Progressive Distributor - Warehouse on wheels

Warehouse on wheels

PDAs and wireless technology enabled this fluid power distributor to establish a cost-effective, mobile bin stocking system

by Rich Vurva

When national chains began encroaching on the John Henry Foster Company’s traditional sales territories, the fluid power distributor needed a way to fight back. Its solution was to equip vans with portable computers and wireless technology so drivers could perform vendor-managed inventory (VMI) services at customer locations.

The VMI program has paid off handsomely for this St. Louis-based distributor. What started with a single van has since expanded to four vans covering the St. Louis, Springfield, Columbia and Hannibal, Mo., areas. Each van carries about $15,000 to $20,000 in inventory, enough to enable drivers to re-stock commodities such as hose and fittings.

With two drivers in the field in 2004, the company sold more than $1.3 million in merchandise through the VMI vans. After adding two drivers in late 2005, the goal is to greatly increase that total.

“Our long-term goal is to have as many as eight of these trucks operating in our territory of Missouri and Southern Illinois,” says Chris Rutz, manager of information technology.

Drivers use a Symbol MC9000-K handheld computer with a built-in bar code scanner and a keypad to enter orders. The devices can operate in either online or offline mode.

In the online mode, they get real-time connectivity to the company’s TakeStock software system using a wireless modem from MultiTech Systems.

“Our PDA Field Sales module talks directly to the TakeStock backend. There’s no syncing of data and no delay,” says Danna Nelson, a product manager for Infor, the developer of TakeStock. The offline mode reads data from a partial database loaded on the Symbol device. Drivers use the offline setting when they’re in remote locations with no wireless capability.

“Three of the trucks are remote. They never come back here to our main office. We ship product to them once a week,” Rutz says. “We have a Wi-Fi router running in the truck with a desktop printer. When drivers get back to the truck, they can price an order and print the customer his ticket.”

The service provides the convenience of branches without the overhead. “And, we’re going to the customer with the product. It’s not like a service where distributors go out to the customer, figure out what’s needed, and bring it back to them the next time,” Rutz says.

TakeStock’s Management Alerts feature automatically triggers an alert when a driver submits an order. If he enters FAX2 in the notes field, it notifies a designated inside person to fax an order acknowledgement to the customer. If products came out of inventory held in the van, the system knows to replenish the inventory in the next weekly shipment.

“There’s no re-keying of data needed. It’s a tremendous time saver,” Rutz says.

If a customer requires a product that’s not in the truck, the driver enters the order as a backorder and the warehouse either includes it in the next weekly delivery or drop-ships it to the customer. The system also automatically notifies someone to process the invoice, which speeds the billing process.

From laptops to PDAs
When John Henry Foster put its first VMI vehicle in the field, the driver used a laptop computer to enter orders and check pricing for customers. That was less than an ideal solution because the laptop didn’t provide real-time access to the TakeStock Field Sales system. A custom-designed software module provided customer pricing and inventory visibility, but the driver downloaded the data only once a week, so it didn’t reflect the most up-to-date information.

Rutz then tested another PDA model but discovered the units weren’t built to handle everyday use in an industrial setting. If dropped, the cases tended to crack. He also learned that transmitting data via cellular technology took too long, and cell connections were unreliable in rural areas. Drivers also had to frequently reboot the PDA after printing documents. He says the Symbol mobile handheld devices proved to be more durable and user friendly than other models he tested.

He eventually purchased the MultiTech wireless cell modem to connect to the Internet via a Wi-Fi router set up within the vans. This configuration transmits data up to three times faster than ordinary mobile phone networks. The external device has a larger antenna than the PDA, so it offers a stronger and more reliable signal, and is more user friendly. “My guys aren’t technical, so I need to make sure it’s as user friendly as possible. There’s no IT person in the truck,” Rutz says.

The cost for the hardware, a printer and an external wireless modem is about $3,000 per vehicle. In addition, Rutz invested about $1,200 in a high-quality power converter that powers the Wi-Fi router, the modem and the printer. The PDAs are powered by their own battery packs that drivers recharge at home each night.

“The only time we’ve run into problems is when it’s really cold outside. The inkjet printers tend to gel up when it gets below zero. Once the truck is warmed up, it works fine,” he says.

Rutz says the wireless mobile technology has enabled John Henry Foster Company to provide a service that competitors don’t offer.

“Customers love having real-time inventory counts and pricing. With this service, we are giving our customers something they cannot get from our competition,” Rutz says.

Nelson adds that John Henry Foster tends to be on the cutting edge of technology. “They’re looking for ways to leverage technology to make their distribution business better. We enjoy working with distributors like them,” she says.