Posts Tagged ‘Distribution’

Barcode Scanners in Product Distribution

If a supply market or a manufacturing plant is not using barcode scanners, then it is clearly not of a high standard. These gadgets are, in easiest form, a handheld device which is used to scan bar codes on products to check their stock levels and path through the supply chain.

With technology these days taking up such a major share of our daily routine and life, the use of alternating dark and white columns to identify different products is not a big surprise. What is amazing though is the manner in which barcode readers have expanded into so many aspects of life in general.

For your everyday person, the most widespread place where barcode scanners and readers are visible is in large supermarkets and retail outlets. The products that one buys are scanned using a handheld device emitting a red light or passed over a senser that is fixed. Subsequently, the costs, the model number, the brand, etc display on the computer display. Within a few minutes, hundreds of items are passed over the barcode scanner, and the queue in the supermarket disappears in no time. Not only in the retail sector, but barcode scanners and readers are being used in many sectors.

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The principal concept of a scanner is a light source, which is either a laser light or a photodiode, a lens and a sensor on which the light read from the bar codes creates an electrical impulse that is read through a sensor. With the advancement of technology, the varying devices have altered but the whole concept of scanners has remained unchanged. The most recent addition to the innovation in barcode scanners and readers has been 2D and 3D readers.

The basic version of these readers are available as a handheld device which emit light from a photodiode, in the tip of a pen or handheld instrument. By moving over in a gentle uniform motion, the reflected light from the barcode is detected by the photodiode and creates a waveform. These pen type readers or scanners and classed as the simplest of such devices.

The next development was in the form of laser scanners. These barcode readers use laser light to transmit onto the barcodes and can capture it with a photodiode. The formation of a wave form is similar to the pen readers. With the advent of charged coupled devices as the newer technology, their use was seen in CCD readers. These devices consist of hundreds of light detectors in a row and create a voltage pattern exactly corresponding to the bars and spaces of the barcode. The crucial dissimilarity is that these CCD readers detect light that is ambient to the barcode without having a light source of its own, while pen readers emit the light from the device.

All these varieties of barcode scanners and readers have found use in numerous different industries and different applications. They, scan codes placed in close proximity, as in supermarkets or can also read barcodes from several meters as in manufacturing units. They have considerably simplified all aspects of the supply chain and allow for complete and accurate tracking at all times.

Allied Electronics and QSI America Sign Distribution Partnership

Allied Electronics and QSI America Sign Distribution Partnership

Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) July 11, 2005 -

– Allied Electronics, a subsidiary of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), announced that it has signed a distribution partnership agreement with Quantum Semiconductor International.

QSI is a leading supplier of laser diodes in the power tool and barcode scanner market. The agreement gives Allied customers ready access to laser diodes designed for industrial, medical, and academic applications. QSI laser diodes are devices used in such applications as Leveling, Alignment, Distance Measuring and Range Finding equipment, to name a few. The initial stocking package will include both P-Type and N-Type in 635nm, 650nm, 670nm, 780nm, and 850nm wavelength devices.

“Allied is excited to offer our customers the QSI America product line,” said Lee Davidson, president of Allied Electronics. “Customers buying QSI from Allied will get a wide range of devices in stock and in the quantities our customers need.”

“QSI America is very pleased to announce our partnership with Allied Electronics,” said Christopher Polley, President of Quantum Semiconductor International. “Allied Electronics recognizes the growth of laser diodes in industrial and medical applications and with Allied’s initial stocking package, they will have exactly what our customers are looking for.”

Allied Electronics stocks more than 135,000 electronic components and electromechanical products from over 300 world-class manufacturers. For more information on Allied Electronics, visit http://www.alliedelec.com.

ABOUT ALLIED ELECTRONICS

Allied Electronics’ headquarters are located in Fort Worth, Texas with 57 sales branches across the United States and Canada. Allied is a subsidiary of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), the world leading catalog component distributor. Electrocomponents has operations in six continents and headquarters in Oxford, England.

ABOUT QUANTUM SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL

Quantum Semiconductor International (QSI America), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abracon Corporation. The company markets and sells standard and customized laser devices of various powers and wavelengths, ranging from 635nm to 1000nm with high reliability. The companies’ headquarters are located in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. http://www.qsalaser.com

CONTACT:

Roxanne Martinez, Allied Electronics

817-595-8566

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©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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Demco Finds Numina Group’s Voice Picking is the Choice for Streamlining Distribution Operations

Demco Finds Numina Group’s Voice Picking is the Choice for Streamlining Distribution Operations

Hands Free Voice Picking

Woodridge, IL (PRWEB) August 26, 2010

Numina Group announces that Demco, a Madison, Wisconsin based leader in the supply of library products and supplies recently went live with Numina Group’s Pick Execution™, voice directed picking technology. By using Pick Execution’s Smart Cart Voice directed picking technology, Demco has experienced an immediate increase in productivity and improved order picking accuracy. Major enhancements were also added to the distribution center’s conveyor system by incorporating the latest in-line packing and sealing technology, resulting in an accelerated order fulfillment process.

