Recognizing a major opportunity for ICM, 4aBetterBusiness proposed that the product labeling take place during the company’s annual inventory count. ICM’s CEO, Levi Cottington, and CFO Tom Gawlik, both agreed that this was the right opportunity to introduce bar coding/RFID technology.

The inventory count was to be conducted in just three week’s time, resulting in a short window for ICM and NexTec. Both firms had confidence that their teams were up to the challenge, and decided to divide the project into two phases. In phase one, inventory would be properly labeled and counted, and the data capturing devices would be rolled out. Phase two would involve the implementation of the Sage X3 ADC module to fully automate the collection of operational data.

With NexTec’s assistance, ICM procured and configured the necessary hardware and equipment, including mobile scanners, printers and bar code/RFID labels, while 4BetterBusiness defined and documented workflows, oversaw the labeling of the warehouse and delivered operator training.

The planning and execution paid off: in just three weeks, ICM had a fully labeled and lined-out warehouse, labels on all its products and was capturing data using its mobile scanners.

“This initial system gave us immediate improvement in the quality of data capture,” says Chad Pickle, Director of Supply Chain for ICM. Pickle also noted additional benefits the company is realizing, including: reduced errors by eliminating handwritten data recording and transcription, reduced time spent finding and handling materials and reduced frequency of materials-related changes in the company’s production schedule.