Inventory, Barcoding, and the Tech by Peter D. Wallace
The title of the article this quarter sounds more like that of a poem or fairy tale, not very technical. In fact, not too long ago tracking inventory wirelessly at the truck level was indeed a fairy tale. If you are interested in streamlining your tech-in-a-truck operations by providing inventory control on a PDA, then this article is for you.
First and foremost of course, you’re going to need a reliable broadband network to access your central database. It doesn’t matter if you have LAN wireless in your stores or stops that the tech makes, or WAN wireless, as long as it is reasonably fast and very reliable. The network connection is the life-blood of any inventory control system that is pushed to the tech in the field. LAN in this case means Local-Area-Network, and WAN means Wide-Area-Network like a cell network.
Next, you’ll need a good device for the tech. A PDA is ideal because of the built-in barcode scanner that you’re going to want. Rugged PDA’s with a quality scanner are not cheap though, but you don’t want to skimp here anyway. If the scanner is no good, then you can forget barcoding and the tech is therefore much less efficient in the field. You could actually opt for a laptop with a USB wireless scanner which operates like a wireless mouse. There are many technologies in this market so I suggest you find a vendor you trust that has knowledge across many manufacturers and product lines. No matter which way you go, plan on buying spare units and put a good procedure in place for swap-outs with the field. Even with the best support tools for the field, sometimes it comes down to “get me a new unit” and you need to be prepared with spares.
Last but not least comes the software. The basis of any good inventory package is the accounting underpinnings. The system should use GAP (Generally accepted Accounting Principles) for perpetual inventory control, properly tracking receipts, transfers, depletions from stock, purchases for replenishments and physical-count reconciliations. These types of systems are abundantly available in the market and chances are, if you belong to a large organization, your company’s IT department already has one. However, not too many of these extend the reach of inventory control out to the tech in the field.
The software running on the PDA or remote laptop is obviously key here. If the tech is going to be autonomous in the field, the software has to support all of his operations. This means purchase orders, receipts, adjustments, reconciliation and of course inclusion of inventory items on service orders. These full-featured PDA applications come few and far between, and to be any good at all they need to be joined at the hip with their asset management enterprise databases. You’d be wise to pick a vendor that has both the enterprise asset system (EAS) or computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), and the remote PDA software fused with it. This way, you have one point of contact for support, you can hear testimonials from previous customers that have implemented the complete solution, etc.Â
Barcoding, ah yes, barcoding. We all want to do it, just point and scan and everything is taken care of. If only that worked with my teenage son! Seriously though, barcoding is essential at the remote warehouse (tech-in-a-truck) if your techs are ever going to become the efficient do-all employee you envisioned. There are many experts on barcoding and many methodologies for deployment. For serialized or high-dollar item tracking, in my experience it is best to go with a barcode sequence that identifies the warehouse (truck) with the barcode labels pre-printed for easy peel-n-slap. As the receipt process takes place, the tech places the barcode on the box and scans it into the PDA which is then associated with the inventory record in the system. For non-serialized tracking, I wouldn’t put barcodes on every box. I would either put a single barcode on the bin header in the truck, or keep a separate quick-reference booklet of commonly used barcodes that can be quickly scanned by the tech during receipt and depletion.
To summarize, tech-in-a-truck inventory management and deployment has become a lot more affordable due to advances in wireless technology and PDA software. It is possible to efficiently manage your inventory in the field, to be able to run valuation reports, know where your inventory is located, and keep your techs stocked appropriately without over purchasing. Granted, it is still a large undertaking that requires full management backing and a solid IT department willing to support a remote team, but it is doable and companies are taking advantage of streamlining their tech-in-a-truck operations.
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