ITPS implements automated material identification systems to simplify and automate warehouse logistics based on SAP.
Benefits of automated materials identification:
Increased share of information, entered in real time.
Decrease in inventory auditing time.
Decrease in data entry costs.
Fewer errors relating to order selection and shipping of materials.
Increased material processing productivity.
Using barcodes/supplier tags can significantly reduce time spent labelling goods.
ITPS uses 2 solutions for automatic identification:
Bar-coding
Bar-coding is used for labelling fast-moving materials/stock units. Bar codes are applied to paper, synthetic, thermo-transfer or thermo labels.
RFID tags
RFID tags are used for labelling long-term storage materials or other special types of materials.
Advantages of RFID tags as compared to bar codes:
One can add data to an identification tag.
A tag can contain much more data.
Data is added to a tag much faster.
Tag data can be made confidential.
Radio-frequency tags are more durable.
Location of tags does not matter for a reader.
A tag is better protected against environmental factors.
One of the components of the automated materials identification system is a mobile application developed by ITPS based on SAP Syclo.
Described below is the process of reading bar codes or RFID tags:
User logs into a mobile data collection terminal (if the system is protected with a password).
User enters his/her credentials for SAP ERP production system into the SAP Syclo mobile application.
Agentry server creates a unique session for each user and sends the data (login/password) to SAP ERP, which validates the credentials.
Once a user is successfully authorized, he/she can start working via the application within the created session.
Automation of warehouse logistics solves the following problems:
Delays in products being delivered from suppliers and shipment of products to customers, a high level of errors when it comes to order selection, including material mis-categorization, shortages or surpluses.
Lack of accurate information on the status of stocks, including available stocks, expiry dates, lot nos., etc. This results in the inability to take correct and well-reasoned management decisions.
Heavy reliance on personnel. Only experienced stock keepers are sufficiently knowledgeable about goods and their location at a warehouse, therefore when they leave the company, this can cause a disruption to the normal workflow.
Costly and inefficient processes for stock status monitoring. To check the current status of stock, assess losses and mis-categorization, a cumbersome total inventory audit must be performed, which requires suspension of current operations.
Very long stock list. Difficult to identify each material at warehouse facility.
Paper warehouse accounting. First, information on material flows at a warehouse is written down on paper and then transferred manually to the accounting system (i.e. duplicate accounting processes).