The Inventory and Warehouse Management application employs extensive item identification as the basis for purchasing, pricing, receiving, storing, selling, shipping, and managing inventories as efficiently as possible. Whenever possible, warehouse operations are improved through the use of barcode, electronic file transfer and other technological enhancements.

The tracking and maintenance of rebates (allowances) from the manufacture to the distributor and from the distributor to the dealer (reverse rebates) are facilitated through DMS's Inventory and Warehouse Management module.

DMS accommodates physical inventory processes by facilitating cycle counts, as well as complete warehouse counts. Barcode technology may be utilized to augment the physical inventory process.

The DMS Pick Ticket underlies the entire distribution process as it relates to the delivery of customer goods. Pick Tickets may be customized and guidelines may be defined to determine when a Pick Ticket prints, and consequently, when goods are pulled from inventory for customer delivery or will call. The warehouse profile determines where a given type of Pick Ticket prints and how inventory transfers are processed. Delivery route profiles also may be integrated with the Pick Ticket process. Alternatively, the entire Pick Ticket process may be replaced by use of barcode shipping labels, or implementation of DMS's warehouse automation advanced application.

The Inventory and Warehouse Management application provides a full-featured Purchasing module which incorporates interactive and automated purchase order creation, inventory replenishment projections, and electronic data transfer. The Purchasing module is tightly integrated with Order Management, Warehouse Management, General Ledger and other DMS applications.

Accurate, timely customer order pricing is critical to any business enterprise, but the floor covering distribution industry introduces an unrivaled level of complexity. The DMS Inventory and Warehouse Management application includes a Pricing module specifically designed to meet the unique requirements of floor covering distributors. Flexibility and ease of maintenance are the focus of the Pricing module. Pricing may be defined at the item or customer levels, with further delineation by roll and cut, type of order, warehouse and geographic location. The use of product lines, customer buying groups and other mechanisms allows baseline pricing and broad pricing changes to be implemented with ease.

The DMS Inventory and Warehouse Management application provides a sophisticated Routing module to facilitate routing of daily transfers and deliveries. Any number of routes and route schedules may be defined, with "by way of" routing capabilities for moving materials between locations by way of another location(s). The Routing module closely interacts with Order Management to determine possible delivery routes and dates as orders are entered.

Features

The Inventory and Warehouse Management applications incorporate the following features:

• Flexible and extensive inventory identification and tracking mechanisms
  
• Inventory quantities by item within company and branch (location)
  
• Serial numbered and lot numbered items tracked by detail
  
• Identification by bin location
  
• Decimal quantities, including foot per inch
  
• Unit prices by branch (location), order type (warehouse, mill direct, etc.) or matrix code; current prices, dated prices, cut prices and dated cut prices
  
• Cost by branch (location), order type or matrix code; replacement, landed, average, and dated replacement
  
• Alternate item numbers (catalog, UPC, etc.)
  
• Item numbers to 18 characters
  
• Serial numbers to 10 characters
  
• Lot numbers to 10 characters
  
• Standard description to 30 characters
  
• Additional description to 600 characters per item
  
• Up to 25 units of measure per item
  
• Item specifications
  
• Substitute items
  
• "Go with" items
  
• Hazardous material data
  
• Kit options
  
• Complementary items

• Items have unique identifiers (e.g., item, roll, serial/lot numbers) which may be printed on barcode tags
  
• Barcoded tags with identification and other information produced during pre-receiving functions or when items are received or cut
  
• Items may be stored in multiple bin locations, whether box, roll, pallet, etc.
  
• Using a scanner attached to a fixed workstation, inventory items may be identified and moves, adjustments, and other actions may be recorded for immediate availability in other system modules

• Vendor may provide electronic pre-receiving manifest for verification of received goods (EDI)
  
• Using a paper manifest, pre-receiving records may be created by posting receipts to open purchase orders for verification of received goods;
  
• Inter-branch transfers are accommodated through the receiving process, with appropriate updates to inventory status, location, orders and General Ledger posted (including "by way of" receipts)
  
• Inventory immediately available after all receipts processed

• Backorder fill process allows matching of received goods with backordered items as part of the receiving process, or as a separate step after receiving; backorder fills may be handled automatically by the system
  
• Inventory received is placed on hold until the backorder matchup process has been completed
  
• Backorder fill program may be utilized at any time to fill open backorders due to inventory becoming available by means other than the receiving process (e.g., order cancellations, returns, etc.)

