Construction Management: Job Site Inventory
Scan Again, Inc. is a North American service provider for handheld devices, laser scanners and POS peripherals. They sell new and refurbished equipment from all major brands including Motorola, Telxon, Norand, Intermec, Metrologic, IBM, NCR, and Verifone.
Problem:
Scan Again’s customer, an international building contractor and construction management company, demanded tight control of inventory. Steel towers for high-voltage power lines are manufactured half a world away, and tracking them to their proper destination is critical. And when the job site is 200 miles long, it’s difficult to consolidate information from hundreds of locations.
Solution:
Scan Again turned to Purple Oak to provide Sa solution to identify and track inventory. A labeling system prints unique bar code tags, which are affixed to the steel components before they leave India. At the U.S. port, TDS Ranger mobile computers (selected for their durability) are used for receiving.
As the steel is transported by rail to job sites, the same mobile computers record drop coordinates, so inventory can be easily located. Construction managers can even perform quality checks in the field.
Custom-built laptop software pulls data from the mobile computers and automatically transmits to headquarters, where the central inventory database is updated.
FELIX laptop software pulls data from the mobile computers and automatically transmits to headquarters where the central database is updated.
Success:
- Scan Again was able to provide a complete solution at an attractive margin.
- The building contractor has accurate inventory information at their fingertips.
- Scan Again earns repeat business from their customer.
- Purple Oak provides technical support and assistance on behalf of Scan Again.
