Special Applications

Some projects have a uniqueness to them which involves incorporating a new piece of hardware into the project. These are some of the special things I've done for my customers over the years.

Programmed Intermec® hand-held scanners for order picking and real-time inventory control. Orders were printed on plain-paper in remote warehouse location. The warehouse personnel would key the order number into the hand-held scanner, find the desired inventory, scan a barcode label on the case and stage the inventory for shipping. The completed 'pick' of the inventory was uploaded to the server, where it was immediately checked (by software, not human operators) for accuracy that the right product and quantity was pulled from inventory. Weights were automatically tallied for subsequent printing of a Bill of Lading.

Programmed the same Intermec® hand-held scanners to take a physical inventory of the warehouse inventory. Again, for real-time inventory control. The warehouse personnel would key the inventory 'type' of product, and then scan a barcode label on each case in that same inventory row. The completed count of the inventory was uploaded to the server where it was stored in a 'new count' file that was then compared against the computer's inventory list and differences reconciled.

Programmed Intermec® fixed scanners for production control and real-time inventory control. This project was in an extremely dusty production environment, and no keyboard was available. All data entry was accomplished with barcode scans. However, this number of scans was limited. As inventory was packed into cases, the production personnel would scan a code from a pre-printed sheet described the product that was in the case being packed. They would then scan 2 digits indicating the quantity going into the case. At this point they would press a 'transmit' button on the electronic scale head to read in the weight of the case being packed. As a failsafe, the production personnel could scan 3 digits using their pre-printed sheets to enter the weight. Their final scan was a code indicating who recorded the packaging info. At this point, a label was printed for attachment to the case being packed, and the inventory information was uploaded to the server where it was added to the inventory database and instantly available for shipping.

As mentioned in the project above, accepted weight data strings from a Toledo® electronic scale head.

Printed plant tags on a Data South® barcode ready, dot-matrix printer. The plant tags were flexible and had a locking tab at one end. Inventory descriptions, price and UPC were printed on the tags directly from inventory maintenance. The operator simply picked the inventory item, entered a quantity of tags to print and pressed a key on the keyboard. These tags would wrap around a tree branch, or small trunk. The ink was permanent and the tags were plastic so that both could withstand being outdoors in the nursery section of this retailer.

Printed plant spikes on a wide-throat TEC® thermal transfer printer. The plant spikes were rigid and could be inserted in the soil of a potted plant. The inventory descriptions, price and UPC were printed on the tags directly from inventory maintenance. The operator simply picked the inventory item, entered a quantity of tags to print and pressed a key on the keyboard. As these spikes were going to be used outdoors, they were a heavy white plastic (scored for snapping apart), and the ink was transferred by heat to the spike during the printing process. This created a lasting product that could withstand rain, as well as, intense UV and sunshine for months without fading.

Printed seed tags, inventory shelf labels, inventory price tags on thermal transfer printers from various manufacturers - Intermec®, Zebra®, Prodigy®, Datamax®, Sato®, etc.

Printed customer ID cards with barcode on reverse. Cards were paper stock (due to cost savings to customer). The cards were then laminated and used by shoppers on their return trips to the store(s). My customer had 3 stores in different cities which were networked together.

Modified a customer and inventory management application to be used in a retail environment by adding interfaces to scan UPC's with Symbol® laser scanners, display inventory descriptions, quantity and price on Logic Controls® 2-line pole displays, open Indiana® cash drawers on appropriate transactions, and print receipts on Ithaca® POS receipt printers.

Programmed hand-held Psion® scanners for remote order entry by salesman. Salesman scanned customer number, and inventory numbers from the printed lists (see below). The orders would subsequently be uploaded via modem after the salesman left the customer's office.

Printed salesman's customer list and inventory catalog with barcode image and quantity available on a Printronix® 600 lines-per-mintue, dot-matrix printer with Independent Graphics Programming option. It's still thrilling to me to watch this printer produce barcodes at such high speeds with all the other text data that's included on the report! Amazing.

Programmed hand-held Psion® scanners for inventory counting. This different inventory physical count application allowed for entering or scanning the inventory number, keying the quantity located in the bin, as well as, the count tag number. All information was uploaded to the server which offered various reports to assist in reconciling the physical count. An operator-initiated update would change the computer's inventory quantity to the physical count quantity and record the differences on the inventory records, as well as, post variances to the general ledger.