Mobile inventory management showing strength through deployments

There are a lot of factors that goes into a manufacturing business. Managing inventory in the warehouse is one of them. By utilizing warehouse management systems and automatic data capture, the process has been simplified greatly. However, until recently, inventory management was often done through special barcode scanners and other clunky hardware. Mobile deployments have been challenging that aspect of the business, allowing businesses to use smartphones to scan items and check inventory anywhere they're located. As a result, manufacturers can become more agile and flexible in terms of the orders they receive. Some examples of this in the real world have proven this.

Keeping the nursery visible One example of growth in mobile inventory management has been found in a major plant supplier. Bell Nursery, which delivers plants to more than 150 Home Depot garden centers in the Mid-Atlantic region, faced a conundrum. The way the supplier relationship works in this situation is that the nursery rather than Home Depot owns the plants, and only receives payment when the flowers or shrubbery are bought by a customer. This means that not only does the company have to manage plants while they're growing at the greenhouse, but also maintain them at the stores which are located across seven states and then input that data through a central inventory system, according to TechTarget. The process required sending employees to these locations to constantly monitor the plants every day as well as keep a constant tab on what plants had been purchase. It wasted time and labor and didn't provide accurate results. Compounding problems further was the fact that customers sometimes wanted to know if a bush that wasn't in stock may be available elsewhere.

As a consequence, Bell Nursery started using a mobile inventory management system. It allowed them to quickly get a picture of the current inventory situation through data analytics of scanned items. The company is also seeking to establish a completely centralized inventory that tracks plants everywhere without having to leave the home office.

Bell Nursery's situation and solution reflects some of the main benefits to manufacturers of a mobile WMS. In another article, TechTarget notes that the main draw of having this form of inventory management is that of communication. Instead of having to input data manually, manufacturers can instantly receive information on the stock of a particular item and then communicate with others about the situation. That can increase productivity by reducing the amount of time spent checking on inventory.

For more information on improving efficiency with barcode technology, download the free white paper entitled "Keeping the Physical World and the Virtual World in Sync" from DMS today.

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