Bar code scanners erase Aussie stock control problems
Bar code scanners erase Aussie stock control problems
Costly, lengthy, cumbersome, slow stock control methods could be a thing of the past in Australia, thanks to the recent successes of handheld memory bar code scanners to save money, time and energy.
PDAs could also be used in the future to add even more sophisticated stock control processes.
JB Hi-Fi is one example of a company which has used Symbol's P460 memory bar code scanners to replace the use of pens, paper and post when stock takes needed to be recorded.
This was always too time consuming and costly. JB Hi-Fi now uses 270 scanners in its 33 stores around the country to keep track of its stock level of CDs, DVDs and different types of hardware.
The regular stock takes are carried out to determine how much stock has been sold, what needs to be replaced, which items are best-sellers and so on. These stock takes are done on the same day at the same time at each of JB Hi-Fi's stores, and in the past were done via a manual, paper-based system.
This would usually involve all the stores being closed for a day at a time, even with every staff member helping. This would cost $50,000 and further costs for the loss of trading.
The manual system was vulnerable to staff errors, who used to sometimes write down the wrong product codes or lose count of the number of products. This resulted in inaccurate stock results costing money and wrong decisions being made.
JB Hi-Fi now, however, uses the Symbol scanners to effortlessly scan product bar codes during stock takes. The product information is retained for batch processing at a central kiosk within each store. This information is then collated at the store before being automatically sent to head office, drastically reducing the amount of time it takes to get this information through. Because the information is scanned rather than manually counted and written down, the system has eliminated errors in stock take information.
IT manager at JB Hi-Fi expressed his satisfaction with this solution. "Stock takes are a very expensive yet necessary part of the retail environment. To be able to make such significant savings in this area gives us an advantage over our competitors, and allows us to continue selling products at discounted prices."
Now other companies throughout Australia could follow suit and also save themselves time and money by using these revolutionary scanners.
To read more about the feature story behind JB HiFi's use of this technology, subscribe to our magazine here. This feature will be in our May/June issue.
Doctor Mark Finn, lecturer of Media and Communications at Swinburne University of Technology believes that the technology could go even further, and handheld PDAs could be used in the future to count stock. "Many large companies in America and the post office over here use PDAs at the moment to help with many areas of business. I can see PDAs being used in the future for stock control too. All you would have to do is attach a scanner and use the rest of the functionality. You could check an inventory of items on the PDA, match against a spreadsheet on the system and then email somebody back at headquarters if there were any problems. I can definitely see these scanners and PDA being used more and more in retail areas."
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