Tolsa UK, part of the Madrid based Tolsa Group, which has a 37% market share in the manufacture and distribution of cat litter products, is successfully deploying an enterprise mobility solution from The Barcode Warehouse to improve customer service and to more accurately track goods from its manufacturing plant into, within and out of its warehouses.
Tolsa UK chose The Barcode Warehouse as its enterprise mobility solution provider because of its ability to offer a one-stop-shop solution: consultative services, project management, hardware expertise and the ability to install a wireless infrastructure as the backbone of the new solution.
"We needed to upgrade our existing warehouse and despatch process to an enterprise mobility solution to meet the increasing demand from our key customers across Europe, for Advanced Shipping Notification (ASN) via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)," explained Simon Pattison, Country Manager, Tolsa UK. "Our customers want an electronic record of exactly what will be delivered and when, an ASN provides this information."
In order to capture the data required to deliver ASNs for its customers, Tolsa needed to apply pallet labels on all of its manufactured goods which could be scanned as the pallets are despatched. The data held on the barcode i.e. order number, the product code, the quantity of pallets to be delivered and the time of the delivery, etc., is then used to generate the ASN.
"As well as improving our customer service by meeting requirements for advanced notice of pending deliveries from us, the data captured for an ASN can importantly be leveraged by Tolsa. The information will enable us to more effectively manage and balance our stock levels. We will be able to track goods as they move from our manufacturing plant to our warehouses in Lincolnshire," added Pattison.
One of the key decisions for Tolsa was the choice of mobile computer on which its in-house developed warehouse management system (WMS) software would run. The mobile device needed to have the functionality to capture the required shipment data for an ASN by scanning the unique barcode label on individual pallets and crucially, it had to be rugged enough to withstand Tolsa's rough warehouse environment.
Following recommendation from The Barcode Warehouse, Tolsa chose the Motorola MC9090-G rugged mobile computer running Windows Mobile 5.0, supported by a Motorola wireless infrastructure configured and integrated by The Barcode Warehouse.
Key factors in the choice of the MC9090-G was its long range scanning capability, which enables Tolsa's warehouse operatives to scan pallets on and off fork lift trucks, its easy integration with Tolsa's WMS solution and its low total cost of ownership (TCO) as a result of the comprehensive support and maintenance offered by Motorola and The Barcode Warehouse.
"The Barcode Warehouse has proved to be the right choice for Tolsa. It offered a high level of assistance during the selection of our enterprise mobility solution, supporting a trial with MC9090-G loan units, installed our wireless infrastructure which helped us to deploy the new solution very quickly and effectively, and its proximity to our warehouses is key for the support it offers," concluded Pattison. "The team at The Barcode Warehouse fully understand just how important it is that our warehouses operate at maximum capacity at all times."
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