Numina Group’s Pick Execution™ is a speaker independent, natural voice picking technology based on topVox’s™-topSpeech Lydia™, the world’s leading multilingual speaker independent voice engine. The software contains a pre-developed application module called Smart Cart, a multimodal voice picking module designed to replace paper based and RF terminal picking with voice directed picking carts. The software module intelligently selects and assigns orders, and optimizes the order picker’s walk path to reduce the walk path and improve order picking throughput.

Voice picking is performed wearing a headset using speaker independent, natural voice commands to direct order/item picking. Multimodal voice includes a wrist mounted hands free barcode scanner used in combination with voice commands to direct, confirm, and perform pick, pack, and item pick validation in a single step. Pick Execution™ is highly scalable and the Smart Cart Module can be easily and quickly deployed at Fortune 100 E-tailers, B to C or B to B operations or at small, growing DC operations with less than 10 order pickers.

Demco has been experiencing continuous order volume growth by adding new product lines and recent acquisitions. The recent growth placed added pressure on Demco’s operation to get same day shipments picked, validated, packed, and shipped within FedEx’s pick-up window, without compromising their corporate commitment to 99.98% accuracy. “We hit the physical limits of the facility’s ability to fulfill same day orders,” stated Doug Petrick Plant Manager at Demco. “A technology boost was needed to improve throughput, and at the same time reduce our dependence on temporary labor during peak seasons. We concluded that upgrading from paper to voice picking met our objectives and was the lowest cost means to improve throughput and accuracy,” Petrick added.

Following a process improvement analysis, Demco recognized that voice picking would increase carton volume at the pack and ship area and cause a “bottleneck” if the pack area was not also enhanced. In order to improve order flow, and eliminate secondary touches, Demco had Numina Group provide improvements to the existing conveyor system to increase carton flow at the packing and shipping area.

A 24 volt DC energy saving conveyor system from Hilmot of Waukesha, WI was installed to link the existing conveyor, to an in-line auto taper/sealer manufactured by AB Sealer of Beaver Dam, WI, and a Mighty Pak, paper void fill automation system manufactured in Madison, WI. The new void fill station more than doubles the carton throughput speed of the past void filler, and saves hundreds of dollars a day in material costs by using recycled paper from a local Wisconsin plant in place of virgin paper or plastic void fill material. Demco is pleased with the labor and material cost reductions, as well as the positive environmental impact the technology provides by saving trees and reducing oil consumption. “Going to a greener void fill material and at the same time contributing to the local economy by buying technology and materials from Wisconsin and US based manufacturers and suppliers, reflects our corporate values” stated Mike Goethel VP of Operations at Demco.

“A key reason we chose the Numina Group was their software and distribution expertise, and the flexibility and ease of installation of their Pick Execution™ . We visited other clients using Numina Group’s voice directed picking technology and found their solution to be highly adaptable with performance at or above the specified rates and the software easily integrated voice with our IBM I-Series WMS System. We are extremely pleased with the results of our investment, and plans are underway to add Numina Group’s X-Press PAL print and apply labeling system to automate the application of the shipping, labeling, and manifesting operation.” Goethel added.

About the Numina Group:

Since 1986, the Numina Group has been a leader in providing Warehouse Control for Pick, Pack, and Ship Automation to improve the order fulfillment process. The systems and products they supply combine high performance software and application expertise to eliminate “bottlenecks”, reduce labor, and increase revenues: allowing companies to gain a competitive advantage in the markets they serve. Numina Group’s open source Linux based software integrates the latest pick, pack, and ship technology with virtually any WMS or ERP System.

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, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

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Small and mid-size manufacturers and distribution companies can now take advantage of wireless RFID or bar code scanning technology for inventory control with a cost effective solution driven by Virtual Factory Inventory Manager

Small and mid-size manufacturers and distribution companies can now take advantage of wireless RFID or bar code scanning technology for inventory control with a cost effective solution driven by Virtual Factory Inventory Manager

(PRWEB) May 7, 2004

Most large manufacturers implement wireless systems that use stationary RFID readers, but these can represent a substantial cost investment running easily into six or seven figures. However, small and mid-size manufacturers with more limited budgets can implement wireless RFID or bar code scanning systems that employ top quality handheld readers for a fraction of that cost. The read range of handheld RFID or bar code scanners is relatively short (1 – 3 inches), but the accuracy is usually much better than that of stationary reader-based systems. The handheld readers can be programmed to “beep” when a tag or bar code has been successfully scanned, ensuring that data is accurately entering into the system’s database every time.

