THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER�

COMPSEE Application Stories

THE GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER…..

How Snapper, world-renowned manufacturer of lawncare products, developed an effective way to manage its warehouses.

As producer of premium-quality lawnmowers, Snapper has enjoyed more than four decades of success. Several years ago, Snapper began using bar code scanning at its main distribution center to track products for its manufacturing resource planning system. The large domestic and international manufacturer, however, wasn't using the technology to manage its wide network of warehouses shipping to nearly 7,000 dealers across the globe. Nor were those dealers utilizing the technology.

Because Snapper produces more than 50 models of walking mowers, riding mowers, lawn tractors, garden tillers and snow throwers, in addition to a professional line of lawncare products, it was essential to know which specific product went where. For the most part, Snapper's warehouses started out with no automated inventory tracking systems and no connection to the AS/400-based MAC-PAC system located at Snapper headquarters. The MAC/PAC is mainly a manufacturing resource planning package.

Snapper wasn't satisfied with this. It wanted to have a 100% accurate inventory control system. "With the old, manual method, inventory control was erratic at best. Now, Snapper is able to keep a very accurate track on our investment in the field. Inventory problem turn-around and resolution happens in a very short time now," says Donald Brennan, senior systems analyst for Snapper.

Early Efforts

Brennan, who works primarily in new systems development, has a front-seat perspective on the company's IS evolution. "We first used bar codes and Mars MEQ scanners from Compsee in the distribution process around 1990," says Brennan. "However, bar code scanning was limited to our main distribution center in McDonough, GA, on the shipping dock. When finished products came off the line they were boxed or crated, and then manually labeled with a 14-digit bar-coded part/serial number in Code 128." Brennan further explains how the product was then scanned at shipping, primarily with the intention of changing its location status in the MAC-PAC system. "Distributors could scan the bar code or not. I don't recall many locations actually doing that, he adds.

Using a two-step distribution process, the company first stores the product in remote warehouses, giving Snapper the ability to fulfill dealer orders. In the early '90s, however, Snapper realized it needed to get an accurate handle on its warehouse inventory reporting. "I wanted a low-cost automated system from receiving to shipping, one easy to deploy and maintain, easy to use, and could handle and transmit data accurately," Brennan says. He actually designed and wrote the PC-based system himself which he calls the Remote Warehouse Tracking System (RWTS).

Brennan looked at several different hardware vendors and chose Mars MEQ 430 scanners, along with the program generator and MEQ 1260 optical (infrared) communication nodes.

"We had a lot of success with the scanners, especially in hostile environmental conditions," Brennan explains. "Some of our warehouses are in the far north and, in Minnesota, for example, temperatures can fall to 40 degrees below zero." Brennan recalls calling the warehouse in Minnesota when people were on the docks using the scanners without any problems-other than frostbitten fingers.

In addition, high G-force impacts are an almost daily occurrence in a warehouse situation. "I've seen them accidentally dropped, kicked and begin scanning without any problems," Brennan adds.

Also, it was important that the scanner software be compatible with the RWTS system Brennan was in the process of developing. "Compsee's scanners can write directly to a .DBF (dBase) style of file and the program generator for the scanner/terminals uses an easy-to-use hybrid BASIC."

A year ago April, Brennan rolled out his RWTS system in beta test at Snapper's Tennessee warehouse near Nashville. Brennan designed and implemented the RWTS system in a 486 PC clone. "When I developed the system," he explains, "I wanted a plain vanilla PC platform so it wouldn't be hardware specific and (would be) inexpensive. If a PC goes down out there, it must be replaced and the warehouse fully back online within 24 hours." Currently there are seven implementations of the system, with more planned.

