IDEA: Using barcode scanners

[jmiranda]

Conversation with Gustavo @gus-diaz

(01:44:15) 
Justin Miranda: how are you planning to use the barcode scanner?

(01:44:51) 
Gustavo Diaz: direct connection to a tablet PC....

(01:44:52) 
Justin Miranda: i want to build some barcode specific UIs but don't have any requirements

(01:45:06) 
Justin Miranda: oh i meant how do you plan on using it in OB

(01:46:05) 
Gustavo Diaz: Yeah

(01:46:32) 
Gustavo Diaz: For now... I was thinking of using it to key in UPC codes

(01:46:37) 
Justin Miranda: what features existing (or new) would you like to be barcode-enabled?

(01:46:40) 
Gustavo Diaz: instead of manually typing them in

(01:46:50) 
Justin Miranda: ok, that should work as is

(01:47:07) 
Gustavo Diaz: Not sure if count feature will work

(01:47:12) 
Justin Miranda: but there are definitely some feature we could build around picking and putaway that would benefit from barcoding

(01:47:16) 
Gustavo Diaz: but plan to test it later today

(01:47:29) 
Justin Miranda: it probably won't work well

(01:47:44) 
Justin Miranda: i.e. it won't do what it should

(01:48:04) 
Justin Miranda: like pop up a window to ask how many of product X lot Y you have

(01:48:13) 
Justin Miranda: or increment the count for that item

(01:48:30) 
Gustavo Diaz: Yes.

(01:48:32) 
Justin Miranda: but we can build that in if you tell me how you'd like it to work

(01:52:03) 
Gustavo Diaz: Sure!

(01:52:43) 
Gustavo Diaz: I have an idea of how we had it working at the Flower Export Company I worked for prior to this

(01:53:24) 
Gustavo Diaz: I forget the program we used.... probably custom built

(01:53:52) 
Gustavo Diaz: But it was a popup box that had like 2-3 fields

(01:54:40) 
Gustavo Diaz: UPC Barcode, Product Name (for verification), and quantity...

(01:54:52) 
Gustavo Diaz: actually 4 boxes

(01:55:25) 
Gustavo Diaz: lol... where it was going (ie: in or out of cooler)

(01:55:47) 
Justin Miranda: yeah, i could see two barcodes being used there

(01:55:57) 
Justin Miranda: one for the item, one for the location

(01:56:21) 
Justin Miranda: that seems pretty simple

(01:56:53) 
Gustavo Diaz: When you scanned it would start a count, and it would keep that UPC in memory until a new one was scanned... and it would ask you if you were done with the previous UPC before saving and moving on to the next one

(01:59:37) 
Gustavo Diaz: so say you scanned 20 boxes of UPC 791583136612 and then by accident your barcode scanner reads the last label wrong because it's partially covered up or the scanner picked it up wrong.... you'd get a prompt!

(02:00:02) 
Gustavo Diaz: that way you could either start a new count

(02:00:10) 
Gustavo Diaz: or pickup where it left off

(02:00:39) 
Justin Miranda: you could also have a control sheet that contained instructions to go to the next item, delete the last item, etc

(02:01:09) 
Justin Miranda: so you could do all interactions using the barcode scanner

(02:01:28) 
Gustavo Diaz: :) Sounds good

(02:02:25) 
Justin Miranda: alright cool, i'll add this to a ticket when i get a chance

More from @gus-diaz

Here's what I've come up with so far as to what uses and fuctions we could implement for barcode support.
A good area of use apart for simple entry would be for stock picking, whereby the SO serves as the Picksheet and the Column 'Qty Packed' would indicate what was shipped, thus creating a seperate SO with items on Backorder.

CREATE INVENTORY ENTRY

• Display a dialog box requiring the user to input Location(s) [From/To], Item [Input Field or Dropdown List] and UPC Scan option, and Qty.
• Additional fields can include Lot Number, Notes (incase merchandise is receivced damaged, is set to expire soon, etc...), etc...

UPC Scan

• Scan a product barcode - quantity is increased.
• Moreover, products scanned which are not stored in the database will cause a prompt to appear asking the user if they wish to create a new product.

Create Lot (ie: Scan a lot and update qty manually)

• Displays a dialog box with two fields: Lot Scan and Lot Qty.
• Lot Scan allows you to type or scan lot serial numbers. Lot Qty allows barcode/popup keypad entry.