Inventory Management is as Easy as ADC for Wood Flooring Company
April 12, 2011 Alex Woodie
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When Robbins decided to upgrade from BPCS to ERP LX version 8 in the early 2000s, the wood flooring company faced some challenges relating to its barcode system. Part of the solution was to install the automated data collection (ADC) solution from OrbeSoft, which enabled Robbins to keep business logic within its Infor ERP system. Today, Robbins has widened its use of the Orbesoft software to include almost all inventory transactions, the software vendor announced yesterday. OrbeSoft is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based developer of ADC products that integrate with a wide range of IBM i-based ERP systems, including BPCS, ERP LX, SAP, JD Edwards, PRMS, and others. The company says that, by simply passing data between the data collection terminal (barcode reader) and the ERP system, it eliminates the need to duplicate logic, such as error-checking and message management. According to a case study published by Orbesoft, Robbins, a Cincinnati, Ohio-based supplier of maple and synthetic sports-flooring systems, decided to standardize its barcode system on the OrbeSoft suite software nearly eight years ago, during an upgrade to ERP LX version 8.3. One of the key factors going into the decision was the level of independence that the OrbeSoft suite provided. “The benefit I’ve seen to OrbeSoft LX barcoding is that you’re using the ERP logic, not an external RPG that relies on its own logic,” Chuck Fieger, Robbins’ business systems analyst, says in the case study. “Another advantage to using the ERP system’s logic,” added Tony Kleier, Robbins’ IT manager, “is that if Infor were to make a program enhancement, add a new edit check, or change the specs of how a process works, it is seamlessly applied to the Orbesoft application without having to duplicate the logic.” While OrbeSoft was first brought in to handle barcoding, it’s now being used for a lot more. According to OrbeSoft’s case study, Robbins uses the software to manage almost every transaction in its supply chain, including: inventory lookup, pallet- and container-level inventory tracking, shop floor control, shop order creation and reporting, production receipts, shipping, purchasing order receipt, interplant receiving, consignment inventory, inventory transfers, physical inventory, outside operations with invoice entry, and cost roll-up. The complete case study can be read at www.orbesoft.com.
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