Customer Request
The purpose of the custom application was to track the receipt and issuance of weighed materials—aluminum alloys. We were pleased to see an article about our project in the company magazine, which concluded with a thank-you note for our successful collaboration.
And how did the collaboration go?
Project Brief
NEMAK Slovakia approached BARTECH SLOVAKIA regarding the development of a custom application. The main goal of the project, internally named LOGIS V2, was to replace the original LOGIS application, which no longer supported the new Windows 10 operating system and did not meet current requirements for tracking inventory, including FIFO-based stock-out management and a quick overview of current inventory levels to enable flexible responses. A key requirement was to preserve existing processes and expand the application with features that would provide users with an up-to-date, online overview of inventory status, simple filtering and sorting of data, and that the application be user-friendly and faster to use than before.
Solution Description
The app itself consists of two parts.
The first is the LOGIS V2 PC application, which communicates directly with the scale. When materials are received, they are placed on this scale using a forklift. The weight of each pallet is recorded in the application’s database. Each pallet (batch) is assigned a unique number, which is indicated in the barcode on the label. This label is affixed to the respective batch and, in addition to this unique number, also contains other data necessary for the visual identification of the material. To prevent the operator from having to get off the forklift after weighing each pallet, the application automatically alerts the operator that the weight has been recorded via a prominent colored alert on the PC screen. This feature significantly speeds up material handling during the weighing process.
The second component is an application for portable PDA terminals with a built-in barcode scanner running the Android operating system. We recommended ZEBRA TC56 terminals to the customer, as we have had very good experience with them.This part of the application enables quick inventory counts at individual warehouses by simply scanning barcodes, and it also ensures compliance with the FIFO system during the issuing process. This information is important for other employees who handle the purchasing and delivery of materials needed for production. Among other things, the application has helped reduce and optimize inventory levels. They have access to online inventory overviews via the web application directly from their PCs in their offices.
Implementation Process
Our company was first approached in calendar week 18. Over the next three weeks, a thorough analysis of the requirements was conducted, and once the solution concept was approved, programming began. A test version was deployed during the 30th calendar week, and the project went live in the 35th week.
We remain in contact with NEMAK and are working on additional solutions.