[Clay Tait]

Hi All:  We are a small company (5 People). We are a Wholesale Distributor of Lawn and Garden Equipment, and parts (Mowers, Tractors, Chainsaws, Trimmers, Blowers, …) and have 3 main suppliers. We track serial numbers for 1) inventory control purposes, 2) Invoicing and tracking and 3) warranty issues.  We do not track the serial numbers of parts and such (which is where we spend the bulk of our time).
So we deal with quite a lot of serial numbers for our little staff (one Shipper Receiver – who hand writes the serial numbers off the boxes/crates when they come through the door, and also when they go out the door), and one Admin Lady who key punches in each serial number (from the Shipper Receivers documents) both when they come in and when they are shipped back out.
Most of the time our suppliers do bar code the item and serial numbers.
But as they are different suppliers, the length and structure of the Serial Numbers can be different (some 10, some 12, some… digits in length,  some numeric and some alpha numeric).
Currently I would say we spend about 10% – 20% of labor related to these serial numbers for these two employees (doing it manually).

We are wondering if some can recommend a reasonably priced solution for our situation?

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Clay Tait
Tait Distributors
Edmonton AB
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[Jo deRuiter]

?Hi

There are quite a number of third parties that help with this (an extra software purchase that seamlessly interacts with GP).   One I think you guys might want to look at is called Panatrack.  I have several clients that use this for just what you are describing and, comparatively speaking, it is not an expensive option:

Panatrack – Inventory and Asset Tracking

Panatrack		remove preview
Panatrack – Inventory and Asset Tracking Barcode your inventory and assets with PanatrackerGP for Microsoft’s Dynamics GP. Gain powerful WMS and asset control for the ERP system you already have. View this on Panatrack >

?

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Regards,

Jo deRuiter
“That GP Red Head”
Senior Financial Systems Consultant
Heartland Business Systems, LLC
Eau Claire WI
770-906-4504 (Work)
770-906-4504 (Cell)
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[Clay Tait]

Jo,

Thank You

If you have any more thoughts, feel free. 7804514321 
bctait@taitdistributors.ca

Thanks Again

Clay Tait

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Clay Tait
Tait Distributors
Edmonton AB
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[Jeremy Adkins-Hill]

I also agree with Jo. Bar code data collection is the way to go and Panatrack is the system I always recommend to people as well. Easy to use, cost efficient, and a great company to work with.

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Jeremy Adkins-Hill
Microsoft Dynamics GP Administrator
STAHLS’
Sterling Heights MI
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[Clay Tait]

Thank You Jeremy

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Clay Tait
Tait Distributors
Edmonton AB
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[Frances Donnelly]

Clay,
My organization supplies manufacturing software for GP and we have worked with a lot of different size manufacturing organizations over the years, many of whom use Panatrack and are very happy with it.  But we are a subscriber to the crawl, walk, run method of progression, meaning try not to take on more than you need, get comfortable with functionality and then expand. 

So in regards to your  bar code scanning need it sounds like all you are looking for right now is to populate your Dynamics Inventory records with the serial numbers of the finished goods that you are selling and that those finished goods come to you fully ready to ship out. Therefore all you are doing is recording the serial numbers when your vendor delivers items and then tracking the serial number when you ship the item out.

If your initial process is just that simple then you may only need to add a scanning device to the local workstation where the received materials are entered into GP.  There are a number of tools that will scan the serial numbers off your documents so that you don’t have to key them in.  When shipping occurs the person handling the fulfillment and shipping tasks selects from the available list the serial number that is being shipped.  This solution may seem kind of ‘old school’ but generally stepping into a bar code scanning solution occurs when manufacturers have a need to go mobile on their shop floors, meaning they don’t want staff to have to keep going back to workstations to do transactions.

If you haven’t been doing this task in GP up till now you may not realize that all you need to do is get the serial number in at receiving and then it is populated and can be selected as part of the shipping activity.

Panatrack is an awesome solution but it may be more functionality than you had in mind and if that is the case I hope my alternative suggestion is helpful.

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Frances Donnelly
Director of Sales & Product Development
Horizons International
Julian CA
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