A Virtual Factory Inventory Manager-powered RFID system can provide a number of documented benefits to companies with manufacturing and warehousing operations. According to an article in a top supply chain trade magazine, a large tractor manufacturer who installed a wireless automated data collection system realized a number of substantial benefits. These included a tripling of the number of picks per hour, the near elimination of picking errors, and a same-day ship rate increase from 20% to 98%. This allowed the manufacturer to increase handling capacity by 25%, enabling them to add more employees the following year. (“Deep Impact,” C. Wright, APICS: The Performance Advantage, March 2004).

Benefits of Virtual Factory Inventory Manager:

·Extremely easy for workers to scan data on the plant or warehouse floor. Just pass the PDA (for RFID applications) or scan wand (for bar code applications) near the tag or bar code and move on to the next item to be scanned.

·Data can be uploaded to the network in real time or at periodic times (e.g., end of work shift) using standard or wireless connections.

·1/10th (or less) the cost of systems using stationary readers, usually with better accuracy given the close reader-tag proximity and “read confirmation” options.

·Use scanned data to create inventory reports and perform real-time checks of item locations.

·User can set up “events” in the software to trigger alarms which will automatically notify key personnel via cell phone or e-mail when important assets or inventory items are moved to an unauthorized or unwanted location in the facility.

·All software features and inventory data can be accessed from anywhere with an Internet connection.

·Works with applications involving metal, including placing tags directly onto metal surfaces (Note: this is usually impossible when using stationary high frequency readers, due to interference problems with metal parts, shelves, machines, etc.)

·Immediate audible or visual confirmation when an RFID or bar code is successfully read by the reader.

One-Stop Shop

Orbit Technology Corporation can supply manufacturers an entire wireless inventory management system, including the hardware and software components. There is no need for companies to contract with different providers for the scanner, wireless system, data management software, and alarm/notification software. In addition, our solutions incorporate top brand hardware and employ industry-standard RFID frequencies (13.56 MHz) that are projected to be in widespread use for decades to come. With Virtual Factory Inventory Manager, small and mid-size manufacturers no longer have the excuse to take a “wait and see” attitude concerning where bar coding and RFID technologies are headed. Our low cost, low risk solution means they can start taking advantage of the benefits of these systems today. The future of inventory management is here and is within very affordable reach.

Sample Applications

Virtual Factory can be connected to almost any brand of RFID scanner in order to perform a number of data logging and notification functions. Examples include:

·Instantly determine the location of a particular part or raw material inventory item within a storage room or in a large outdoor storage area.

·Run a report that shows the number of times a certain specialty tool was utilized in a particular staging area on your production floor.

·Receive a telephone call with a pre-recorded message telling you that a forklift has entered into a restricted and potentially dangerous area of your fabrication facility.

·Receive a page indicating that a particular item has exceeded the suggested time limit for passing through all of the stages of a work process.

·Receive an e-mail whenever a large ticket item moves from Work In Process to Finished Goods status.

·View a status panel display on your computer monitor that flashes a warning message whenever a key piece of expensive equipment exits one of your facility doors.

What is RFID?

RFID stands for “Radio Frequency Identification.” Using RFID, tiny radio transmitters – called tags – can be attached to a critical piece of inventory or equipment. The tag transmits the item’s location to scanners positioned nearby. Tags can be as inexpensive as 20 to 50 cents each, making RFID affordable for small and medium-size operations. Read ranges of scanners vary from 1 to 50 meters (or more). RFID is beginning to replace traditional barcode methods for many monitoring applications. RFID technology can be a critical component of Six Sigma and lean manufacturing initiatives because it feeds process and inventory data immediately to operations managers.

For more information about how you can put Virtual Factory to work for your company, contact Jed Jones at jed@otc.net or at 1-949-981-7001.

About Orbit Technology Corporation

Founded by manufacturing automation experts in 1993, Orbit has made its name supplying factory automation, CAD/CAM and Web-based collaboration software solutions to its international base of clients.

Orbit employs a staff of highly educated, multi-lingual software solution experts who specialize in the manufacturing sector. The company’s innovations continue to give its clients the power to access, manage, and control the data essential to their manufacturing success. Orbit maintains close ties with private industry and leading universities.

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

New Barcode Camera Technology Streamlines Distribution Center Holiday Rush

New Barcode Camera Technology Streamlines Distribution Center Holiday Rush

VIPAC identifies text and barcodes, at very high read speeds, on up to six sides of an item’ s surface.

Louisville, KY (PRWEB) July 31, 2008

Vitronic Machine Vision’s line scan camera technology known as VIPAC, is streamlining retail distribution centers for the busy holiday season. As a result, retail distribution facilities have increased the rates at which they distribute and process their merchandise. In addition, this technology allows retailers the benefit of advanced order and inventory control options.

