looking for some ideas for inventory control

[spikerS]

I have been charged at work with coming up with a new form of inventory control, as devices from our data lab are constantly going missing.

was wondering if anyone could offer up some solutions as to a product that can at least help us trace an item down. The devices sit on a rack, and people are able to just grab them, and if they don't participate with the sign out program, we have no idea who took it. We need a way to make it so the user has no choice but to use the program.

Was thinking of a key lock system like they use for keys at dealerships, but have no idea what that is called. tried google searches, but came up empty, or only software inventory control.

TIA guys.

[QuasarCav]

How elaborate do you want to get?

Barcodes, RFID?

[spikerS]

we want to keep costs low, but we need to take the willingness to participate out. We just need to keep track of who has what at the the present moment in time. not concerned with who had it last kind of thing.

[n1zm0]

like QuasarCav said we use RFID key card here for our stores and calibrated tools, works great, deadbolted all the time as for keeping track of who has it, maybe barcoded so they must scan it out and it is recorded on a computer

[spikerS]

well that is an idea, if the user does not want to participate, and does not scan it and such, the control is useless. We are hoping to find something that will not allow a person to remove an item from the shelf unless they plug their code in, or unlock it with a key that will not release the key until the device is returned.

[Unknown303]

That sounding expensive to get it to a controlled situation like that. Bar codes is one of the best and easiest ways for signing out products with also because its so easy it usually increases peoples willingness to participate.

[QuasarCav]

Barcode scan outs with audits to ensure employee use. Do you have a person near the tools that could be responsible for tracking?

You can always implement the signout board but like you said it all depends on participation.

[boxer23]

how many people have access to the items?
where are the items located in the place of business?
what are these items used for?
is it possible for one person to have all of the items, and whomever needs them may go to that particular person?

[G-Suede]

Simple. Take these steps:

1. Physically secured area ie. locked. If you don't have physical security as a minimum starting point you might as well just quit while you're ahead and not waste more money.

2. RFID Gateway at all ingress/egress points of the secured area.

3. Passive RFID tags either securely attached to or inside of the evices.

4. Database connection to RFID Gateway to track inventory allocation.

Calculate the projected opportunity costs of inventory loss over a 5 year period and if it's greater than the RFID system then you have your answer.

Alternate Method:

1. Same a step 1 above. Lock the storage facility down.

2. Assign a couple gatekeepers that have keys.

3. Either a sign in/out log, or better yet a simple database.

[spikerS]

i was thinking of something like car dealerships used to use for car keys. each salesman was assigned a plastic "key". when the salesman needed a set of keys for a test drive, he would goto the key board, and plug his key in, and in turn unlock the second "key" that had the car keys attached to it, you could then remove the car keys, but the salesman's plastic key would stay in there, until the car keys were clicked back into the board, enableing the salesman's key to be removed.

if anyone knows what that product was called, it would be perfect. but having 1 person control the sign in out process is not possible, and there everyone has access to the room. but when we tried barcode scanning previously, we still had lazy people who would not scan an item, and never return it. We need to find a way to take the willingness to participate out of the equation...

[QuasarCav]

Originally posted by spikers
i was thinking of something like car dealerships used to use for car keys. each salesman was assigned a plastic "key". when the salesman needed a set of keys for a test drive, he would goto the key board, and plug his key in, and in turn unlock the second "key" that had the car keys attached to it, you could then remove the car keys, but the salesman's plastic key would stay in there, until the car keys were clicked back into the board, enableing the salesman's key to be removed.

if anyone knows what that product was called, it would be perfect. but having 1 person control the sign in out process is not possible, and there everyone has access to the room. but when we tried barcode scanning previously, we still had lazy people who would not scan an item, and never return it. We need to find a way to take the willingness to participate out of the equation...

Enforcement

[Davetronz]

Use laptop/electronics locks and only give out the keys to the particular lock/device if a ID card or license or something is given as deposit.

[MackDawg]

http://trakasystems.com/cgi-bin/data.pl?record=6

this might be something your looking for.