Inventory Revamp

By  Susan Nunziata
Blaney Hardwoods, a saw mill in Barlow, Ohio, has been steadily growing since it launched in 1978. It provides a variety of hardwoods to clients of all sizes, from major corporations to local craftsmen.

In 1986 it installed its first set of kilns. Since then, two more were installed, giving the facility the capacity to dry half a million board feet. The facility also includes 60,000 square feet of warehouse space, as well as three air sheds and a fan wall that optimizes air flow around the lumber.

While the company had been using handhelds in its lumber yard for the past 10 years, the devices -- and the inventory management application they were running -- hadn't kept up with Blaney's growing capacity.

"We had different handhelds for different applications," says Jeanne Sheff, the company's VP of Sales & Marketing. "The handhelds were 10 years old, so it was a very dated technology. You could only do so much, and that was it, there were no options."

And when problems arose, the devices were so old that Sheff says she couldn't find anyone to repair them. "There were some cases where we went back to paper because we couldn't get the things repaired."

The desktop inventory management system Blaney was using was also long past its prime, and the software was failing, notes Sheff.

It was time for a complete overhaul.

"What I was trying to do was make it so I had one handheld that could do it all," says Sheff. "We have to track our product from raw material, which is logs, clear through to the end product."

The new system uses Honeywell Dolphin 9500 handheld computers and a software application designed specifically for the lumber industry called eLimbs, a division of IT Toolworks.

Every piece of wood gets a barcode, and the Honeywell handhelds are used by workers to scan the products at every stage of processing, from raw material purchase to tracking logs and assembling them into packs.

The barcoding and scanning cuts down dramatically on the hours spent doing physical inventory. Data is usually downloaded from the handhelds directly into the desktop system, although a wireless router on-site allows data to be transmitted in real time when needed.

Blaney has eight handhelds in use among six employees, notes Sheff.

With the old system, physical inventory took six employees two full days to complete. Today, inventory is completed by four employees in just two-and-a-half hours, amounting to a nearly 600% increase in time savings.

Blaney also uses the mobile computers to digitally capture images of packages and customer signatures to eliminate paperwork; store permanent digital records; and digitally document and confirm deliveries and shipments.

Next steps are to evaluate a newer, smaller handheld, and extend the system beyond the yard to the company's staff of log buyers in the field. "I have log buyers who go out in remote locations, and just to be able to get their information a little faster, that would be a great help," says Sheff.