BarcodesInc System Helps Find Missing Items in a Warehouse

Stericycle Effectively Tracks and Locates Recalled Medical Equipment and Prescription Medication in their Warehouse using Motorola RFID Enabled Mobile Computers and Custom RFID Tags.

Executive Summary

The new solution replaces their current system of checking every single pallet to locate a missing package. Switching to a Motorola mobile computer allows them to quickly check their entire warehouse for the correct pallet that contains the package they are searching for.

The Business Challenge

Due to the chaotic nature of taking in and warehousing recalled items for manufacturers they work with, Stericycle has always struggled when trying to locate a specific recalled item returned from a specific customer.

Stericycle groups their returned recalled items by the manufacturers recall number, so several customers’ recalled items are going on the same pallet. Each recalled item is tied to a pallet and each pallet gets a shelf location in the warehouse. When a customer calls in to make sure their recalled item was received, it is supposed to be as easy as entering the customer’s item ID number into their inventory system and finding the pallet at the correct shelf location to verify that it was received. In reality, some packages get misplaced and in a large warehouse it ends up being like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

Stericycle has tried other solutions for being able to track down missing packages, but nothing has reliably been able to work because of the way their pallets are stacked and the density in which the pallets are placed on the shelving racks. At times they need to find a very small package that might be in the middle of a full pallet. If they couldn’t find a missing package after checking a few locations with their best guesses, they would have to systematically go through each pallet in their warehouse and inspect each package to find the item ID they were looking for. This would result in a lot of lost time and paid overtime.

Stericycle was in search of an effective and efficient way of tracking down missing packages.

Solution

After an onsite visit to test hardware in their environment, BarcodesInc recommended using the Motorola MC9090-G RFID reader with the new Sailfish RFID antenna. This new antenna allowed RFID tags that were placed on packages located in the middle of pallets to be read with ease. Using pre-encoded RFID tags ensured that each tag had a unique ID number. These tags were also printed with the ID as a barcode and a human readable number string so that the missing package could be identified several ways.

With this new solution, employees at Stericycle are able to enter the item ID into the RFID mobile computer and walk up and down the warehouse aisles constantly searching for the missing package. The mobile computer works like a Geiger counter, or a game of hot and cold, with it beeping more frequently the closer an employee gets to the missing package. This solution allows them alerts them that a missing package is on a specific pallet quickly and easily.

Benefits

For Stericycle this solution allows them to find missing packages in a fraction of the time which increases productivity and reduces costs. Being able to find packages quickly translates to better customer service as well, because ultimately they are trying to find these packages to verify to their customer that their recall has been received.

The Future

Stericycle is planning to expand the use of this system to other locations. We are also working with them on implementing forklift mounted RFID readers to this solution so that the item ID’s of missing packages can be entered into a database and as the forklifts are being operated they can be continuously looking for missing packages during normal daily work shifts.