Daily operation

How the system works:

Bar code labels are manually affixed on packing crates at the point of manufacture just as they were in 1990, thereby encoding the 14-digit part/serial number primarily in Code 128. Some product lines use Code 39. The scanning terminals have been programmed to autodiscriminate between them. The bar code labels are printed on TEC, Wallace Computer and Zebra Technologies thermal-transfer printers. Typically, Snapper uses Wallace label stock in various sizes.
At the warehouse's receiving dock, the operator takes the scanning terminal and selects Receive Mode on its keypad. The bar-coded part /serial numbers are scanned on the entire incoming load of products. Afterward, the operator selects the Download Scanner option on the PC-based RWTS and places the scanner/terminal into its communication node. The data is transferred optically from the terminal to the node which is wired to the serial port of the PC. The system then compares the downloaded data with the existing live inventory database to look for duplicate scans. If a duplicate scan is detected, an error report is printed immediately. Otherwise,
The system indicates that the new inventory data was accepted.

Shipping orders

The above also applies to shipping orders:

The operator sets the scanner/terminal to Ship Mode, keys or scans in the order number and release number for the shipment (a MAC-PAC-dictated procedure) and scans all product bar codes in the staged load. After scanning ,the operator downloads the data to the PC.
The data is compared to the existing inventory. Errors are automatically reported on a line-item printout.
A packing list is printed out on a dot-matrix printer to accompany the shipment. Warehouse personnel may view the active inventory database, and have the option of a limited-edit feature. Inventory data may also be printed for warehouse inventory cycle counts.

As far as daily operation goes, scanning and correction of errors in shipping and receiving are all the warehouse personnel have to worry about," says Brennan. The final portion of the operation takes place without any user intervention at all.

Nighttime

At night, the RWTS at each warehouse creates transaction files of the day's activities, a duplicate file of the main inventory database for backup and an error-tracking file. The system automatically transfers this data, via modem, to what Snapper calls the LOCAL system, which is a 486PC at headquarters. The 486PC accepts the RWTS data, reformats it for the AS/400, and sends it up to the MAC-PAC system. The data is then used for such functions as invoicing, order closure and error checking.

Benefits meets expectations

Reliability and robustness-The RWTS system has met Brennan's goal for quickness and reliability. "It's easy to use, menu driven and requires minimal user intervention," he explains. "The communications node also cycles the scanner's NiMH batteries. This feature, as well as others, make it sensible to use this technology at sites that are, in some cases, thousands of miles away from help and the system is also robust in its ability to grow and change as needed. It's a very open-ended architecture.

In the interest of internal reliability, the RWTS is designed with goal-oriented programming. "If there is any failure in communication," Brennan explains, "the system automatically notifies the warehouse and continues to attempt connection to Snapper at regular intervals, while at the same time logging the type and nature of the error it is detecting for troubleshooting purposes." Brennan also customized the scanning terminals for enhanced error checking. Bar-coded numbers must be in the proper format and sequence and the software won't accept duplicate scans for either shipping or receiving.

Cost-The system's relatively low cost was an important selling point. "Whenever I contact vendors to purchase hardware or software," says Brennan, "I let them do a lot of talking about their products to see if the sales people really understand the capabilities of their products and my needs. Compsee was able to do that better than the competition. The equipment's not expensive to begin with, and since they know I don't want anything that would paint us into a corner technologically, they made me feel comfortable with our plans to purchase more equipment as our system develops.

In terms of cost savings, Snapper saw immediate returns in its ability to track and account for misplaced inventory.

Impact on day-to-day operations- "First of all, the Remote Warehousing Tracking system gives us the ability to keep accurate inventory at the warehouse sites. They now have real-time inventory information on hand. There is no lag time because the inventory database is updated with each scan that takes place, either at receiving or at shipping. When the scanners are downloaded, error checking identifies and reports any discrepancies, so the warehouse personnel can correct the problem on location. Brennan adds, "The system has almost nullified errors that were caused by manually recording receipt and shipping information.

Future possibilities

Snapper isn't yet bar coding locations for putaway, but, according to Brennan, "We're looking at it as well as EDI in terms of future possibilities in the cycle….We are aggressively pursuing new paradigms in data and communications, so stay tuned!"

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