Case Studies

Barcoding Inc. provides complete automatic data collection systems for business and government operations. These case studies are just a few examples of how barcode, RFID and wireless technologies can improve efficiency and provide better information to workers and managers.

Case Studies

• Georgia Boll Weevil Eradication With CaptureSoft eXpress
• McNeilus Steel upgrades process to improve efficiency
• Telecom Bermuda utilizes RFID to track materials in transit
• Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT RFID Check In / Check Out
• Powers Fasteners Upgrades their Warehouse
• JJ Taylor Upgrades their Route Accounting Solution
• Northwest Georgia Medical Group Keeps Inventory in Check
• New England Motor Freight Upgrades Their Route Accounting Solution
• Gulf Coast Outpatient Surgery Center Keeps Tabs on Their Stockroom
• Fujifilm Deploys Custom Software to Aid Workers Manufacturing Film
• Baker & Taylor Tracks In-Store Inventory of Movie and Music Recordings
• American Mills Uses Terminal Emulation to Automate Inventory Management
• London Fog Stays in the Forefront of Fashion with New Wireless and Mobile Systems

Georgia Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation

The Boll Weevil Eradication Foundation of Georgia Inc. was formed to eradicate the Boll Weevil in Georgia and prevent cotton crop losses. In an attempt to destroy Boll Weevils, the Foundation sets traps in cotton fields spread out over a wide geographic area, which presents a tracking issue. The foundation needed a way to more easily locate each trap to record the accuracy of the monitoring program. If a reinfestation were to occur, the system can map locations showing trends in boll weevil activity. Their existing scanner system did not provide a GPS location element.

Read the full Boll Weevil Eradication Case Study

McNeilus Steel upgrades process to improve efficiency

Rugged, sturdy, high-quality steel is the expectation of every customer at McNeilus Steel, Inc., a sixty-year-old steel fabricator and distributor in Dodge Center, Minn., and Fargo, ND. And in turn, McNeilus Steel expects quality and durability from the equipment and services it uses to keep those shipments moving.

So as McNeilus was preparing to upgrade its warehouse processes to improve order accuracy and inventory visibility, they employed the help of Barcoding Inc., a Solutions Integrator based in Baltimore, MD. Barcoding offers deep expertise and experience in providing complete automated data collection solutions, including hardware, software, integration and support.

Read the full McNeilus Case Study

Telecom Bermuda utilizes RFID to track materials in transit

Telecom Bermuda provides world-class telecommunications services and equipment to Bermuda public safety agencies, the Bermuda Government, and the construction industry.

One of Telecom’s sister companies, East End Asphalt (EEA), uses large quantities of raw materials for their asphalt operations. As Bermuda is an island nation, the necessary materials for those projects arrive by ship five or six times each year. Importing material to Bermuda is a costly endeavor so the ships are always filled to capacity; unloading each ship takes roughly three days at which time it is loaded into trucks and moved to a storage yard.

Barcoding Inc. was able to provide Telecom Bermuda with an RFID solution to track the dump trucks carrying asphalt from the dock to their two outdoor facilities and thereby holding contracted truckers accountable for their haul quotas.

Read the entire Telecom Bermuda Case Study

Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT uses RFID

The RLE at MIT headquarters staff needed help locating files within their facility. Staff would remove files from storage rooms whenever needed, without any access control. These files could then sit on their desks for days at a time. This would pose major problems when other workers needed to access those same files because locating them required searching multiple offices within the office.

The management team at RLE wanted a solution that was simple, fast and efficient. Their goal was to have a system which required less than the five to ten seconds it would take users to check out a file using a barcode-based inventory solution. Barcoding Inc. proposed using the CaptureTech RFID Interpreter in conjunction with a custom software application to meet these needs.

Read the entire MIT Case Study

Powers Fasteners Upgrades their Warehouse

Powers Fasteners is a global company specializing in manufacturing and marketing quality anchoring and fastening products for concrete, masonry, and steel. Powers, formerly known as Rawl, has been providing innovative fastening solutions for more than 75 years.

Powers Fasteners was using Norand 2435 terminals with an Intermec controller to provide wireless access to their IBM AS400 host backbone system. They were looking to fully automate their receiving, shipping, and inventory management of goods throughout their warehouse as their existing system resulted in inventory being one to two days behind with many inaccuracies.