A next generation solution for retail distributors, the VIPAC parcel identification system reads hand-written and machine written address information identifies all barcodes, and specific customer codes. The camera system is easily integrated with automation software to fully direct the flow of goods in and out of distribution facilities. Using this barcode technology, distributors can greatly reduce manual errors that occur with standard barcode tracking systems thus reducing rising labor costs. Depending on package size and spacing VIPAC’s throughput is up to 10,800 items an hour on conveyor speeds of 800 fpm. Even information hidden behind plastic film is identified by the camera-based identification system. Compared to traditional laser-based barcode identification system the VIPAC system generates higher read rates at increased processing speeds.

The basis for this optimization is the VICAMssi2 sensor unit, which combines a compact, high resolution, dynamic auto-focus high-speed line-scan camera and LED illumination into one device. Unlike traditional barcode scanners, the camera is able to capture information on non-standard packages as well as standard-sized shipments while measuring parcels volume and enabling automatic invoicing. In comparison to barcode scanners, the camera is faster and delivers improved read rates.

For more than 25 years, VITRONIC has developed and supplied over 3,000 state of the art machine identification systems, both hardware and software, to the leading warehousing, logistics and distribution industries as well as national courier, express, and parcel delivery companies worldwide.

According to Rob King, Vitronic’s Vice President of sales and marketing:

“Our years of experience and industry diversification in machine vision automation give us the advantage of providing our customers with the most advanced and innovative solutions for their individual needs.”

About VITRONIC

Headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, VITRONIC Machine Vision, LTD. is an international manufacturer of three-dimensional scanning devices. The company specializes in supplying and developing cutting-edge scanning technologies for the logistics, manufacturing, science, and warehousing industries. VIPAC, the corporation’s signature product, is a 3-D machine vision scanner that utilizes a compact, high speed line-scan camera to provide high resolution images of standard and oversized parcels. With a full complement of vision scanning product offering with fully customizable solutions, the VITRONIC team handles 100% of the research, design, development and manufacture of their hardware and software applications. The privately-held company was founded in 1984 by Norbert Stein, Ph.D., and is represented on four continents.

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Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Warehouse Solution for Dynamics GP: Enable Barcoding in the Distribution modul

Warehouse Management System typically includes three key functionalities: Sales Order Allocation, Inventory Replenishment and Inventory Adjustment plus Transfer.  These features are already available in so-called Distributions set of modules for Great Plains: Sales Order Processing, Purchase Order Processing and Inventory Control.  However the key issue here is barcode or RFID scanning automation.  It is unlikely that you will have your ERP application client workstation to be installed directly on your smart barcode laser scanner, and even if you try to do something like that, for example by attaching scanner to small computer or Netbook – the cost of each scanned document would be too high to make this approach practical.  Let’s review the options to enable reasonably priced WMS:

1. Warehouse Management thin client application, running directly on the barcode scanner.  This tiny program is coded in Visual Basic and is compatible with budget versions of text mode scanners.  When you are thinking about you inventory management, you probably plan to give the scanner to each section manager, and the number of devises to purchase may drive substantial cost for your organization.  Text mode compatible scanners might be purchased at the half of the price, comparing to graphical ones

2. WMS Server.  This application communicates with your barcode scanners and transfers scanned documents via ODBC connection to the ERP server via our proprietary Order Connector technology.  This program should be installed on the computer, having direct wireless connections with the scanners and at the same time being on the office network via Ethernet, Fiber optic or wireless (if you expect small number of transactions to be uploaded to the SQL server)

3. Working directly with GP tables.  This fact means that master records and transactions are created in real time, and back office ERP user can see and manage them.

4. Typical customer profile.  From our perspective and experience, this Warehouse application could be implemented for the customer, where Dynamics GP is chosen as Corporate ERP platform.  In our opinion Great Plains is a good fit to the majority of the businesses and non for profit organizations in the USA, Canada, Spanish speaking South and Central America, other English speaking countries: UK, New Zealand, Australia, South East Asia, Arabic World.  In some cases you would rather consider Dynamics AX, especially in process manufacturing (good example is food processing).  In other words, if you feel that GP is a good fit for your organization, we are ready with Warehouse solution for you

5. The competition.  Here we have established stand alone WMS vendors, their names will pull out on the top in the Google, Yahoo, MSN search.  These provides are very reliable, but they are covering connections to the majority of dominating Corporate ERP systems, and you may expect some budget for the WMS integration phase

6. Second Opinion.  We expect that some of the readers of this article are in the generic WMS implementation limbo or disappointing phase and would like to work out the way out.  We provide second opinion and we have solid number of records, where we were able to recover unsuccessful WMS implementations on the new platform

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Dynamics GP in Wholesale and Distribution: WMS, Barcode Scanning, EDI

