Streamlining the Process

"STREAMLINING THE PROCESS"

Order verification, shipping compliance, and Y2K fixes were what Plaid Clothing needed at its Erlanger, KY facility. Not only did the company get them, the solutions were up and running in less than eight weeks. For ScanData Systems, this installation was once of a series of quick turnkey shipping compliance implementations.

But how do you match and even exceed these ever increasing demands and challenges in your everyday operation? How do you ensure that your customer's order of anything--from a prescription where an error can mean death to a blue dress for that very special occasion--doesn't become a customer service nightmare for you and a nightmarish experience for your customer? And how do you do all of that while at the same time adhering to the complexities of both operational execution and carrier compliant requirements?

ScanData's president, John Dalton, attributes the quick project installations to a number of factors. He noted a combined drive and focus of the Plaid and ScanData project teams, as well as the efforts his company has made to standardize and make more configurable its Shipping Automation and Manifesting System (SAMS) product in the shipping and packing compliance areas as a key to the solution's success. Dalton adds that ScanData's marked corporate effort to streamline and formalize project implementation methodologies was also very beneficial.

"Because of the speed at which companies are moving their products to Internet-based merchandising, software implementations that support fulfillment and distribution are being driven to shorter and shorter project implementation periods," comments Dalton. "In order to meet this need, we have focused company efforts on creating a product specifically built for quick installations which meets the compliance and fulfillment needs of 'brick and mortar' companies moving to e-commerce and the traditional retail suppliers like Plaid."

The Windows-based system installed for Plaid Clothing involved a series of packing stations designed to use barcodes to verify order content as items are packed into containers and labeled for shipment. The system allows for multi-package orders and waits until packing is finished before noting variances, producing reports and generating labels and paperwork.

After goods have been picked, the Pack Verification view of SmartPac verifies orders (by item, kit, and case) by using barcodes and then automatically creates and packs cartons. Its functionality allows operators to select package/ order information using a scanner, capture package attributes and verify package/ order contents. Furthermore, Pack Verification can generate packing lists and print industry-compliant shipping labels.

Once items are packed into containers, they are transferred to scanning and loading stations where they are assigned to trailers for outbound shipment.

ScanData's SAMS product supports compliance requirements for major parcel carriers including United Parcel Service (UPS), United States Postal Service (USPS), Airborne, Federal Express, as well as common carrier bill of lading generation. In addition, it supports compliant labeling needs for major retailers. The product has been implemented as an e-commerce fulfillment solution for companies like drugstore.com and at Eckerd Corporation's internet fulfillment center.

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