• May be printed on plain or pre-printed stock
  
• Printed when order is taken, if within pre-defined timeframe (e.g., two days of shipment); holidays and weekends automatically taken into account
  
• Orders tested during nightly run to determine which tickets need to print for next day shipment
  
• Alternatively, barcode shipping labels may be used in conjunction with barcode scanning devices to facilitate pulling, staging and shipping customer orders; a shipping label for each item is printed in lieu of a Pick Ticket and affixed to items as they are pulled from inventory
  
• Pick tickets may be reprinted with necessary operator authority; identified as "REPRINT" on the ticket
  
• Order acknowledgments may be faxed to customers or printed at the customer site
  
• Customer service representatives may produce warehouse check or change forms
  
• Inventory in a branch may be used to fill an order generated in another branch. The Pick Ticket will print in the inventory branch, and a memo copy may be printed at the shipping location

• Status and location of roll goods and cuts available immediately in other DMS modules (e.g., Order Management)
  
• Sales orders are flagged for items being cut for review by customer service representatives and others
  
• A printed cut list identifies items to be processed; lift driver pulls rolls according to cut list and delivers to cutting machine
  
• Will call orders may be forced to highest priority for cutting purposes
  
• Cutting machine operator identifies roll by keyboard entry or barcode scan; associated information is automatically displayed for processing
  
• Cut items receive new tag number and barcode label
  
• Cuts moved to new bin location for staging and shipping
  
• Roll balances may have unique barcode label produced at cutting machine showing history
  
• If roll balance in system falls below a pre-determined size, system forces a measurement
  
• Operators may make inventory adjustments when damaged material is found
  
• Operators may change shipped quantity on a sales order if the roll balance falls short

• A printed pick list identifies items to be staged; lift driver pulls items rolls according to pick list and delivers to staging area
  
• Operator identifies staged items and updates sales orders by keyboard entry or barcode scan at fixed workstation in the staging area
  
• Status and location of staged goods available immediately in other DMS modules (e.g., Order Management)
  
• Will call orders may be held until the customer arrives for material

• Aging information reflected as a dollar or percentage value available online or in report form by company, location, product line and item
  
• Simple notation of discontinued goods facilitates reporting and online identification
  
• Inventory profitability, turns, earn/turn and item ranking analyses available online and via report by company, location, product line and item (SKU)

• Rebates (allowances) from manufacturer to distributor calculated based on cost of goods
  
• Rebates from distributor to dealer calculated based on selling price
  
• Manufacturer rebates segregated from profitability, sales, commission and other computations and analyses
  
• Reverse rebates (buying group rebates) from distributor to customer incorporated into profitability, sales, commission and other computations and analyses

• Selection criteria such as product ranges, bin sections or ranges, sizes, etc., may be used to generate count sheets
  
• Print quantity on hand, freeze inventory, and count quantity available are a few of the options for conducting physical inventories
  
• Counts may be noted by writing quantity on the count sheet, or by keying or scanning item barcode labels at a fixed workstation
  
• Order allocations may be changed or reassigned if count falls below allowcations
  
• Variance reports are generated after all counts are entered, and a re-count component allows for verification
  
• Final counts create adjustment

Purchasing applications facilitate ordering processes and forecasting of replenishment requirements:

• Purchase orders may be introduced by keying them into the system based on information supplied on the re-order report
  
• Purchase orders may be introduced by automatic generation through the online purchase order creation program
  
• Purchase orders may be introduced by automatic creation as a result of a backorder, special order, etc., being created in Order Management
  
• Purchase orders may be automatically created from an external inventory forecasting system
  
• Purchase orders may be delivered to the vendor in hardcopy form, by an operator via mail or facsimile, by facsimile directly from the system, or through electronic data interchange (EDI)
  
• DMS provides inventory forecasts based on a 12-month average, four months smoothed, 12 months exponentially smoothed, or frozen order points and quantities
  
• Exception reports flag items that could have exceptional sales that may not be repeated
  
• Monthly sales found to be exceptional and not likely to be repeated may be overridden
  
• Small lots are subtracted from available inventories in determining order quantities

Comprehensive pricing applications are designed specifically for the wholesale floor covering industry:

• Pricing may be defined by item and by customer
  
• Pricing at the product level provides ease of maintenance for baseline pricing; product pricing may be defined by branch
  
• Up to five prices and quantity breaks for cut and roll may be defined for each item
  
• Up to five prices and quantity breaks for cut and roll may be defined for each product line
  
• Up to five special prices may be defined at the item and product levels
  
• Customer pricing is defined as a price exception
  
• Customer pricing may be defined by referencing another customer's pricing record, level pricing or matrix pricing
  
• Buying groups and billing (display) codes may be defined to group customers or items into common pricing structures
  
• In calculating pricing, the system determines the lowest item price and the lowest customer price, compares the two and selects the best pricing for the customer
  
• Override options for item/product and customer special pricing are available

DMS provides a sophisticated process for routing daily transfers and deliveries:

• Unlimited delivery routes; up to six may be defined for each customer, and each ship to address for a customer may have up to six routes defined
  
• Up to seven days of the week may be defined as run dates
  
• A cut off day and time may be defined for each route to ensure sufficient time for material staging
  
• Time of day transferred material will be available may be defined
  
• Route by way of feature allows for moving material between locations by way of other location(s), providing extensive routing options
  
• Upon order entry, DMS automatically checks each route defined in the customer and ship to profiles to determine the next possible delivery date. If material is to be transferred, the location routing and by way of routing are considered
  
• Backorders, will advise orders and orders on credit hold are not routed until appropriate
  
• The DMS Routing module has an interface to Roadnet