Scan Packed Orders or Rapid Order Packing with Scanner
To make make the scanner software as flexible and adaptable to enable a smooth running warehouse, we have introduced a “rapid order” packing capability using the mobile handheld barcode scanners. This new rapid order packing capability allow more flexibility on how customers want to leverage the barcode scanner to fulfill orders. With the scan packed orders or “rapid order packing” method, users can quickly visually confirm the contents of the packed orders and then scan the order number has been packed.
The two available packing options on the scanner are:
- Item By Item – All items on the order must be scanned
- Rapid Order Packing – Scan packed orders
The item by item method forces the warehouse worker to scan each item in the order, and the scanner will give an audio and video confirmation when the order is correctly packed. The advantage of method is increased packing accuracy, but the disadvantage is the fulfillment time to pack each order will take longer since the warehouse workers need to scan each item to complete packing the order and also potentially scan the sublocation where the product is being pulled from.
The item by item packing method may be more suitable for companies that have many skus, skus that hard to distinguish from each other, and/or high ticket items.
The “rapid order” packing method allow users to quickly visually confirm the contents of the packed orders and then scan the order number has been packed. The advantage is the the “rapid order” packing is the required time to pack an order is significantly decreased as the scanning of each item is no longer required.
This packing method may be more suitable for companies with a high volume of orders, but very few skus. With a low number of skus, it is more likely that the warehouse worker easily recognize the products and can distinguish them from each other.
With this feature, you can leverage the scan packed orders feature by doing a simple one scan and done to keep track of things. See the video below for instruction.
We have created three additional video on this topic on three different scenarios:
- Rapid packing with One Sublocation Warehouse
- Rapid packing with Many Sublocation Warehouse
- Rapid packing with items with lots or serial numbers
Scan Packed Orders Feature
(Videos: See complete list of available videos)
Video Transcription
Hello, it’s Mike, Finale Inventory. In this short video, we’re gonna go over an exciting new feature for the mobile barcode scanner. With Finale Inventory, we have what we call the “Scan Packed Orders” feature or maybe which you’ve always been wanting, one scan and done to actually pack an order out of Finale, out of the system. So, let me highlight this. The fact that you need the latest version of our software, so it’s version 12135 to get to it. So, let’s dip into this.
This is gonna be kind of an overview video for the scan packed orders capability and we’ll go over actually in a demo example in another video. So you may be saying, “How do I get this feature?” So from your main menu of the Finale Data Collector, just navigate to more, more, more. Get down there to number 17 and update your software. If you do not have this, “update your software feature,” you have got to update to the latest version of the Finale Data software. So, you may not have the latest version and have the updating ability from it, so you’ll need to dock your scanner and then update to the latest software. There are videos on our website on how to do that. So, that’s how you get the software.
So, you may be wondering what’s so different about this scan packed orders feature, or the rapid scan or rapid pack method. So, currently, when you go to pack orders with the mobile barcode scanner, it effectively forced you to pick and pack every item by item by order. So, you had to scan the order ID, then you had to scan the sublocation where the item was, then you had to scan the item until Finale, how many did you pick or pack. And then you had to repeat that over and over and over for each other, so was rather tedious. This new feature called scan packed order is effectively a one scan. You just scan the order ID. And there are two different options that we’ll go over here on the next slide.
So, when you use this new feature, there are some settings in the settings on the scanner. So, two settings and specifically, one is called “scan order verify” and the other one is “scan order lot IDs.” Let’s just quickly cover the scan order verify, which most of you guys are gonna be interested in. You don’t use lot numbers, don’t use serial numbers, then you can ignore the other feature. But for the configuration, the default will be visual. Now, what we mean by visual, the setting, in the settings of the scanner, if you leave it at visual it means when you’re gonna pack, the scanner is going to have you scan the order ID. You will see a visual list of the items that are on the order. You don’t have to do anything.
So, at that moment, you can just kind of confirm that yes, you did all those things or yes, all those are in the box. So, all you have to do is press the okay and the scanner packs the order. That’s pretty quick. So, if that’s not quick enough for you, you can elect to change this scan order verify status to a non-value. Now, if you that, we will no longer show you the visual of what’s in the order. We will just, basically, you scan the order ID and we’ll say, “Done.” And then you just scan the next order ID.
