Using BLE Tags And Sensors For Inventory Management Automation And Climate Control
Bluetooth low energy technology (BLE) is emerging as a viable alternative to RFID for the warehouse inventory management.
Both BLE and RFID warehouse management systems allow for the fast and reliable inventory tracking using bulk scanning.
With the Bluetooth inventory management system you can use smartphones as scanners,
and not spend money on dedicated RFID readers.
Regardless of the inventory volume flowing and and
out of the warehouse daily you can record inventory receiving, movement, picking and shipping in seconds with one click in the mobile app.
BLE Warehouse Inventory Management Features
Here is how Bluetooth inventory management system optimizes your warehouse operations.
Real Time Inventory Stock And Location In The Warehouse
Label incoming inventory with the
BLE tags,
and track warehouse
storage location on site in the QR Inventory mobile app. Record what you received, when, who accepted delivery. Optionally fill out the inventory
acceptance form on the smartphone using
mobile forms. The data are sent from the mobile app
to the back end cloud software in real time, and is available to the authorized software users on the office computers.
Review Inventory Movement In And Out Of The Warehouse
Access detailed reports and statistics on the inventory flow in, out and inside the warehouse.
Use statistical reports to analyze materials flow and optimize ordering and warehouse inventory placement.
Fast And Reliable Processing Of Inventory Transactions
Smartphones can read BLE tags in bulk without a line of sight. It means that
you can process high volume inventory transactions in seconds with one click in the mobile app. You do not need to scan each
item as you would do with the barcode scanning.
BLE tags do not have to be visible, and can be inside the packaging, boxes or casing.
Customized Inventory Management Process
A QR Inventory software gives you the flexibility to set up
inventory management process based to your
needs and workflow. You can customize everything: what to store in the system, record and report.
Use a cloud software secure web interface to set up inventory management system for your process.
Flexible Inventory Tagging
You can mix and match BLE tags with barcodes or QR codes. For example, you can use
QR codes for the warehouse rows and shelves to indicate where inventory is placed. You can also track warehouse pallets with the BLE tags,
and track inventory on the pallet
using QR codes. Any BLE tags and QR code labels combo that makes sense for your warehouse can be implemented in the QR Inventory software.
Optimize Warehouse Operations Using Inventory Reports
Inventory reports give you the full view into the warehouse operations: what items are
moving in and out quickly, what items are spending too much time in the warehouse, what goes on back order often, what do you regularly need to pick
and in what order, inventory usage trends,
and more. Use these reports to optimize ordering and warehouse inventory placement for the fast storage and picking.
Warehouse Climate Control With IoT Sensors
Make sure that assets and inventory in the warehouse are stored at the optimal conditions, there is no waste and damage.
An
IoT temperature and humidity monitoring system
automatically tracks climate conditions in all warehouse zones and transmits data to the centralized cloud platform via the
Bluetooth IoT gateway.
You will get instant alert if any of the assets or inventory items are in the conditions that could be harmful.
How Bluetooth Warehouse Inventory Management System Works
Track warehouse inventory using smartphones or IoT gateways.
Bluetooth Warehouse Inventory Tracking With A Smartphone
Use Bluetooth low energy technology (BLE) to automate warehouse inventory and assets tracking.
Automate warehouse operations in the cost-effective way.
Traditionally warehouse inventory management systems were using barcodes or RFID tags for the automated inventory tracking. RFID inventory tracking is much
faster and more reliable than barcode or QR code scanning, but it is also much more expensive. A Bluetooth warehouse inventory system can be used as a less
expensive alternative to RFID.
BLE tags can be compared to active RFID tags, not passive RFID tags, in functionality. They are similar in cost, range and physical properties to BLE tags.
However, with RFID tags yu need to use special RFOD scanners, which are quite expensive. For BLE tags you can use regular smartphones, iOS or Android,
for bulk assets and inventory scanning.
The ability to use smartphones not only makes inventory management system less expensive, it makes it easier for the employees to learn and use.
It is always easier to learn something that you are already familiar with, and warehouse employees use smartphones and tablets every day.
A QR Inventory mobile app is linked to the back end cloud software and a central database. All data recorded in the mobile app
are sent to the central database in real time. Warehouse managers can review real time inventory reports - current
stock level in all warehouse locations, transactions history, etc. on the office computers via the cloud software web interface.
Smart Warehouse Software With The Efficient Inventory Storage Tracking And Pick-Up
Organized warehouse leads to increased productivity,
better inventory placement and efficient pick-up.
A QR Inventory software allows you to organize warehouse inventory using granular drill down locations system.
You can use QR code scanning to identify warehouse locations and see what is inside,
and easily track inventory in movable containers, such as racks or pallets.
Modern warehouses are very big, and it is not an easy task to find and pick required inventory if the storage space is not well organized.
A
containers module of the QR Inventory software
allows you to organize warehouse storage units as granular drilldown locations. You can have any number of location levels, and easily find
the full location path of any asset or inventory item for a quick pick up. For the easy management you can create QR codes for the locations on all levels.