Read the entire Powers Fasteners Case Study

JJ Taylor Upgrades their Route Accounting Solution

J.J. Taylor Distributing Company is one of the top five distributorships in the United States. The company currently operates in two states, employs 700 people and serves 10,800 retail accounts. In 2004 total revenue was $329 million and represented sales of 23.3 million cases of beer.

J.J. Taylor’s legacy route accounting package utilized Symbol SPT 1700 & SPT 1800 Palm devices running VIP software. The Palm application severely limited the amount of customer service the drivers could provide while the Symbol hardware, though effective, limited the transmission of data between their sales staff and the main office.

Read the entire JJ Taylor case study

Northwest Georgia Medical Group Keeps Inventory in Check

Northwest Georgia Medical Group is a collective of 15 doctors that share two facilities and many resources. These resources include administrative staff and a medical supply closet. Items in the supply closet were constantly running out of stock and needing to be reordered and delivered overnight. Other items were then ordered when there were plenty of them in the closet. The medical group was interested in tracking consumable items, such as sterile pads and instruments, that would be used once and thrown away, without having to go through the supply closet each time orders were placed.

Read the entire Northwest Georgia Medical case study.

New England Motor Freight Upgrades Their Route Accounting Solution

NEMF was using Intermec 700 devices in their trucks to view routes and information, collect signatures, and obtain other pertinent information used by managers to make well-informed business decisions. They were looking to upgrade their handheld terminals as well as introduce new software that would allow them to more efficiently plan routes and expand lines of communication between their drivers and the dispatch center.

Read the entire New England Motor Freight case study.

Gulf Coast Outpatient Surgery Center Keeps Tabs on Their Stockroom

Gulf Coast Outpatient Surgery Center (GCOSC) is one of the leading outpatient surgery centers in Mississippi. GCOSC was having problems keeping a timely, efficient and accurate count of their stockroom inventory. Excessive time was being spent completing the inventory count, and money was being wasted on unnecessary orders. Items were constantly running out of stock because inventory counts were off, and purchasing was unaware of shortages of equipment.

Read the entire Gulf Coast Outpatient Surgery Center case study.

Fujifilm Deploys Custom Software to Aid Workers Manufacturing Film

Fujifilm has a very precise film making procedure in which the raw materials needed to manufacturer film go through a specific process. At one step in the process, the film must be stored in a chamber to let the chemicals on the film react with one another. The chambers are numbered and  Fujifilm uses a computer system to direct the employees to place film in the correct storage chamber. The previous process required that the workers bring the film to a computer and type in the work in process (WIP) number. Then the data would flow from the computer via a serial connection to a “black box” that would then light a bulb over the appropriate chamber. The system was not efficient because workers had to walk a considerable distance to the computer over and over again. Only intrinsically safe computing devices could be used because of chemicals in the area.

Read the entire Fujifilm case study.

Baker & Taylor Tracks In-Store Inventory of Movie and Music Recordings

Baker & Taylor distributes movies and music recordings to retail stores nationwide, and has responsibility for monitoring sales and in-store inventory to maximize sales and profitability. An important area of their work involves managing special retail displays for seasonal and promotional products.  Prior to using an automated system for data collection, Baker & Taylor's field employees would visit each store, take inventory counts by hand, and submit paper forms to the corporate office, where other employees would manually enter that data into a computer.

Read the Baker & Taylor case study.

American Mills Uses Terminal Emulation to Automate Inventory Management

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.

Read the entire American Mills case study.

London Fog Stays in the Forefront of Fashion with
New Wireless and Mobile Systems

London Fog Industries, headquartered in Seattle, Washington, is the pre-eminent outerwear brand in America. At its main manufacturing facility in Eldersburg, Maryland, London Fog faced the challenge of upgrading its inventory and shipping/receiving hardware and applications to accommodate greater wireless flexibility and allow for future technology developments. Their hand-held batch terminals had become outdated and repair costs were climbing. London Fog, recognizing the benefits of mobile computing, wanted to use laptops and PC stations within their warehouses. The integration of multiple platforms as well as ensuring 100% coverage in the unique Eldersburg facility were also considerations that any new system had to address. In the spring of 2002, London Fog sought the expertise of Barcoding, Inc.

Read the entire London Fog case study.

Share Your Story

Have a case study that you would like to share with us? We are happy to post success stories from all of our customers. Simply send your request to jons@barcoding.com to start the process.

Call Now: 888.412.7226

Receive FREE support for 30 days on all purchases.

Contact us for a complimentary evaluation of your needs. Our sales team will answer all your questions about inventory control and automatic data collection.