Bottleneck #3: Packing the Orders

Packing the individual sellers' orders is the most labor intense, space greedy, time consuming and, thus, the most expensive part of the fundraising distributor's business.

Most systems used involve some variation of one person pulling the order from tables or racks and placing it in a basket or tub. Then another person double-checks the accuracy of the first person's work. And with today's super-sized brochures, manually recognizing product is becoming increasingly difficult and mistakes more likely.

Developed by QDP for the specific purpose of increasing the speed in the packing room without sacrificing accuracy, WinScan is one of the most successful product launches we have ever had because you can pay for the system in about 2-3 weeks of labor and time savings.

All the retail world now scans barcodes at the checkout because barcodes are unique and scanning is very fast and accurate. At the retail checkout, the scanner adds up what the customer has in the cart. With WinScan, we verify that what is in the cart is correct.

• No confusion between similar items.

• Increase speed without sacrificing accuracy.

• Eliminate claims that product was on the sheet but not in the package.

• Reduce amount of extra product and shipping you are currently spending after each delivery.

• Offer your customers higher tech service. "All orders scanned for accuracy verification."

• Print barcode labels for product that is not barcode labeled.

• Manually enter barcode number for product with missing label.

• Enter quantity of a particular item to avoid having to scan large quantities of same items (case size orders, for example).

• Enter an Alternate Barcode when an item is substituted.  The scanner will recognize either barcode as the correct product.

Orders are tallied using the WinUltra Order Tally System. When you run printouts, a barcode will print on the File Page and on each Pack Slip or Money Collection Envelope. Data is copied to a floppy which is then inserted into the UltraScan computer in the packing room. The Operator scans the File Page barcode to automatically download appropriate data into the UltraScan system. The computer screen identifies the school you are ready to pack and indicates that it is ready for scanning.

Product is pulled and brought to the scanning station for verification. The operator scans the barcode on the envelope or pack slip to display the seller's name and an itemized list of product. On screen, next to the list of product is a column indicating quantity ordered and a second column indicating quantity scanned. The operator scans barcodes on each item in the order to complete the verification process. There is an immediate visual and audio alert when an incorrect item or excess item is scanned.  

Once WinScan indicates an order has been scanned correctly, the Operator scans the barcode on the next order to instantly reset the screen and display the next order.

Scanner Alerts

***OK***  displays next to each item as the correct quantity for that item is scanned. Not only that, but the ***OK*** is in a white block on a black background and it is very easy to see which item is NOT OK.

Invalid Quantity + Alarm if too many of an item has been scanned. The operator removes the excess item, presses one key on the keyboard to return to the ***OK*** status or to continue scanning other products. We call this the "yellow" light....

Invalid Product + Alarm if an item is scanned that does not belong in that order. This is the "red light" and you see the flashing red bar....easy to see. The operator presses one key to remove the alarm, corrects the product error and then continues.

Order Scanned Correctly + Alert if order is 100%. This flashes in a green flashing bar. Tell your operator that no product is to get by without a "green light".

List Items Not Scanned. Click button on screen to display items that have not been scanned.

Last Item Scanned. ***OK*** displays in a different color on the item you just scanned.

Function Keys. A list of the function keys is displayed on the screen for convenience.

Remove Items from Screen. As items are scanned correctly, the are removed from the screen.

Scan Prizes. Prizes appear at the bottom of the item list and are scanned just like the products.

Select Brochure to Scan. Select which of multiple brochures to scan. Only sellers on selected brochures are counted.

Requirements

• Computer with USB port running Windows® 98 or later.

• Monitor with 800x600 resolution.

• WinUltra 3.0 Order Tally System or later.

• Compatible scanner with computer key. (Computer key n/c with scanners ordered through QDP).

Report Module - Optional Add-on 

Verification of Product Totals ordered and scanned.

Verification of Seller's Orders. Number of sellers and sellers scanned.

Problem Orders. Sellers not scanned. Also, accepted "as is" orders with what item(s) they are missing.

Thermal Printing Module - Optional Add-on

Print labels directly from the scanning computer to a thermal printer.

WinScan Pays for Itself Quickly

The most conservative estimate of time savings has been that, using UltraScan, you can pack at least twice as fast as you can manually. That means that you can do two days' work every day.

If you are paying $8/hr for a crew of six, then your labor for an 8-hr day is $384/day or $1920/wk. So we are talking about a payback of 2-3 weeks, not months or years.

Testimonial - unedited

"We just packed 1 school, we have 1 more to go, that ran Scott's Millennium 2000 brochure. Thank God Almighty for your technology. Without UltraScan we would have packed so many similar, but wrong, items. I've come to appreciate what we have, even with it needing a little fine tuning at times, or us learning how to properly run it. Thanks again." -a distributor in Wisconsin

Click here to see the types of scanners available.

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