American Mills Success Story

The Problem

American Mills, a privately owned manufacturer of pillows, table linens, quilts, comforters and home textile products for major retail stores and gift shops throughout the United States, was recently looking to automate their inventory management of raw materials as well as track those materials throughout the manufacturing process. With approximately 500 employees in the Southeastern United States, and an IBM AS400 (iSeries) backbone system, American Mills decided to look for a systems integrator who could handle the challenge. After comprehensive Internet research, they contacted Barcoding Inc.

The Solution

Barcoding studied American Mills' operations, and accessed current practices and requirements. The recommendations included deploying PSC Falcon 345 wireless, DOS-based terminals, and expanding the existing Cisco wireless network. Available in multiple keypad configurations, including one specifically designed for 5250 terminal emulation, the PSC Falcon 345 is a fast, lightweight, reliable data collection device that provides hours of non-stop scanning and functionality.

American Mills utilized their own software programmers to develop inventory applications using RPG400 language. Using Stay-Linked software provided by Barcoding, American Mills was easily able to emulate those applications on PSC terminals. Stay-Linked allows wireless terminals to emulate PC-based applications, allowing a user enter and view information in real-time, without having to install software packages on each device. With Stay-Linked, network administrators can easily manage all of their wireless terminals from one central location.

The Results

Taking only six weeks from the initial visit to complete installation, Barcoding helped American Mills implement a complete terminal emulation system. American Mills investment in their existing IT assets was protected with a strategy that allowed legacy inventory applications to run on new handheld devices.

“We sell, import, warehouse, manufacture, pick, pack, and ship a great many SKU’s. Our entire facility is treated as a virtual warehouse as raw materials, WIP, and finished goods move from receiving to warehousing to manufacturing to picking to shipping and on to trucks. In our efforts to minimize inventories and labor, historical information is of little use to us. Through the use of wireless scanning systems, we know the exact quantities and locations of raw materials, WIP, and finished goods, what orders have been loaded for shipment and onto what trailers. As orders are received electronically throughout the day, these wireless systems provide us the real time information with which to plan and execute purchasing, manufacturing, and shipping in a profitable manner.”

“I’ve been in this business for over 20 years, and this is by far the easiest implementation I have ever experienced.”

Larry Scott
Senior Vice President of Finance and Information Systems
American Mills

To learn more, please contact Barcoding Inc.

For Further Information

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