stock & products

overview | features & benefits | optional modules

Optional Modules

 

Stock Take

The optional stock take module speeds up the process of stocktaking, reducing the need for recounts or expensive closures.  Stocktaking can be further improved with the use of handheld terminals such as the Paxar.

• Full or Ad-hoc stock counts – Choose whether to freeze all the stock, a single location, of just count individual products.
  
  
• Count by location – Products can be arranged into locations.  The system will print off stock take sheets by location.  The user is notified if a product is held in more than one location.
  
  
• Continue trading as soon as count is done – Once the counting is finish the business can start to trade again.  The system will account for any receipts and despatches made after the count as part of its stock adjustment.
  
  
• Barcode products and pack counting – Products and packs with barcode labels can be quickly and accurately counted using a handheld terminal.

 

Paxar Handheld Terminal

The ‘Paxar Monarch Pathfinder Ultra Gold’ is a mobile barcode scanner/printer that is fully integrated with the STRIP5 system, and can be used everywhere about the business, from price checking to raising purchase orders in the yard.

Paxar Handheld Features and Benefits

• Product Check and Labelling – The Paxar can read suppliers’ barcodes and create in-house labels for all products, whether timber or builder’s materials, with labels carrying a barcode, description, price and STRIP5 product codes.  Different label types include Shelf-Edge, Swinger type, and individual items, with variable formatting for each.  Internal barcodes can also carry spec length information for timber products.
  
  
• Price Checking – Reading a barcode will check the current price displayed; you can easily reproduce the label if it is worn or out-of-date.  Special markdown pricing can also be introduced easily, with barcodes carrying a ‘special’ price.
  
  
• Price Updating – As it is a legal requirement to sell goods at the price offered on the label, the Price Update job is vital to maintain those prices in line with the system.  The Paxar will show a list of products with prices that are new that day, including their location.  It will print updated labels, and then remove that product from the Price Update list.
  
  
• Replenishment – The Paxar unit can be used to review and re-order products by reading the shelf labels in turn.  If the Paxar is used in conjunction with the Stock Control Module, a Suggested Re-order Quantity will appear.  The main system will sort the re-order information by supplier, and raise the appropriate Purchase Orders on the next upload.
  
  
• Goods Receipt – An invaluable receipt tool, the Paxar will check goods received against Purchase orders, record quantity received, and produce new barcodes for any unlabelled goods.  It will then update stock control with the new stock.
  
  
• Stock take - In combination with the Stocktaking module, the Paxar can be used for quick stock counting.  Use barcodes to identify products, enter count (and location), and this information will be fed into the ‘Input Count’ job in STRIP5.
  
  
• Location Control – Tighter stock control can be achieved by knowing not just how much stock is available, but also where in the branch it is.  Labels produced by the Paxar can hold a 5-character location code for each product.  During goods receipt or stock count, the specific location (down to shelf section) can be assigned and recorded in the main STRIP5 database.

 

Production Scheduling

The Production Control Module is designed to aid the planning and monitoring of production.  It answers the questions, ‘When can we make this by?’ ‘What will be
late if we do it this way?’ and ‘How long did it really take?’

The module achieves this by providing daily schedules, job cards and analyses of performance.  It integrates with the order stages of the STRIP5 system, extracting information for planning and mill scheduling.  It then maintains a record of work-in-progress for each job as it moves from stage to stage.

Features & Benefits Production Control

• Improve Mill Machinery Capacity – Building on the experience of the Mill Manager, Production Control produces an optimal schedule of the current milling requirement.  The Mill Manager can then amend this to get the best real world schedule.
  
  
• Fully Integrated – Orders with milling requirements are imported into Production Control, and the status of order lines can be viewed from the trading system.
  
  
• Job Routing – The production planning software decides which processes and machines will be required for each job.
  
  
• Scheduling – The Production Scheduling analyses the optimum schedule based on the last start time for a job based on its desired delivery time and grouping jobs for reduced set-up times.  The Mill Manager then has the opportunity for dynamic manual amendment to increase efficiency.
  
  
• Committing – The process of freezing the plan for the next few hours production.  This produces the job cards showing a job, or group of jobs to be done together.
  
  
• Recording & Completion – Input of actual times, operatives, reasons for delay etc.
  
  
• Improved Mill Information – The Mill manager benefits from the system giving a good starting position, showing machine capacity and warning of any potential late deliveries.
  
  
• Improved Customer Service – The Sales team can see exactly when orders will be processed and give customer advanced notice of any potential late deliveries.
  
  
• Accurate costing – The cost of production will give an accurate material cost value against an order, improving margin accuracy.
  
  
• Management Control – Greater information is available for management analysis of the mill overhead and guiding potential investment in machinery.