Major Robot Manufacturer Avoids Confusion with Parts Thanks to Online Inventory Management

Running the world’s leading manufacturing plant for robots can be difficult. There are thousands of tiny parts and gears that need to be available at an instant. Unfortunately, with so many robots being made in a given day it can be difficult to track what has been used, what hasn’t been used, and what needs to be ordered.

“We were constantly running out of parts”, explained Kevin Matters, the supervisor for the company. “No matter what rules or protocols we put into place, we always ran out of parts. That put production behind and made everyone frustrated. We had to find something that would help with this situation.”

Luckily, the company was able to find an easy to use online inventory management software program. This program provided the company with real time tracking of all parts and gears. This real time tracking is what prevents the backups and delays.

“The software provides me with real time scanning and inventory management”, said Matters. “If someone in warehouse A uses 3 sprockets, I see it on the screen. My existing inventory goes down by 3. I no longer worry about running out of parts or gears.”

The complex inventory management system took four months to install and develop. Each inventory bin had to be equipped with a scanner. The scanner would report the findings back to a main database that provides the supervisor with an understanding of what inventory has been used for the time.

“We created a system that goes based off of weight”, explained Matters. “The system will automatically deduct the different and determine how many of each item was used. It really is ahead of its time in terms of online inventory management.”

One of the best benefits of use a system is the ability to sync it up with the other warehouses. Warehouses all operating on the same network can log into the online inventory management and see what other warehouses have in stock.

“We no longer are looking around for lost parts or ordering too much of something”, explained Matters. “Everything is balanced out. It really is amazing and saves us a lot of money.”

The company that implemented this type of online inventory management software is planning on bringing it to its stores. The software will be able to monitor and report what the company has in stock, which will help them provide customers with the items they want and need.