Today’s handheld devices-- smart phones, tablets and new larger screen phablets -- are everywhere. In the warehouse, for example, the built-in camera and Bluetooth software on Android devices are taking over.
Android devices have an intuitive operating system. Likewise, equally user-friendly Android warehouse management apps compete strongly with traditional forklift and barcode readers. These new Android apps do some, most or all the following:
Quickly inventory everything through barcoding
Track availability of goods so the sales staff doesn’t over-promise and under-deliver
Calculate warehouse space to keep the stock moving
Check on storage conditions to avoid damage to stock
Store and synch data both online and offline and across devices
Have push-notification features to sound the alarm and avoid crisis management
Reduce the supporting paperwork -- lists, invoices, order forms -- by digitizing everything
The benefits of these Android apps are self-evident. They increase productivity and efficiency and decrease operating costs. Improving data accuracy enhances what you know with consistent, quality data, which, in turn, removes potential kinks in the supply chain -- and delivers the goods.
According to New Technology, the following three are among the many Android apps that deliver the goods in automated warehouse management:
Rapid Inventory by TEC-IT. Use an Android device and external BlueTooth scan to create, manage inventories. Designed specifically for smart phones and tablets, the app designers concentrated in user-friendly intuitive operation.
On Hand by Stevens Creek Software. Download this inventory-tracking app from Google Play or Amazon. Use an Android Bluetooth capable device to do inventory data collection and tracking. Pack orders for shipment and capture barcodes with the Android device built-in camera.
Instant Inventory by Billion Hands. Designed for small business operations, this highly rated app integrates mobile scanning with barcode and the power of database access and interaction.
The foregoing is just a sampling of the hundreds of free or inexpensive Android apps that can be useful in casual implementations and smaller operations.. Android smart phones and tablets have the technology and the Cloud provides the universal platform. Warehouse and inventory management are vital elements in pleasing loyal customers, who, by the way, spread the good word.
However, delivering mission critical applications to today's ruggedized Android devices requires a enterprise-class solution featuring a very secure, high performance transport and the level of reliability that can support sub-second response time across hundreds, or even thousands of devices.
