The Satellite Review Magazine 2017 Satellite Review Magazine_pages hi res | Page 12

WES SOFTWARE
lighting up the WES industry
with FireFly Software
By Morgan Williams
Marketing Specialist, Westfalia Technologies, Inc.
S
o what exactly is FireFly? Simply put, it is a tool
used to visualize and monitor your warehouse, while
simplifying fault recovery. However, the intuitive
technology behind FireFly allows the user to do more than
just recover from faults. Dave Williams, director of software
and solutions delivery at Westfalia, stresses the importance
of this application for modern warehouses, saying that “the
ability to recover from faults easily and quickly is imperative
for automated facilities.”
With the ability to operate on many different technical
platforms, FireFly allows the operator to view their ware-
house, 3-dimensionally and in real-time, from anywhere
in the world. The application allows for the segregation of
inventory through a screen on which the user simply has
to check a box to indicate which data that they would like
to see. For example, a user can elect to only view the third
level of racks and zoom in on an individual pallet. In order
to push the boundaries of the WES industry, Savanna.NET®
FireFly can even enable the user to zoom in on areas and
provide further details about the selected container and its
inventory.
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The Satellite Review
FireFly allows the operator to monitor the state of their
system while visualizing inventory throughout their facility
by utilizing a combination of colors, images and 3D render-
ings. By interacting with the FireFly 3D representation, the
operator is able to quickly identify and correct faults in the
system by arranging items using a drag-and-drop technique
to match what is physically seen on the conveyor. This
reduces the number of necessary steps and dramatically
simplifies the process of getting the system running once
again. FireFly also provides its users with a set of analytic
tools which allow them to dissect and view their inventory
in a variety of ways.
The technical side of FireFly is impressive, but Williams
raves about the user experience, stating “the biggest advan-
tage is the tool’s ability to ease the learning curve of fault
recovery for operators, while also showing a graphical,
easy-to-understand overview of your entire facility.” When
compared to the traditional desktop client interfaces, Wil-
liams says that the use of FireFly is a more intuitive learning
experience, because it presents the user with a tangible, 3D
experience, “rather than lists of data.”

www. WestfaliaUSA.com