As the cost of bar coding technology continues to decrease,
you no longer need to be a large corporation to see a
return on an investment in bar coding technology.
Many people assume that
the degree of your cost savings depends on how many of your products
are received with bar coding labels already on the products.
While it's true that your direct cost of bar coding is reduced
when your suppliers bar code their products, there are many other
intangible cost savings to consider as well.
By using bar coding for receiving,
items are entered into inventory quicker and with more accurate bin locations.
Using bar coding for shipping lets you know if any order or even an
item on one order had "missed the truck".
Cyclic inventory checks are quicker and less costly,
giving you a more accurate inventory count.
In an ideal situation, a supplier will bar code the products and send an
advance copy of the shipping manifest.
If the manufacturer does not bar code the product (many off shore
suppliers do not bar code),
simply receiving advance copies of the receiving manifest from your suppliers
can help. These manifests can be electronic (EDI), e-mail (text),
fax, or even verbal confirmations.
By knowing what items are in the shipping container,
you can still have the benefits of seamless integrated receiving.
Receiving Process
Prior to receiving a shipment, the Receiving Manifest is input into the
system. This information can come from an electronic document,
any advance document, an open purchase order, or even the manifest at the
receiving dock. This process matches the items you are receiving with your
outstanding purchase orders. The system produces a "Put Away List". Each item
on the manifest is listed, along with the associated bar code.
If the vendor does not bar code the product, then bar code labels
are printed and affixed to the goods prior to being stored in the warehouse.
When the supplier does not bar code, but does palletize
(such as off shore ceramic tile),
typically individual products are not labeled. In this case,
two labels are placed near the bottom of the pallet.
When inventory is received at the dock, if the product is already bar coded,
the product is scanned. For products with no bar code, the "Put Away" list
is scanned. The bar code unit displays the quantity from the manifest asks
the user to verify that it matches the quantity received. If need be, pallet
labels or other item labels are printed which are affixed to the product.
A Receiving Exception Report shows discrepancies between the manifest
and what was actually received.
The bar code receiving process automatically updates the bin location
in the computer system, thus eliminating the extra step of manually
entering the location.
When inventory is moved from one bin location to another, the
transport program automatically updates the bin location as it is moved.
This reduces the number of "cannot find" errors and increases
shipment reliability, thus improving customer service.
Shipping Process
Warehouse picking tickets are printed with bar codes and bin locations.
When the warehouse picks an order, they scan the picking ticket, the
item(s) and the staging area. In the event the material is not in the
expected bin location, alternate bin locations can be displayed on the
bar code unit. In the event the material is "short" or "cannot find",
customer service is notified and a decision to either "short ship" or
to "not ship" the line item is made.
This bar coding process can work in conjunction with the FloorPro® III
Truck Routing system. As the shipping "cut off" time approaches, routes
can be easily adjusted based on geography and expected delivery dates.
Manifests can be printed in the reverse "stop number" order. The "stop
number" is the sequence in which the orders are normally delivered to
the customer.
Shipping labels are printed and then scanned when the items are moved
onto the truck. The system verifies that the items are moved to the
correct truck by comparing it to the orders on a shipping manifest.
A Shipping Exception Report displays items, which should be on the truck
but were not scanned as being moved onto the truck. If, for some
reason, the item was removed from the truck, and "left standing on the dock",
the order information and route can be determined by scanning the shipping
label.
Inventory Counts
Physical inventory and cyclic inventory counts are simpler and less time
consuming when products are bar coded.
A physical inventory assumes all items in the warehouse will be counted
whereas a cyclic inventory count assumes only a certain range of bin
locations will be checked at a given time.
The system records the product and quantity information for each item
scanned. When the count is complete, the system reports the
differences between what the system believes to be in inventory versus
what was actually counted. Discrepancies of this sort generally require
another count to ensure that the inventory is really not on hand.
For cyclic counts,
inventory which is not found can be added to the "looking for"
bin location since it might actually be in the warehouse in
another bin location, which was not part of the cyclic inventory count.