Forest Products continued

...and with the help of Intermec's rugged Trackker handheld scanner, their inventory speed and efficiency greatly improved, giving them more control over an essential part of their business.

The Problem     We weren't confident we had what we said we had out there,” says Rick  Jones,  Shipping Supervisor.   Forest Products produces plywood, particle board, lumber, and various engineered wood products for building construction, including large laminated beams. They ship finished products to home centers by truck and rail car throughout the country, but their success put quite a burden on their inventory and shipping functions.  "We didn't have a good feel for our inventory. The product mix here is extensive. We have over 2,000 products and we don't have 2,000 places where we can put them."   FP was ripe for innovation.  

The Solution    “We decided to automate our inventory counts with the help of ECCO TEK,” says Jones. “Scanning distance was especially important to us, because we stack pretty high in our warehouses and the  Intermec scanners were by far the best distance shooters." Rick and his team were quickly won over by the Intermec with its impressive performance and reputation for ruggedness.

Results      But as they say, the proof is in the pudding, and, through many months of cycle counts and shipments since implementation, the Intermec Trackker has proven to be an exceptional tool and a worthy investment for FP.  

Employee Efficiency and ROI     “We immediately began to see a dramatic increase in productivity of our shipping personnel,” says Jones. “ Plus, the accounting error rate dropped from 10% to virtually  zero. And ROI was quickly realized as well.”  Because of the increased efficiency and quick stockroom lookup, FP’s hardwood setup person decreased his preparation time of 6 hours down to 1.5 hours. That resulted in increased orders. 

Quality   Another promise delivered by the Intermec Trackker was its rugged dependability. Says Jones, “The Intermec Terminals have held up exceptionally  well considering the process we put them through. We work in a tremendous amount of dust, heat,  and cold; it goes to all seasons and they've held up well. We've been very happy with the quality and reliability."   

Customer Satisfaction “All this has, of course, made FP managers and employees happy, but the efficiency has extended to our customers as well. With a delivery system this large, a weak link in the chain is felt on down the line,” comments Jones. Forest Products has improved its railroad bills of lading and has been able to produce more effective load diagrams for its truck and rail carriers. 

Partnering with ECCO   “FP  is excited about the future and its solid partnership with ECCO. We know it's going to be a long-term relationship. We're focused on our customers, we're focused on quality, we're focused on on-time shipments, and we think ECCO is going to give us that ability to bring it on into the future," says Jones.