Communication and coordination is a high priority in conducting a physical inventory, as it is with any project involving multiple individuals.
Inventory teams navigate and coordinate progress through client facilities using maps.
Teams communicate with one another and the Inventory Controller using 2-way radios and cell phones. When a problem is encountered, teams relay this to the Inventory Controller and one another.
The final outcome is communicated to all team members, thus avoiding duplication and repeat problems. Teams begin and end work simultaneously.
Travel between disparate locations is coordinated from the Verasset central office by an administrator. Most physical inventory engagements involve simultaneously conducting inventory throughout multiple cities, states, and even countries for a single client.
Arranging air and ground travel, lodging, shipment of materials, and visas are some examples of responsibilities allocated to our centralized project administrators.
Equipment and materials are also administered from a central area. Depending on the engagement, bar codes, RFID labels or combination bar code and RFID (Smart tags) are utilized.
The type of label also impacts the equipment that Verasset utilizes. When bar coding is the focus the, mobile devices are equipped with bar code scanners. When RFID is required, we utilize devices capable of detecting RFID tags.
Mobile devices require batteries to operate and thus coordinating recharge becomes important. Controlling label distribution is equally important and must be strictly managed from an audit point of view.
Information is consolidated from mobile devices onto a single laptop for review and processing. During review, which occurs daily, information is scrubbed, identifying and resolving errors and reconciled to the degree possible.
If requested, the customer is provided information as it is being collected allowing them the opportunity to perform their own monitoring of accuracy and progress.
These processes are based upon proven methodologies adopted from past experience and contribute to completing projects on time, within budget and with reliable, accurate results.