There will be no visual confirmation. There’ll be no okay button to press. It’s just scan an order ID and that order is packed. Now, there’s a little bit of intelligence going on here. So, in the background, we’re not just taking you for your word that you actually did it, but we’re monitoring a packing location or a packing sublocation rather. Did you have enough inventory in those locations? So in either option, if you didn’t have enough inventory there, we’re gonna highlight the fact. So, in the visual you’ll see it as a visual cue that you didn’t…you may not have enough, you know, inventory there to pack it. And if you try to pack it, we’ll say, “Hey, you know, watch out, you may be…don’t have enough inventory.” On the none, we’ll just give you an audible and then you can choose to either skip it or pack it, very efficient.
Now, the scan order lot ID, so for those of you that use lot IDs or batches or serial numbers, there’s an option in here. So, you can imagine it can kind of get I guess tedious to…if you were gonna just pack the order with one scan. We’re gonna ask you to confirm the lots or the serial numbers on any of the items that you may have put into that order. So it’s really nice. You’ll be able to either scan the lot number or pick it from a list, and that’s brand new as well. So that’s super-efficient. And then there’s also an option there called, “Always.” So it’s either smart or always. Smart’s gonna kind of detect whether or not you got lots in your inventory, and then give you an option to choose it from a list or to scan it. And then always is a way that you could say, “Nope, I don’t wanna trust anybody to pick it from a list. I’m gonna force them to scan a serial number barcode or something.” So, on really expensive items, that’s what you’d wanna turn on.
So let’s move on. So giving you an illustration for this new feature, need to bring to your attention that there’s kind of, basically, two different types of operations, or two different configurations with accounts in Finale Inventory. So, in Finale Inventory we have locations, and locations are synonymous with your warehouse. And so we would normally create your first location and you call it main, so it’s the main warehouse. And inside of the warehouse, you store your items. Now, if you’re the type of account that only has one sublocation, normally, it’s defaulted to M0, or maybe you changed it to warehouse. But you only have one sublocation, which means you’re not tracking all of the items in different spaces. You’re treating the entire warehouse as just one big giant location, maybe using standard bid [SP] IDs or something.
So, you’ve got this scenario where there’s one sublocation only, and then you’ve got another scenario where you have a Finale location called main, but in your case, you have many Finale sublocations. Meaning you assigned maybe this area of the rack A1 and this is A2 and A3 and so on. So, you’ve got, you know, 10s, dozens or hundreds or even thousands of sublocations.
Now, the ramifications of these two methods of using pack in this case, in the one only, you can just pack right out of your warehouse. In the multi ones, you’re gonna need to do a transaction where you pick from the sublocations and then they get transferred to a packing…kind of a central packing area where your packers…so, you’re gonna have pickers and packers. And so your packers will be able to use the pack feature out of maybe a consolidated packing area. So, let’s go over that.
So if you have only one, you’re gonna be able to use this new scan packed orders or “rapid order packing” feature, and it’s available on the pick menus. And you’ll go over to the pick and then basic, and you can just skip picking altogether. You’re just gonna go right here to number 2, scan pack orders. Now, you can do this if you only have one sublocation, all right? This is the way you do it. And what’s nice is there’s no picking is required, you just have to do one scan and pack that order out, all right? And we’ll go over that in the next video on how to use this in real life. So, your other option, as I said, you may have many sublocations. Because if you divided your warehouse up lick this, you’re gonna require…you’re gonna have to have a picker go through the warehouse and relieve all these specific locations of the inventory, and then do a transfer to a packing sublocation for your packers.
So, it’s not all that much more work. The scan packed orders or “rapid order packing” method is really for high volume operations and you’re gonna be doing it anyway. But the change is this new feature is available in the pick and pack. So, you’re gonna first go through a picking operation, so where you’re gonna pick everything from here. And then you’re gonna go through, secondly, you’ll just be able to san one scan and pack out the orders from the packing station. So that’s new. So now go look at the videos that kind of walk through the different examples.