Crimson Press - Physical Inventories
August 27, 2004

The Crimson WMS now takes the brunt out of physical inventories with new tools to administer them online.

With these features, you can:

• Collect physical inventory data at a workstation or with wireless Pocket PC devices.

• Start reconciling discrepancies immediately once the data collection begins.

• Issue recounts on the system for data collection personnel to process.

• Monitor real-time stats, like percentage completion and variances.

• View inventory records with no corresponding physical count.  Have you ever done this on paper?

• View records with a particular type of Discrepancy, Not Reconciled, or Recounts

• Filter the results on values in 12 system fields, such as Building, Zone, Customer, Vendor, and etc.

In the Reconciliation detail screen, discrepancies between physical and system values are clearly shown in Red.  From here, you can update the information, or click 'Adjust' to have the system automatically set up the Adjust form with the appropriate values.

You can choose to Recount or Reconcile whole groups of records, so you don't have to deal with each individually.  When viewing 'Not Counted' inventory records, you can choose to record recounts for them, directing personnel to check the Locations for the missing Items.

While it is usually less complicated to stop an operation for a physical inventory, taking the process online can allow for continued activity.  When a count is performed, the physical values are checked against current system values; if they all match, the record is marked as reconciled automatically.  If something has moved, the quantities may differ, but the reconciliation personnel will have the information resources to determine this and make the appropriate adjustments to reconcile the count.

Don't be worried about personnel accessing the system during the inventory.  Simply make a security profile that only allows physical inventory data entry and temporarily assign it to the people who will be counting.  They will be blocked from performing corrections or viewing system data, ensuring the integrity of the process.

You never know, Physical Inventories might be a little bit of fun with these tools, just a little?  :-)