Corporate ERP application in Distribution and Wholesale industries often requires advanced barcoding technology deployment, especially in such operations as Order Fulfillment, Inventory Counts and Transfers, Merchandise Replenishment.  These three are fundamentals of so-called Warehouse Management System.  Also you may require additional elements of Supply Chain Management: delivery route and time optimization, for example.  If you require your customers to supply purchase order in EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) format or this is what your major suppliers require from your Purchase Department – EDI integration should be also considered.  As excurse to history – Microsoft Dynamics GP is successor of Great Plains Dynamics and eEnterprise (Microsoft acquired Great Plains Software in late 1990th, earlier 2000th and Microsoft Dynamics GP is pretty much the same, including technology background, such as Great Plains Dexterity, Integration Manager, VBA/Modifier, Extender, except whatever was introduced with the introduction of the new versions, plus Microsoft Business Solutions introduced eConnect SDK, based on encrypted SQL Stored Procedures).  Let’s take a look at Dynamics GP implementation in Distribution in general and your options in phasing in Barcoding, SCM, EDI and ecommerce technologies:

1. Dynamics GP Implementation in Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Distribution.  Here we are talking about standard Corporate ERP system implementation, with such steps as data conversion, user training, pilot month of using GP and legacy accounting system in parallel mode.  In this phase you can probably review general guidelines for the new Corporate ERP implementation.  In our opinion, the most critical and where you may expect your ERP and MRP implementation to fail are Data Migration and Conversion phase and deciding on appropriate level (the less the better) of Dexterity, eConnect, IM/VBA, Extender customizations.  Let’s first speculate about data massage and conversion scenarios and complications.  If you are in budget oriented mode, meaning that you do not like the idea to pay for data migration services (Dynamics GP Technical Consulting hours), consider the plan to enter GL beginning balances (for the new fiscal year or even  new month or whatever is your fiscal period), importing the most critical master records (GL Accounts, Customers and Vendors with their addresses, Employees, plus potentially such master records as Service Contracts, Bills of Material, Manufacturing Routines, etc.).  We do recommend you (in decision on data conversion, massage and migration) to consider retaining the old computer (or probably Novell or Windows NT server) for data inquiry (locked for new transaction entry).  We do believe that paying for the electricity to support the old server is cheaper comparing to complex data conversion

2. Let’s now move on to our next topic: Barcode Laser scanning and data upload to Dynamics GP forms.  Laser Barcode Scanners are available in various models, where you can decide to have basic USB barcode scanner (which is very close in its features to computer keyboard), or to purchase wireless Barcode device.  Currently you may consider smart scanners with Windows mobile (0 and up) or cheaper version with text mode compatibility (should cost you up to 0, we recommend Symbol PDT 3000 Portable Data Terminal Series).  This paper is written in November 2010, so if you think that it is historical, please make your own research on modern barcode laser scanners

3. Warehouse Management System.  Talking about WMS for GP you can review two routes.  First – external WMS with integration module or connectors to Great Plains SOP, POP, Inventory module.  Good pluses hear are the facts, that these systems have large number of successful implementations USA, Canada nationwide and internationally, they also support large spectrum of Barcoding devices.  As minuses we have to mention high price (where you pay for the functionality in WMS, already available in Dynamics GP), some customers also shared the concerns about difficulties and unexpected budget in implementing integration between WMS and Dynamics GP.  And the second option is Dynamics GP WMS extensions, this is add-on, where barcoding logic works directly with Dynamics GP forms and out of GP tables (integration is not required, comparing to external WMS)

4. Electronic Document Interchange (EDI).  You can find several professional EDI products for Dynamics GP, where all or most of EDI protocols and communication methods are supported.  It is often the case, when yours EDI needs are really modest and you have only one or two protocols and one communication method (probably via FTP or even email).  In this scenario we are helping the customers to program EDI protocol directly in formatted SQL Select (or Insert) statement and we have small utility, which handles ftp communication for EDI documents

5. Business-to-Business ecommerce for Dynamics GP.  B2B ecommerce is picking up as more advanced alternative to EDI, where your wholesale customer could have self-service in placing Purchase Orders.  The nicety of ecommerce add-on for Dynamics GP is its seamless integration with your Warehouse Management Extensions, where ecommerce originated order goes automatically (if required conditions are met, for example it is prepaid or customer credit limit is not exceeded) to the WMS for fulfillment

6. Some practical recommendations.  If you plan to extend your Dynamics GP for the Warehouse Management, EDI or ecommerce, or introduce barcoding interface, we recommend you to upgrade GP to its current version 2010/11.0 or at least to version 10.  Theoretically you may stay with the old version and integrate WMS transactions via Great Plains Integration Manager (assuming that your WMS solution exports transactions into text files or opens its DB via ODBC connection and you are familiar with its table structure and documents flow).  In our opinion, upgrade overhead is not comparable with WMS price and if you would try to implement Warehouse Management System for older Great Plains Dynamics – you will have to pay more down the road, as you will have to find consultants and programmers, who are familiar with legacy technologies, such as Microsoft pre .Net ADO, probably VBA scripting in Modifier or Integration Manager, Great Plains Dexterity.  If you are growing and you are currently on Microsoft Small Business Financials, we recommend you to migrate to Dynamics GP and only then launch SCM, WMS or EDI project (by the way, SBF line is terminated and the last version was 9.0)

