Case Study:

Astro-Med Logo

Company Profile

Astro-Med, a New England-based diversified global manufacturer of high-technology products, has three distinct product groups:
  • Grass-Telefactor, which manufactures neurophysiological recording instrumentation including polygraphs, neurodata acquisition systems, data acquisition and analysis software, EEGs, and long-term monitoring systems for research and clinical applications

  • QuickLabel® Systems, designs, manufacture and sells products for automatic identification and packaging applications, offering color label printers, monochrome and color barcode printers, automatic label applicators and print-and-apply systems, label creation software, and premium thermal transfer ribbon, label, and tag materials

  • Test & Measurement, which manufactures graphic recorder and data acquisition systems that display, monitor, analyze and print data for aerospace, industrial and medical applications.

Astro-Med runs its enterprise with the J.D. Edwards World Software ERP system on an iSeries AS/400 Model 720. Located at Astro-Med’s West Warwick, Rhode Island headquarters, the system serves 160 local users and 45 remote users at a manufacturing facility in Braintree, Massachusetts.

Problem to Solve

Astro-Med wanted to improve response time for remote users by replacing a 56Kb leased line and SNA connection with a TCP/IP connection over the company’s new T-1 Wide Area Network. The initial solution was to connect the remote devices to a Perle 594E IP Controller. However, Perle’s controller constantly dropped-off devices at random, annoying users and management alike and hampering rather than promoting end-user productivity.

Drop-off Issues with Perle Led us to the BOS Solution

"When we decided to switch our remote site to the T-1 WAN, I was adamant that we no longer use SNA, because of SNA's notorious tendency to create undue overhead on network routers and its sensitivity to timing issues," states Marc Vadeboncoeur, Astro-Med Senior Programmer/Analyst and Systems Programmer. "I wanted to use pure TCP/IP. That left us with two choices: Perle and BOS. We first purchased the Perle 594E controller and it was immediately problematic. All the devices came up when we installed it, but terminals and printers started dropping off randomly. Both managers and users were becoming agitated. After trying for three weeks to resolve the drop-off issues with the Perle product, I decided to switch to the BOS e-Twin@x Controller."

The e-Twin@x Controller Configures in 15 Minutes

"We configured the BOS e-Twin@x Controller in 15 minutes (compared to three hours for the Perle unit due to its clumsy and confusing setup program and AnyNet configuration requirements), turned the BOS e-Twin@x Controller on, and haven’t had to look at it since," claims Vadeboncoeur. "The BOS e-Twin@x Controller has been extremely reliable. My remote Twinax devices are no longer dropping off."

Quick Response from BOS Provided Support for Thermal Printers

"We had one minor glitch: it didn’t properly support the thermal printers that our Quick-Label Systems division manufactures and that we use internally. Computer Marketing of America, which sold us the controller, contacted BOS technical support, who put us in touch with the software developers at BOS. They quickly e-mailed us a firmware fix which I was able to install remotely, using my Web browser. Now our printers work like a charm!" exclaims Vadeboncoeur.

BOS’ Solution Benefits Our Customer Base

Vadeboncoeur continues: "The firmware change to support our printers was also strategically important to us as an AS/400-compatible hardware vendor. Many of our printer customers rely on the AS/400 to run their enterprise, and as they switch to the BOS e-Twin@x Controller, they will be able to use our Quick-Label System printers on their new controllers without difficulty."

Benefits of BOS e-Twin@x Controller

  1. Improved response time and happy users: "Now our remote users get virtually the same response time as local users."
  2. Savings: "We are now saving the $400/month charge that we used to pay for the leased 56k point-to-point line."
  3. No more aggravation: "I haven't touched the BOS e-Twin@x Controller since we installed it."
  4. Easy to support: "I can support it remotely, from my desk, using my Web browser."
Click here to read what else this customer and others are saying about the e-Twin@x Controller!

Contacts

Marc Vadeboncoeur
Astro-Med Senior Programmer/Analyst and Systems Programmer
Tel: +1-401/828-4000, ext. 520 E-mail:mvadeboncoeur@ASTROMED.com 		Marc Vadeboncoeur, Astro-Med Senior Programmer/Analyst and Systems Programmer
Franklin Traver
Computer Marketing of America
Tel: +1 800/251 2670
E-mail: franklintraver@cma-usa.com