VIP/WMS VIP/WMS is a highly flexible and customizable Visual Inventory Professional Warehouse Management System. Developed by Sigma Data Systems, Inc. in conjunction with Manfredi Cold Storage, VIP/WMS is based on 20 years of warehousing, distribution and information systems industry experience. Bringing together both practical and technical skills resulted in a software package that caters to end customer demands, keeps systems users productive and presents management with up to the moment information regarding operations. The software was designed to meet the real-life, complex needs of today’s warehousing services industry. VIP/WMS allows for a wide variety of warehousing types (chilled, frozen and dry) in a way that presents customers and system users with tailored screens, reports, and invoices. Fruit customers want to track their inventory by the point of origin, type and variety of the product. Frozen meat customers want to track by hundred weight. Dry warehouse customers are just concerned about cases and pallets. VIP/WMS allows the inventory for each type of customer to be tracked, reported and billed in the way that matches customer requirements. As far as the end customer is concerned VIP/WMS is designed just for their needs. Meeting end-customer requirements is essential in today’s competitive, mobile marketplace. However, a system must also be easy to use, quick to access required information and focused on the current operations of the warehouse. From the on-screen ‘scheduling notebook’ for booking inbound and outbound loads to the real time dock status display to user customizable lookup screens VIP/WMS keeps the needs of system users in the forefront. Clerical and warehouse personnel find VIP/WMS quick to learn and straight forward to use. Pricing for services and tracking business activity are top concerns for warehouse management. VIP/WMS has a pricing scheme that meets both typical charges such as load-in, recurring storage and load-out as well as user-definable billing items for customized services. The system allows for pricing to be specified for each customer and, if required, for each product or type of product warehoused for the customer. Reporting within the system keeps management informed of current activity, warehouse availability, open receivables, and customer activity trends. In addition, since the VIP/WMS uses an open database third party report writing software like Crystal Reports can be used to generate customized reports or to export data to Excel or other tools. The remainder of this document presents lists of system features organized by functional area within VIP/WMS. Give the extensive flexibility of the product not all features are listed. A working demonstration of the system can be provided to give a full picture of VIP/WMS and its abilities. Truck Scheduling - Inbound Loads and Outbound Loads Single user interface allows entry and scheduling of inbound and outbound loads. ‘Appointment Book’ format for scheduling presents an intuitive image of scheduled and open time slots. Active / real time truck status screen confirms current day activity for each truck. Pre-enter, based on customer notification, inbound or outbound expected loads. Floor load designation for inbound loads to prepare for palletizing. Multiple customers per truck allowed for inbound and outbound loads. Pre-enter pallet Ids for inbound or outbound loads, or enter the ids after the load is processed. Allocate outbound loads by selecting pallets, or automated allocation by lot number. System or customer supplied pallet numbers. User Interface Leads users from screen to screen as data is entered. Flow of screens and data matches business operations. ‘Heads down’ keying mode allows the user to perform all but a few system functions while keeping hands on the keyboard. Use of the mouse is convenient for some users but is not required On-screen help indicates function key assignment, field uses, required fields. Flexible data entry requires only the information specific to each customer and product. Flexible lookup allows user to specify the lookup key such as customer ID, name, or address for customer and to enter all or part of the value to find the desired data. System wide consistency to function keys, data lookup screens, and screen colors makes for quick training and rapid use of all parts of VIP/WMS. System wide hot-key to enter appointment scheduling mode. System Security User access specified for each system screen / menu options. Security level profiles allow for quick user setup and customization. Access allows for All Functions, Add / Change but no delete, Change / View, View Only, or None. User must supply ID confirmation to enter new functions to eliminate unauthorized use of the system on unattended workstations. Transaction Logging System automatically logs before and after images of key data with the user ID, date and time of the change. Warehouse activity history and billing history kept for as long as desired. Customer Setup Data for each customer is stored in its own folder to insure privacy and integrity of customer specific data. Terminology for product and inventory tracking definable for each customer. Up to 2 primary identifiers for inventory tracking (i.e. pallet, lot number). Up to 3 levels can be designated for product identification for a customer and those levels can be identified as required or not (i.e. point of origin, commodity, variety,). 10 additional customer specified fields can be defined and designated as required or not. User indicates which of the 15 customizable fields should show on inquires and Inbound and Outbound freight screens. 15 Standard reports are available for each customer including: Invoices Inbound and outbound worksheets Received Material Detail Inventory Detail Bill of Lading Pick Ticket Load Out Advice Each report can be customized and made specific to the needs of an individual customer. Reports can be specified for the customer as scheduled reports for daily or weekly generation. Default customer types supply standard values for reports and customizable fields to make customer setup easy. Product Setup Three level product hierarchy presented in an initial screen to allow for easy lookup of unique products and visual confirmation of full product designation. Product characteristics include quantity per pallet, gross weight, net weight, boxes per layer, density, required temperature, pricing code and others. Price for warehouse services can be designated specific to an individual product, shared by all products within a level of the product hierarchy or shared by all products for a customer. Pricing codes can be mixed within a customer and product hierarchy. Pick Code designation used during automated allocation of pallets for outbound loads. Pricing, Invoicing, Billing Price codes allow for shared pricing at any level (common pricing for multiple customers or for multiple products for multiple customers). Price codes can be specific to a single product from a single customer. Invoice frequency established for each price code allows for variable time spans between invoices by customer and / or product. Prorated billing for partial periods when billing is on a fixed calendar basis. Billing is based on number of pallets but amount billed can be calculated based on number of pallets, number of cases per pallet, amount of weight per pallet or amount of space taken. Each price code designation allows for: Up to 2 handling in charges billed at product receipt Up to 2 handling out charges billed independently either at receipt or at load out Handling In and Handling Out billed by pallet, cases, weight, or space Minimum billing amount for each pallet can be established Up to three storage periods and rates can be established per price code. Initial storage billed at time of product receipt, but can be 0. System automatically bills handling in, handling out for recurring storage. Recurring storage is billed at the start of each storage period. Invoices formats are customer specific and use customer designated terms for product and billed items. Billing can also be for recurring charges for reserved space regardless of material stored. Rates and billing codes for special services can be established and are billed when entered into the system. Work order billing allows for definition of services to be provided and billed by case or pallet. Work orders allocate pallets when required and track pieces completed for payments to employees. Invoicing is over selected date range and for selected services. Management / Operational Reports All reports can be reviewed on screen and/or printed. Most reports allow for the user to enter a customized set of criteria to select the desired data. The criteria are entered in plain English prompted format. These ad-hoc queries can be saved for future use. Truck log activity indicates the in and out times for trucks and special notes regarding loading or unloading the truck. Warehouse usage report shows warehouse space occupied by customer and indicates available space. Warehouse analysis reports customers by customer type and shows fees paid over time to gauge customer type and specific customer significance. A/R aging shows up to the minute value of open Accounts Receivable by aging category. Inventory detail by customer shows total warehoused inventory by product. Master file listings (customer, prices, products …) available for hard copy reference. Special Charges and Services listing by customer and date range for revenue analysis. Cash receipts journal over selected date range.