7. If you are expanding internationally.  International Corporate ERP market has its rules, where you may feel a bit confused.  Accounting system localization has two aspects: local language support and compliance with local legislation.  There are several flavors of Dynamics GP Add-ons, translating Great Plains to major world languages: Chinese, Japanese, German, Italian, French, etc.  But GP is officially localized only in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other English speaking countries (including South East Asia where English is used as the language of business) most of Spanish speaking Latin America (except Brazil, where they speak Brazilian Portuguese).  So, if you plan to invest into new Corporate ERP application for your overseas branch, and if GP is not localized – we recommend you to consider other options – maybe Dynamics AX (former Axapta, this is one step up and it is a bit more expensive) or SAP Business One (for smaller overseas operations)

8. To request further support, please call us 1-866-528-0577, help@albaspectrum.com We need to discuss your cards in order to recommend you the best solutions, which is not contingent to our preferences.  We serve you USA/Canada nationwide via remote support (web sessions and phone/Skype conferences).  Local service is available in Western Michigan, Chicagoland, Southern California (LA, Orange County, San Diego), Houston area of the state of Texas

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Dynamics GP in Distribution and Nationwide Wholesale Trade: EDI, WMS, Barcoding

Microsoft Dynamics GP is midmarket Corporate ERP application, also formerly known as Great Plains Software Dynamics and eEnterprise.  In our opinion it has rich business logic, which could lead to user training to be required with precise data entry and flow procedures design for each department and user role.  At the same time rich functionality gives you the opportunity to find the way to automate unique business processes for various industries and niches.  From the technology side, Great Plains Dynamics doesn’t prevent you from feeding data directly via SQL insert statement, which makes this application very flexible, but has potential to cause the problems by compromising data integrity (this openness is not possible in newer ERP systems, such as Axapta Dynamics AX or SAP Business One).  Let’s review Dynamics GP in the sense of being implemented for nationwide wholesaler or distributor:

1. Distribution modules in GP.  Here you see the key modules for Wholesale specific business processes automation: Inventory Control (with Bill of Materials), Purchase Order Processing and Sales Order Processing.  There is large community of Microsoft Dynamics GP ISV partners, offering and supporting numerous add-ons to extend distribution logic as well as provide vertical and horizontal solutions.  We would like to visit such features as Warehouse Management System, EDI (Electronic Document Interchange), B2B eCommerce

2. Warehouse Management System.  This is probably one of the first items on your list, when you are selecting new Corporate ERP application, being in Wholesale or Distribution business.  WMS probably requires decision on the philosophy of the integration with your ERP system.  There are two types of WMS approaches.  First one is external standalone WMS, which is completely self-sufficient with good level of reporting and with possible connectors or integration packages to major ERP and Accounting applications.  These types of WMS have larger number of installations, which is good point, however there are sometimes complains about their integration to core ERP or back offices accounting applications, as being too complex and requiring high level of unexpected consulting hours.  Plus, imagine – you have already paid for WMS business logic in Dynamics GP (or another Corporate ERP application) and now in external WMS you have to pay for similar software business logic to be integrated in its counterpart transactions and objects in Dynamics GP Distribution.  The second WMS approach is Dynamics GP WMS extensions, where you simply enable SOP Sales Transaction for Fulfillment, POP Purchase Receipt as Merchandise replenishment and Inventory Transfer and Adjustment transactions for barcode scanning.  We favor the second approach with Dynamics GP WMS extensions

3. Electronic Document Interchange.  You may require your wholesale customers to submit their sales orders via EDI or if you are ordering from large manufacturers, EDI compliance might be required from you.  In our opinion EDI and its technology require research and understanding what you really need.  Old fashioned EDI was represented by text file with precise field format with document header, lines and trailer.  With the introduction of XML, EDI has now new horizons to be more universal, however there is no generally accepted standards on XML EDI.  There are various Dynamics GP EDI add-ons, but we would not recommend to rush to purchase one of them, EDI could be easily implemented via SQL Stored Procedure, where you can read and parse EDI tech file (precise SQL Select formatting) or process any type of XML EDI file.  The second part of EDI is media – typically old fashioned http posts, or newer approaches, such as ftp upload/download and even email

4. E-Commerce.  Electronic commerce makes the cost of each transaction close to zero, even in the wholesale trade environment.  Regarding ecommerce and Dynamics GP we have to respect the history and trends in ecommerce shopping cart software development.  There is good portion of the market hosted in Linux where you can see PHP platform and such shopping cart as Magento.  Alternatively on Microsoft Windows .Net you see such popular shopping cart as ASP .Net Storefront.  We have ecommerce add-ons directly from Alba Spectrum, which has wizard driven implementation interface and it works with our Warehouse Management Extensions for Dynamics GP

