Case Study
Rugged Handhelds, Mobile Printers Streamline Deliveries
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•Case Study: Rugged Handhelds, Mobile Printers Streamline Deliveries
By Sarah Howland, Integrated Solutions magazine
Interstate Batteries distributes more than 15 million batteries per year. The company provides batteries for things such as automobiles, boats, motorcycles, and heavy equipment. Interstate Batteries has 300 distributors delivering batteries to more than 200,000 locations that sell to end users. Each distributor has route managers who are responsible for managing inventory on their trucks and at multiple locations, delivering inventory, removing old batteries, creating invoices, and receiving payments. To do so, the company has been using handheld computers since 1990.
Many locations sell batteries on consignment, so the route manager pulls up a location's consignment contract to see what its inventory should be and checks to determine how many batteries have been used. The route manager then gathers the amount of batteries necessary for replenishment from his truck and removes old batteries as needed. Finally, the route manager creates an invoice by entering this information into the handheld and prints the invoice with a briefcase-style printer that uses 8.5-by-11-inch paper located in the truck. A distributor synchronizes the handhelds to the office PC once per day, and at that time data is transferred to and from headquarters.
Click Here To Download:•Case Study: Rugged Handhelds, Mobile Printers Streamline Deliveries