Scan a QR code with a smartphone to identify the location for the inventory placement, and review everything inside.
You can easily track inventory on the racks and pallets as you move them around the warehouse.
Containers module allows you to create warehouse locations that are
inventory items and locations at the same time.
As locations, pallets can contain assets and inventory, as well as other containers.
You can record putting assets and inventory on the pallets and in the containers, and taking them out.
You can then move pallets between warehouse zones, as you would do with the regular assets and inventory.
As you move a pallet, everything on the pallet move along with it. You do not need to record a transaction for each individual
inventory item or an asset.
Warehouse Climate Control: Automated IoT Temperature And Humidity Monitoring
If you are dealing with the sensitive assets and inventory, you need to continuously monitor temperature and humidity in the warehouse
to make sure that everything is stored at the right conditions.
An automated remote
temperature and humidity monitoring system
will do this for you. An automated IoT system eliminates a need for the manual checking, prevents omissions and mistakes.
A combo of inventory management and a temperature and humidity monitoring system ensures that sensitive assets and inventory are always stored
at the right conditions.
A system knows three essential things:
- Exact location of assets and inventory in the warehouse at any given time.
- Acceptable temperature and humidity range for assets and inventory items.
- Current temperature and humidity in all warehouse zones.
Stand alone
temperature and humidity monitoring systems give you conditions for the zones being monitored. A QR Inventory software gives you temperature
and humidity logs for the zones, as well as for the sensitive assets and inventory based on their location and movement within the warehouse.
BLE Warehouse Inventory Management With Custom Data Collection
Record and access inventory and assets data that you need for your business.
A QR Inventory software gives you the flexibility to set up a warehouse inventory management system according to your
needs and workflow.
You can customize many aspects of your inventory management process through a secure admin web interface:
- Create custom inventory and assets transactions. These can include warehouse deliveries,
storage, movement within the warehouse, pick up by the customers, shipping and delivery to the customer,
just to name some options.
- Decide what additional information you want to record for each transaction.
It may be purchase order number, vendor, customer, job number, etc., etc.
- Allocate warehouse inventory for the specific jobs, orders or projects. Create a pick list for the warehouse employees
based on these data.
- Record any data you need for the warehouse assets and inventory. Anything that you need to know about the specific asset can be recorded and accessed by the warehouse
employees in the mobile app through a BLE tag or QR code.
- Create granular warehouse locations as needed. Mark locations with the QR codes for easy storage recording and inventory list access.
- Customize inventory dashboard. Show the fields that are important for you to see as soon as you log into the system.
- Use custom fields and properties to customize warehouse inventory reports and pull out the exact data you need.
- ... and more
Real Time Warehouse Inventory Reports
Real time warehouse inventory stock, locations, transactions and usage reports.
Review up to the minute warehouse inventory reports in the QR Inventory software. Some of the available reports are:
- Warehouse inventory stock and locations. Always know where everything is, do not spend time searching for the items you need to pick.
- Customer or project inventory. Check stock and location of assets and inventory that belong to a customer or are allocated for a project.
- Inventory movement history. Review inventory transactions by date, part number, serial number, group or using other filters.
Include all required info in the reports, images and electronic signatures.
- Inventory flow statistics. Check total flow of inventory in and out by dates, part number, custom fields, and other filters.
- Low inventory alerts. Receive low inventory alerts. Automate purchase orders creation based on this information.
- Inventory monetary value. Review monetary value of stored inventory and transactions.
- ... and more
Warehouse Inventory Alerts
Make sure you do not have too much or too little inventory in the warehouse, and that purchase orders are fulfilled on time.
A QR Inventory software ensures that you have an optimal warehouse stock at all times.
Set re-order point for the warehouse inventory, globally or by location, and receive automatic low inventory alerts. The alerts will include
a list of items below re-order point, the actual stock count and what do you need to order based on your pre-set max stock level.
You can set up the system to automatically create purchase orders based on inventory stock, as well as pre-set min and max levels.
Once purchase orders are creates, a QR Inventory software helps you ensure that materials on PO are not delayed.
Set a date when you need to have a
purchase order fulfilled, and receive alerts if
there are still outstanding materials on PO by the due date.
BLE Tags For The Warehouse Assets And Inventory
BLE tags are bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons that advertise an inventory or an asset ID at the regular time intervals.
The advertised ID(s) are picked up by the mobile app, processed and sent to the back end cloud software.
You only need one click in the mobile app to scan and add all nearby assets and inventory to the batch.
The transactions are recorded fast, and warehouse workers do not need to locate a tag and scan each item.
Physically BLE tag that you are using for the warehouse inventory tracking is a small lightweight plastic tag. It is round, square, or rectangular,
an inch or two in width and length, and around half an inch or less thick.
BLE tags do not require a line of sight to be scanned. You can put them inside boxes or containers, attach to the pallets,
or attach to the assets or inventory items.
QR Inventory software will work with the Bluetooth low energy (BLE) tags purchased from us, as well as with the BLE tags purchased from the other vendors.
