Introducing IScan by QDP
Bottleneck #2 - Receiving Product
Bottleneck #4 - Managing Physical Inventory
Click here to read John Gardner's article, "Technology in Fundraising", in which he describes Fundraising's four bottlenecks and how technology is addressing them.
Why IScan? An overview.
Manually vs IScan
Step 1. Unload the truck and count the cases. The truck pulls up and you have to count the cases to sign the Bill of Lading for the driver. Because of all the different sized boxes, the only way you can do that is to unwrap the pallet(s) and spread the product around so you can count it. You count the boxes, sign the Bill of Lading, and send the truck driver on his way.
IScan will not save a huge amount of time in this step.
Step 2. Match product to the Pack Slip. Now, you re-stack the product, take your multi-page packing slip and attempt to find all the product on the list. The items on the vendor's packing slip are named just different enough to make this a very time consuming process.
If you used IScan to do the case count, this step is already done.
Step 3. Match the Merchandise Received to your Purchase Order to determine that you got what you ordered. In addition to the likelihood that the names of items are not identical on your two lists, they are also in a different order.
If you used IScan to do the case count, this will be an easy side by side comparison on the computer screen after data is uploaded from the scanner into the computer.
Step 4. Receiving product into inventory. If you used WinUltra to produce your Purchase Order, this process is very fast, as you can receive the entire order in one process. Other inventory systems may require you to manually receive each of those 150+ items from that monster-mega brochure.
After uploading data into the WinUltra program, you see a comparison of product ordered and product received. You will make changes (to reflect back-orders or substitutions as well as corrections) and the process is complete.
Receiving product with I-Scan - overview
Step 1. Scan cases off the truck. Scanner shows case count. Sign Bill of Lading for truck driver.
Step 2. Scan cases inside Master Cases, Mixed Cases and Pieces.
Step 3. Upload data to WinUltra System.
Read on for a more detailed description of IScan. Click on the highlighted items listed in the index to go to that specific topic.
I-Scan Page Index
IScan. The Components
Before using IScan
Receiving Product
Case Count for Bill of Lading
Scanning Cases and Pieces
Product with 1 or 2 barcodes for Units / Cases
Product with 3 barcodes for Units / Cases / Master Cases
Recommendations for Suppliers
Definitions
Units / Pieces
Cases / Master Cases
Bill of Lading
I-Scan. The Components
- WinUltra 1.2 Order Tally System or higher
- QDP's IScan Software.
- Percon's Top Gun Remote Batch Scanner. This is referred to as a remote batch scanner. It is not a radio scanner as you see in some types of businesses, where the inventory is always updated instantly for immediate sale at the checkout lanes, for example. Top Gun scans and stores the data in a batch... and then transfers that data to the computer.
- Top Gun's Special Programming Software.
- Cradle and Battery Charger that connects to your computer.
- Rechargeable Batteries.
- Installation / Training.
Before using IScan
A unit barcode number is entered into the inventory file in the WinUltra Order Tally program for every item to be received using I-Scan.
If the vendor uses a separate number for the case (different from the piece bar code),
then the case barcode number is also entered into the inventory file in WinUltra.
Receiving Product
Scanning boxes off the truck and checking case count against truck driver's Bill of Lading.
You have to count the boxes for the truck driver and sign the Bill of Lading. But instead of a manual count, you take your specially QDP-programmed Top Gun Scanner out of its battery charger, slip your hand through the wrist grip, point and shoot the first bar code on the first box.
Scan the barcode on the outside of the case and enter the number of cases (default is 1 case). The count is incremented by the quantity entered. For mixed cases, where there may not be a barcode on the case, a special symbol is entered on the scanner plus the quantity. The cases are counted for the case count to check against the Bill of Lading, but not to be uploaded to the Inventory program.
Scanning Cases or Pieces (Units)
CASE MODE. Scan the bar code on the outside of a case, then enter the quantity of cases (default is 1 case). The barcode and quantity are then stored in the scanner's memory for later upload to the computer.
PIECE/UNIT MODE. Scan the barcode on each item, then enter the quantity of units (default is 1 unit). The barcode and quantity are then stored in the scanner's memory for later upload.
Scanning items off the truck (using 1 or 2 barcodes for product)
IScan in CASE MODE. For each case barcode scanned, the barcode number and quantity is stored for later upload to the WinUltra program. For Mixed Cases, you will enter a code and quantity to increment the case count in the scanner for comparison to the Bill of Lading.
Once the count on the scanner and the count on the Bill of Lading match, you can sign the paperwork and the driver is free to go.
If you received Mixed Cases, change scanner to Units mode.
IScan in UNITS MODE. Open Mixed Cases and scan individual items inside.
<Upload product received into WinUltra by placing the Top Gun scanner into its cradle, which is connected to the inventory computer.
Scanning items off the truck (using 3 barcodes for product)
IScan in CASE MODE. On Master Cases (a case with multiple cases inside), for the Bill of Lading count, you will use our special symbol on the scanner and enter the quantity (if more than 1 master case for the same item). This is the same procedure as scanning mixed cases for the Bill of Lading case count.
After the box count is matched to the Bill of Lading, Case barcode labels will need to be scanned (IScan still in Case Mode) and case quantities entered. Then, IScan needs to be switched to Units mode.
IScan in UNITS MODE. Scan the items in the Mixed Case(s) as per above description.
Upload product received into WinUltra by placing the Top Gun scanner into its cradle, which is connected to the inventory computer.
Recommendations for Suppliers
- Mixed Cases plainly marked. Some suppliers will mix smaller cases into
larger boxes. Sample problems we have encountered:
- incomplete Master Cases (3 inner cases instead of 4)
- unmarked Mixed Cases (2 of one case and 2 of another case inside a barcoded case
for one of the two).
Example: 12 units of Cashews and 12 units of Peanut Clusters combined into a box marked and coded as 24 Cashews.
- First Choice = 1 Barcode for both units and cases. Since we change the
scanner from unit to case mode, having one universal bar code is easy for what we are
doing.
Advantages:- Both supplier and distributor have only one bar code number with which to contend.
- Fewer adjustments necessary when products are substituted for original order.
- Fewer opportunities for errors in bar codes
- unit code on case in error
- case code on unit in error
- mixture of mis-marked units and cases
- Two Barcodes are OK. We will have to add an input field for inventory and the distributor will now have to enter two sets of bar code numbers; one for pieces and a second for cases. We see this as unnecessary extra work for the distributor.
- <Three Barcodes are not necessary for our program. Since I-Scan works with unit and case codes, Master Case codes are not necessary.
Definitions
- Bill of Lading - the document used by truck lines for delivery. The Bill of Lading should say how many cases are being delivered and you sign verifying that you received the entire shipment.
- Pieces / Units - we use these terms interchangeably to refer to the individual items.
- Case / Master Case - Case refers to how many units are packaged together. Some companies also use Master Cases, which are boxes which contain multiple cases inside. Example: a Master Case of a candle may contain four cases of 12, or 48 total.
For additional information or to get questions answered, email to john@qdpcorp.com