Taking HandHeld Inventory

Note: This feature requires both of the following modules licensed at your site:

● Chemical Inventory

● HandHeld Inventory

When you take handheld inventory, you use a handheld scanner device to scan the bar-codes of all lots at one or more locations. When you upload the scanned bar-codes to Comply Plus, it compares each lot's recorded location against the location where it was scanned and updates its recorded location accordingly.

Before you take handheld inventory, you must set up and configure your system for it. This entails the following actions:

● Physical/equipment preparation: Print and attach bar-code labels for all lots you want to scan (see Printing Lot Labels) and acquire one or more compatible handheld scanner devices with docking cradles (see Administration: HandHeld Inventory).

● In Comply Plus, define each device as a handheld device (see Managing HandHeld Devices).

● In Comply Plus, define each workstation to serve as a device docking station as a DSM (Data Station Manager) and assign all devices to be docked here (see Managing DSMs).

● Install the Sphera Data Station Manager application on each workstation defined as a DSM (see Installing/Configuring the DSM Application).

After these steps are complete, you can take handheld inventory using the procedure below. After you take handheld inventory, you can take the additional step of running the Physical Inventory Wizard on the location(s) where you took inventory. Because taking handheld inventory enters at least one transaction for every lot scanned, any lots with no transaction activity during the inventory-taking period might be absent from inventory; the Physical Inventory Wizard can identify, deplete, deactivate these lots to remove obsolete lots from your active lot records. For details, see Taking Physical Inventory.

To take handheld inventory:

Note: Before you begin this procedure, ensure the following conditions are met:

● The handheld device to be used is docked in its cradle.

● On this workstation, the Data Station Manager application is open.

Starting at the Application Administration page (How do I get there?), do the following:

1. In the menu on the left, under INVENTORY > HandHeld Inventory Manager, do either of the following:

● Click Manage HandHeld Devices. In the HandHeld Devices List, in the Action column, click the edit () icon of the device you are using to take inventory.

● Click Site Overview. In the tree of your site's DSMs and their assigned handheld devices, click the name of the device you are using to take inventory.

The Edit HandHeld Device display opens, showing the device's current properties.

2. Click Assign a Location. In the location tree, that opens, select the location where you are about to take inventory and click OK.

The handheld device's Assigned Location shows the correct location.

3. In the Data Station Manager application, click Refresh.

The Device User ID column shows your handheld device. Adjacent to it, the Assigned Location column shows the location you selected at step 2.

4. Perform a HotSync operation with your HandHeld Device.

The HotSync executes and completes.

5. Take the handheld device from its cradle. On the device, open the Lot Assistant application and make sure the correct assigned location appears at top of its display.

6. Use the device to scan the bar-code labels of all lots at the assigned location.

Each bar-code you scan appears on the device’s Lot Assistant display. (To remove—that is, un-scan—a scanned bar-code, select it and tap Delete.)

7. When all lots at the location are scanned, put the device back in its cradle and perform a HotSync operation.

The HotSync executes and completes.

8. In the Data Station Manager application, click Poll Now.

Inventory data is uploaded to Comply Plus, which automatically enters one of the following transaction activities for each scanned lot, depending on whether the lot's recorded current location matches the location where it was scanned:

● Lot's recorded current location matches (or is a sub-location within) the selected location where it was scanned: Comply Plus enters an "HH Scan" No Operation transaction in the lot's transaction history. This transaction confirms the lot's presence and unchanged location, and has no effect on the lot's running balance.

● Lot's recorded current location is outside the selected location where it was scanned: Comply Plus enters an "HH Out" Transfer Out / "HH In" Transfer In transaction pair in the lot's transaction history. These two transactions correct the lot's recorded current location by transferring it to the selected location where it was scanned.

If any of the uploaded bar-codes do not match any lot numbers in your system, a text report listing these unknown bar-codes automatically opens.

9. When the upload is complete, return to Comply Plus and repeat steps 2-8 for each location where you want to take inventory with this device.

Note: Some lots in your system might not be scanned during this process. If this indicates these lots are no longer in inventory, consider running the Physical Inventory Wizard on the appropriate location(s) to deactivate any absent and obsolete lot records. For details, see Taking Physical Inventory.