The layout of the CSV file will differ for each application In principle it will contain Hand terminal ID all entered data weight information and date amp time information What about Weights amp Measures approval Because of the complexity of this we are currently not sure if UniMobile is WampM approved in the On line mode We know it is not WampM approved for Offline and Standalone For these applications you can make it WampM approved by adding an alibi memory in the indicator of the certified RAVAS scale What are minimum system requirements Currently we recommend UniMobile to be used on Windows Mobile 50 and higher or Windows CE 50 and higher using the ARM processor Of course we would need a rugged hand terminal with a Bluetooth option and optionally a WLAN and integrated barcode scanner How does licensing work Independent of the mode of UniMobile there is a license fee per unit using the UniMobile application Is there an annual maintenance fee Yes a customer can buy a maintenance contract for UniMobile

UniScreen Specific

What are the main features UniScreen is a version of UniMobile which can be installed on a (industrial) PC with a touch screen The touch screen will facilitate big alpha numeric soft keys for entering data using the touch screen UniScreen is mostly used in combination with a fixed scale Are there any other differences between UniMobile and UniScreen No in principle these two applications have the same technical specifications The only difference is the platform they run on

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 13 of 14

Glossary of Terms

ASCII ASCII means gtgt American Standard Code for Information Interchange ASCII is the standard code used for information interchange and communication between data processing systems including Internet The ASCII character set (or ASCII table) initially contained 128 7-bit coded characters including alphabetic numeric control and graphic characters It has since been extended to include system or country specific characters An ASCII character is a combination of 0 0 0 0 and 1 1 1 1 (high or low volt) The letter a = 0110 0001 The letter A = 0100 0001 The letters contain 8 bits and 8 bits are bdquobits by 8‟ which became byte Computer memory are expressed in KB = Kilo Byte = 1000 Byte or MB or GB Bluetooth See page 6 CSV file A file containing Comma Separated Values It is a basic file layout that can be read by most applications These types of files are mainly used with Spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel Each value is separated by a comma () and each line (record) is ended with a CR-LF In the EU we do not use a comma but a semi-colon () the comma is used to express small values like 15 etc CSV files can also be edited with Microsoft Notepad which is a standard basic editor which comes with all the Windows packages of Microsoft RS232 This is a standard to connect a computer with a peripheral In principle this is based on a cable (RS232 max length 25 meters) RS = Remote Serial Data transmission with Bluetooth is also based on RS 232 but instead of the cable you have on both ends a Bluetooth device which makes a virtual cable for the connection RS 232 used to be very popular also with laptops and PC‟s but you see now that that has been taken over by USB connection ports [USB = Universal Serial Bus] WLAN or Wi-Fi See page 6 ActiveX

Loosely defined set of technologies developed by Microsoft for sharing information

among different applications ActiveX is an outgrowth of two other Microsoft

technologies called OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) and COM (Component

Object Model)

Connecting Logistics Mobile Weighing

Page 14 of 14

DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) An inter process communication system built into the Macintosh Windows and OS2 operating systems DDE enables two running applications to share the same data DLL (Dynamic Link Library) A library of executable functions or data that can be used by a Windows application Typically a DLL provides one or more particular functions and a program accesses the functions by creating either a static or dynamic link to the DLL ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) A business management system that integrates all facets of the business including planning manufacturing logistics sales and marketing MRP (Manufacturing Resource Planning) Systems that enable users to manage the processes that make up a supply chain including deploying inventory forecasting and shipping ODBC (Open Data Base Connectivity) A standard database access method developed by the SQL Access group in 1992 The goal of ODBC is to make it possible to access any data from any application regardless of which database management system (DBMS) is handling the data Operating System All computers are equipped with an Operating System This program is started at boot-up of the computer and allows for other applications to be started For PC‟s an OS would be Windows XP or Windows Vista For a mobile device this is Windows Mobile or Windows CE PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) Miniature industrial computer that contains hardware and software that is used to perform control functions A PLC consists of two basic sections the central processing unit (CPU) and the inputoutput interface system TCPIP (Transmission Control Protocol) TCP is one of the main protocols in TCPIP networks Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data TCP guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent XML (eXtensible Markup Language) A specification developed by the W3C XML is a pared-down version of SGML designed especially for Web documents It allows designers to create their own customized tags enabling the definition transmission validation and interpretation of data between applications and between organizations