5. Barcoding in Dynamics GP.  Technically every Great Plains form, where you need to enter something via keyboard, might be automated with barcode scanner.  If you walk on the warehouse floor with tiny computer, where Dynamics GP client is installed and if this computer is connected to your server via wireless connection – you can open required transaction (such as SOP Document for allocation), pull the document number, position cursor over the line, where barcode label could be scanned and finally scan the physical label of the item, located in the bin of you isle – this should do the job.  However this solution might be too nonrealistic, as you expect warehouse workers to do mass scanning and then upload the documents in the batch (picking slips application, inventory count, etc.).  This is one of the reasons, why you need WMS extensions

6. For Questions, to request presentation, or any type of additional information, please call us 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 or email us help@albaspectrum.com  If our WMS, eCommerce, EDI product fits to your requirements, or if our generic Dynamics GP Dexterity, eConnect, VBA/Modifier, FRx, Extender or other Dynamics GP oriented technology skills – we are happy to provide nationwide support (USA, Canada) or even international support via web sessions, and if required initial visits onsite to establish communication with key IT and Accounting departments folks.  Local and regional support (where Dynamics GP consultant comes to your office on the short request without associated travel fee, just mileage driving from the local office) is available in Michigan: St. Joseph, Benton Harbor, Kalamazoo, Holland, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, South Haven, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Ludington; Chicagoland: Chicago downtown, Northern and Southern suburbs from the offices in Chicago, Naperville, and Evanston; Southern California, from Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego locations; Houston Texas

Microsoft Dynamics GP Distribution and Barcoding Demos

Microsoft Dynamics GP as mid-market Corporate ERP application has reasonable functionality in Distribution set of modules to cover Supply Chain Management.  We are talking about such modules for Great Plains as Inventory Control, Purchase Order Processing, Sales Order Processing, Bill of Materials and in some cases Manufacturing suite.  Assuming that you can open GP transactions and master records for Barcoding – such popular extensions, as Warehouse Management System, Consignment, Picking and Packing, Shipping and Receiving, should be available for your Great Plain users, including warehouse workers.  Let’s review Microsoft Dynamics GP Distribution modules – how they could be enabled for Barcoding:

1. Sales Order Processing module.  In SOP you typically implement WMS functionality component, referred as Order Fulfillment or Allocation.  Let’s assume that your GP Sales personnel enters phone order manually in SOP Transaction Entry, choosing SOP Type without automatic line allocation (default way allocates items as you enter SOP line, picking inventory item, its default or specific warehouse and quantity, including serial or lot numbers).  Second option could be automatic Sales Order integration from your B2B or B2C ecommerce website, or even the third scenario – Sales Order is coming to you via EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) interface from your Franchise or Dealership channel.  In all the above situations, Sales Order (or Sales Invoice) is available in SOP module for Inventory Allocation or Fulfillment on the Warehouse Floor.  Here is what WMS extension does.  Barcode scanner has WMS client application running, where when you scan barcode label of the Picking Ticket with Customer ID and Order Number, then the bin and the items in it – application talks with WMS Server (RFID, or Wireless connection) which in turn talks to Dynamics GP Company Database via ODBC connection.  Here WMS Server is hosted in Windows computer, connected to your Ethernet network or in more budget cases wireless to your GP Server

2. Purchase Order Processing module.  In POP you do Merchandize Replenishment naturally in POP Purchase Receipt transaction.  There are several scenarios available, where you may require Purchase Order to be ready, Purchase Receipt to be created without item lines, or Purchase Receipt to be created on the fly and inventory receiving without Purchase Order.  On the warehouse floor by barcode scanning you fill PO Receipt lines, adding items to specified warehouse, assigning lot numbers (if item is lot numbered), and specifying quantities

3. Inventory Transfers, Adjustments and Cycle Counts.  Here we open Inventory Transaction screen in Great Plains for Barcoding

4. Honoring the uniqueness of your WMS business processes.  You know-how allows you to compete successfully on the market, however it also requires some investments into your Corporate ERP Customization.  It is not very difficult to modify barcoding integration to Dynamics GP, assuming that you already have some familiarity with such technologies, as Microsoft Dexterity, eConnect, SQL Order Connector, Integration Manager

5. Barcoding Solution Presentations.  We are open to your calls 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918 or emails help@albaspectrum.com

Dynamics GP implementation in Distribution: eCommerce and Warehouse Management with Barcoding

