Inventory Barcode Mobile application
free demo: https://www.erpag.com
Mobile app for tracking inventory and record material usage.Barcode or QR code tracking with serial numbers and lot numbers.
Many developers of the Inventory and ERP solutions are offering as an addition to their software a mobile app. In trying to combine the functionality of the desktop solution, many options are literally rewritten without having any functional appliance. What’s on the desktop version, that is just transferred to the Mobile App. The only change is the ‘responsive design’ e.g. adjusting the form so it can be shown on smaller resolutions of the mobile devices. Those applications are, in most cases, partially or completely unusable for the practical appliance. The only purpose of that kind of application is of a commercial character, e.g. if a potential client asks if they have a Mobile Application. And the maximum range is a review of the documents and perhaps an ‘item look-up’.
Our approach is different.
Starting from these facts:
· *Everyone has a SmartPhone
· * PDA devices are too expensive and they require special programming, set up etc. (link: https://www.barcodesinc.com/cats/barcode-scanners/pda.htm?page=1&search=Windows&&sort_by=Price&sort_dir=r )
· * Their dimensions are small
· * You can literally find only Ios/Apple and Android mobile operating systems on the market
· * Every SmartPhone has a camera and it can be used as a barcode scanner
· * Soft keyboard enables complete alphanumeric data entering
· * SmartPhone also has a PS Location and some other sensors
· * Because ERPAG is a cloud-based software, you can approach the database at any time, from any location because every SmartPhone has wi-fi or mobile data (3G/4G)
· * It’s easy to install the application to the SmartPhone through the App Store or Google Play (link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erpag.barcodescanner )
· * By applying the Progressive Web App (link: https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/) programming solution, you can significantly decrease the development time and, in regards, the price of that kind of application
· * In the market, you can find powerful protection for SmartPhones (link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgregor/2014/09/30/the-top-5-super-robust-cases-for-your-iphone-6/#298180ca6b76 ) with whom you can reduce the sensitivity of those devices in the industrial appliance
· * The way of entering data and consuming the content on the Mobile App is different than on the classic Desktop computer. Mobile devices cannot entirely replace Desktop computers, especially considering the productivity of data entering. That means that the options and functions have to especially generated for a productive entering and reweaving of the data.
We’ve managed to build an Inventory app for SmartPhone that has a practical use.
The functionality of the app you can also verify on the desktop version, by going to the Mobile App feature from the Menu.
The application is divided into two parts: Inventory and Point of Sale.
Inventory
While designing, we were guided by the question ‘What does an Operator need while working with the Inventory? What is the best way to satisfy those needs with the help of a mobile device?’. The answers to those questions we have allocated in the main menu.
Item Look-up
The main requirements for an Operator working in the warehouse are to be able to check which items he has in stock, where they are located, what is the detailed description for an item, which are the available serial and lot numbers, to be able to check the expiration date and, if needed, adjust the quantity.
By activating the Item Look-Up option on the menu, we will open our stock list. The list is assorted according to the SKU numbers under the item name, while the quantity and barcode number are shown on the right side of the screen.
Further details of the items we can see by clicking on the arrow or on the facet of the item.
By pressing the button with the camera image, we are activating the option of scanning barcodes. This option supports most types of barcodes (including EAN, EAN13, UPC, QR Code). The camera is optically decoding the barcode.
In the warehouses, the lighting is usually weak, so you have the option to turn on the ‘Flashlight’ for the purpose of better scanning.
The speed of scanning with the SmartPhone camera depends on the device itself. Laser scanners are much faster, and in the market, you can easily find ‘Bluetooth’ laser scanners that can be connected to the SmartPhone.
The search is possible through the soft keyboard as well. When you click on the search field, the soft keyboard will appear and you will be able to enter data. By clicking on the ‘Enter’ or ‘Go’ option, the search will commence. If the data is not found, the field for entering will become red. This regime is used for the fast search, and if we have a ‘Bluetooth’ scanner device connected, the scanned data will be written here.
If we want to manage the search based on the beginning of the item name/description or a part of that description, we have to guide the search by using the filer option. We can do that by clicking on the barcode image in the upper right corner.
By entering the text using the soft keyboard the list is being filtered. All the parts of the search will be marked with the yellow color. By clicking on the item facet, we can open the details of that item.
The details of the item are showing us the basic information, the quantity in stock, the committed quantity, the available serial and lot numbers, as well as the images of the item. This application is designed for the stock manipulation, so it doesn’t show any prices.
If the restrictions (set up by the Admin) allow it, the ‘set quantity’ option will be enabled and it will be possible to adjust the quantity of the item in ERPAG according to the real physical count.
In our upcoming versions, we are planning to enable printing labels directly from the mobile application.
Receive
Receiving the items in stock is never easy, and we have encountered these types of cases more and more often:
· During the day, the couriers are delivering different packages at different times
· One courier service is delivering for multiple suppliers
· The items from one Purchase Order are delivered in multiple packages and from different cities
· Because of the DropShipping, the Supplier often remains unknown to us
· The labels on the packages are enabled to categorically mark the adequate Purchase Order, because the document labeled on the package is the Sales Order from the supplier and it is not entered in the system
· We can also find the items that we haven’t ordered in the delivered package
· The suppliers can deliver only a part of the items we ordered at the moment, and the rest of the items will be delivered later on
Considering this, we have designed the ‘RECEIVE’ option
When we activate this option from the main menu, we will open a list of items that we are expecting to arrive. The ’Open Purchase Order’ list is the equivalent of this list. The items on this list are grouped according to the Purchase Orders. And we can see the details for each Purchase Order by clicking on the ’collapse panel’ icon.
For each item that is being received, we have to confirm the quantity. That way, we will prevent the Operator from placing the items in stock without checking the quantities first. On the right corner of each facet on the screen, you will see the information of the received and of the required quantity (marked with the red rectangle in the screenshot above).
Packing – Sales Order
Usually, workers in the warehouses have only their phones on hand. Therefore we created the Packing option of input sales orders. The sales order must be entered into the system from the desktop computer, laptop or tablet, and it will automatically appear on the mobile app as well.
When you activate the option from the menu, you will see a list of all the items that are available for packing. The items are grouped by Sales Orders, and they are sorted according to the date when the Sales Orders were generated. Also, the first on the list are the Sales Orders that have ’Available quantity status, i.e. that are marked with the green color. The Sales Orders marked with the color yellow have a ’Partial Quantity’ status.
The ’Available Quantity’ status means that all the quantities on the Sales Orders are Reserved, so it is possible to pack them entirely. While the ’Partial Quantity’ status means that only a part of the items is reserved and ready for packing.
By scanning the barcode by camera or by using the manual search, you can will the quantity that you want to pack regardless to which Sales Order it belongs to. If the same item belongs to more than one Sales Order, the application will ask you to which Sales Order you want to assign it to. The search only affects the items that are reserved in the Sales Orders (i.e. the ‘Reserved Items’ report)
You can search the data through the ‘Filter’ option that is activated by clicking on the ‘Barcode’ icon in the upper left angle. That’s how you will change the way of searching through the data.
By clicking on the item, it is possible to manually add the quantity. In case that it is necessary to enter the serial and/or lot numbers for the item, then the entering process will adjust to that. The serial number we can scan with the camera, add it manually or choose it by clicking on the ‘Lupe’ icon.
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