Siemens of Munich, Germany, is among the leading manufacturers of cordless phones for small-office and residential settings. Its phones operate on a 2.4-GHz frequency that Siemens says offers sound quality unmatched by older cordless-phone technologies.
Demand for Siemens’ phone products is so great that the company has begun automating manufacturing operations, including packaging, in its Austin, TX, phone-making plant. For two identical packaging lines installed last fall, turnkey responsibility was in the hands of Smurfit-Stone (Orlando, FL). The lines replaced manual operations, each of which used to require three or four operators who packed about four phone kits/min. Now just one operator is required per line, and speeds are comparable.