In order to achieve high wholesale or retail trade volume with lower expenses your sales cycle should be automated completely (with lowest number of phone calls, which are transferred to technical support call center).  If you are in Wholesale, then ideally customers should reorder merchandise through B2B ecommerce shopping cart or EDI (Electronic Document Interchange) channels.  If you are also in retail, the best case is to have your new or existing customers order merchandize via B2C ecommerce shopping cart.  In all scenarios customer orders go to your Corporate ERP application, in our publication we are giving you example, where ERP is built on Microsoft Dynamics GP (formerly known as Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise).  Dynamics GP in its turn exposes Customer Order or Invoice via Warehouse Management System add-on to the warehouse floor for immediate fulfillment, picking and packing and shipping.  If you think about further automation (maybe due to the high trust level to customer payment via Credit Card or on account, typically directly through your ecommerce shopping cart, such as Magento/PHP or ASP.Net Storefront or another platform) – you can post Dynamics GP Sales Batch directly from your ecommerce web application deploying Alba Spectrum Posting Server add-on.  Let’s review the options and technologies:

1. Microsoft Dynamics GP as ERP platform.  This application is hosted in Microsoft SQL Server, meaning maximum possible scalability and virtually unlimited number of EDI or eCommerce originated transactions could be processed in real time (automatic sales batch posting in GP) or in quasi real time(scheduled batch posting process or triggered by GP user).  In Great Plains you should review so-called Distribution set of modules: Sales Order Processing, Inventory Control, Purchase Order Processing

2. Sales Automation: EDI.  Electronic Document Interchange is pretty generic term and there are various technologies, from precisely formatted EDI text file (with header, lines and trailer) to EDI format in XML styles.  EDI channel could be done via ftp upload, http post, or even via email.  If Sales Order placement rules are reasonably simple, we recommend you to do custom EDI programming, by processing XML, text file and importing preprocessed EDI records via Dynamics GP Integration Manager, the same results could be achieved in eConnect SDK programming (if you are comfortable to do Microsoft Visual Studio C# or VB.Net programming and have some exposure to Great Plains objects, such as Sales Order, Customer, Inventory Item)

3. Sales Automation: B2B and B2C e-commerce.  This is very popular method in B2C retail ecommerce, as internet customers are typically very technology savvy.  In Wholesale B2B ecommerce scenarios you should still expect reasonable competition between EDI and ecommerce merchandise restocking.  Let’s review ecommerce extension for Dynamics GP.  We encourage you to trust ecommerce shopping cart platform, such as Magento, ASP .Net Storefront or you can pick another popular one – here you should expect reliability (as they have huge clients base and most of the bugs are already beta tested and fixed).  Done deal from ecommerce shopping cart goes to Dynamics GP SOP Invoice or Sales Order with Customer Deposit (Credit Card payment, or sometimes debit card, if technology permits).  Alba Spectrum eCommerce add-on have Wizard driven setup interface, where if you ecommerce doesn’t require customization – you can do it yourself within the matter of hours

4. Order Allocation on the warehouse floor in real time.  Warehouse Management Extension works directly out of Sales Order Processing tables and paid Sales Order or Invoice is ready for being picked and packed.  Your warehouse worker has barcode scanner with operating system, where WMS client application is installed.  Client application has customer documents handy and ready for fulfillment.  Each Order line is fulfilled by scanning item barcode label.  We setup your WMS SOP Documents to require manual allocation – allocation is done on the warehouse floor by barcode scanner.  WMS client application talks to WMS Server via wireless connection or RFID and in its turn WMS Server being on the wired network (or even on wireless, if the volume of barcode scanning is low) uploads scanned documents to Dynamics GP via Order Connector ODBC mechanism

5. Further automation – posting eCommerce or EDI originated Sales Documents automatically.  Microsoft Dynamics GP architecture requires Sales, Purchasing, GL Batches or the batches of other origin to be reviewed by Accounting, AR, AP managers (to review the discounts given, credit limits, and other give away to be reasonable and if required adjust sales commission, etc.).   We do not think that you would oppose such business logic, but if you are in high confidence to your ecommerce originated transactions and you would like your ecommerce application to do all the job up to paid ecommerce customer order to show up on the warehouse floor for assembly on order or items picking and packing and shipping to the customer – we have special product Alba Spectrum Posting Server which allows you to schedule the batch for automatic real time posting (every 30 seconds) directly from your eCommerce web application

6. How to contact us?  Please, call us 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, or email us help@albaspectrum.com  International customers are welcome, we naturally provide USA and Canada Dynamics GP, WMS, EDI and eCommerce software licenses sale, installation and implementation by travelling to your office for initial software deployment and user training and following remote support via web sessions and phone conferences.  If you absolutely require local walk in service, we are happy to help you in Michigan: St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Benton Harbor, Grand Rapids, Holland, Muskegon, Saugatuck, South Haven, Ludington, Grand Haven, Battle Creek.  We are also serving you locally in Southern California: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County (from Irvine office).  Next business metro, where we are available locally is Chicagoland – Chicago Downtown, Naperville and all the Southern, Western and Northern suburbs, including North West Indiana and Southern Wisconsin.  We are also serving you with local support in Houston, Texas