May this festive season sparkle and shine. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The RIC Group's Warehouse Management Solution will be at the Acumatica Summit 2024 at our distributors stand Linfa Systems.

Acumatica Summit 2024 will take place starting Sunday, January 28 through Wednesday January 31 with three full days of expanded opportunities to network, to connect, to learn, to train, to celebrate and to discover.

The RIC Group's supply chain solution achieves DHL Integration. This allows our customers who are using DHL to have integrated WMS solution with DHL. This integration allows customers to create consignments for DHL local and overseas.

Visit here for more information on the DHL API.

Prospects will often tell us the flexibility the Supply Chain Software will need to have to meet their requirements. Often this happens when the customer has been using one software package for an extended period of time, and have bolted on customisations to suit their needs at that time 

Fulfilling B2C orders in one manner, B2B orders differently, and handling priority orders through separate processes might seem accommodating at first glance. However, this approach often results in a tangled web of processes. Instead of facilitating a streamlined system, it leads to confusion, increased complexity, and inefficiency within the supply chain software.

For me the strategy always has to be standardise the process. Establishing standard processes offers a multitude of benefits.

Consistency is the cornerstone of success. Implementing standardised processes ensures that tasks are performed in the same way every time. This uniformity streamlines operations, minimizes errors, and reduces the need for reinventing the wheel with each new project. When employees follow a set structure, it becomes easier to identify bottlenecks, address inefficiencies, and optimize workflow.

There are other benefits such as making training and onboarding simplified, gives you scalability and assists with compliance to reduce risk. Consistent processes form the backbone of efficiency, quality and reliability within an organisation.

Catch weight management is a crucial aspect for companies dealing with variable-weight items, especially in food distribution or industries where product weight fluctuates. The system allows for the tracking of both an average per item quantity/weight as well as an actual per item quantity/weight.

To simplify, catch weight management involves the identification and tracking of both average and actual per-item quantities or weights. This method is essential for effectively managing business processes, particularly when handling variable weight units of a product.

Example Scenario:

1. Receive the Order: A customer orders 12 packs case of frozen chickens. While the specific chickens to be shipped are not yet known, the average weight per chickens is communicated to the customer as 15 kgs, and they are billed at $1.50 per kilo. The invoice is estimated based on the expected weight of 180 kilos (12 chickens x 15 kilos each) at a cost of $270.00.
2. Provision the Product: When fulfilling the order, it's found that the actual weight of the selected chickens is lighter, totalling 150 kilos instead of the estimated 180 kilos. Utilizing catch weight management, the slightly lighter chickens are shipped, still meeting the customer's expectations.
3. Invoicing the Customer: To ensure accurate billing and customer satisfaction, the customer is invoiced based on the exact weight of 150 kilos rather than the initial estimated weight. The cost for the 150 kilos of chickens is calculated at $225.00 and reflected on the final invoice.

This system enables accurate invoicing, inventory control, and cost management by considering both the average and actual weights of variable items. It ensures fair and accurate billing, minimising discrepancies between estimated and actual quantities, and ultimately enhances customer satisfaction.

Businesses dealing with products that vary in weight and require invoicing based on the actual weight rather than a fixed quantity or package count find catch weight management vital. This approach is especially common in industries where the actual weight of a product determines its final price or cost. It allows for a more accurate and fair billing process, ensuring that customers are charged based on the exact weight they receive rather than an estimated or average weight.

Absolutely, implementing a Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) for accurately capturing catch weight items on the warehouse and factory floor is a game-changer for businesses dealing with variable-weight products. You can use the WMS to scan LPN (Licence Plate Numbering) as well which will capture all cartons and the weight on the pallet with an instance scan of the barcode.

The process of manually capturing weight, batch, expiry dates, carton counts, and other specifics for each item picked is not only error-prone but also incredibly time-consuming. Without an automated system, the potential for errors significantly increases, and the manual effort involved in tracking and inputting this data can slow down warehouse operations.

A WMS streamlines this process by automating the data capture through scanning GS-128 barcodes and more. As each carton or pack is scanned, the system automatically records vital information such as weight, batch numbers, expiry dates, carton counts, and the precise weight of the items picked. This data is then seamlessly transferred to the ERP system, ensuring accurate invoicing and streamlined operations.
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The efficiency gained by using a WMS not only minimizes errors but also accelerates warehouse processes. The ability to swiftly and accurately capture data, especially for catch weight items, ensures precise invoicing and enhances customer satisfaction. The use of automated technology significantly reduces the margin for error and ensures that customers are billed accurately based on the exact products received, thereby improving trust and reliability.

Please contact us for further information.

APIs are a fundamental aspect of modern software development because they enable interoperability, flexibility, security, and scalability, among other benefits. They facilitate the integration of different software systems and contribute to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of software applications.

If you are looking at supply chain software as a customer you need to ask how scalable the software is. APIs make it easier to scale software horizontally and vertically. With offering an API, you can start building an ecosystem for growth. It leads to innovation and increased adoption.

Scalability is not a one-time consideration; it's an ongoing process as your application grows and evolves. Planning for scalability from the beginning and regularly reviewing is needed to optimise your application.

Is your Supply Chain software providing you with a road map for scalability?
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