The apparel group has been trialling new bluetooth-enabled technology developed by logistics firm Dematic in association with scanner suppliers Motorola and softwear specialist Bizcom. Just Group project manager Daniel Dunstan said the technology, called RapidStocktake, reduces the time of a typical stocktake from three hours to less than 60 minutes.
“Not counting the time we save by not having to physically connect the Smart Scanners to the point of sale register at the start and end of the process, we expect average labour savings of around four man hours per store. With two stocktakes across close to 1000 stores each year, that should deliver significant cost savings for the group,” Dunstan said.
“Not only that, with the new stocktaking process typically requiring less than an hour to complete, we have also been able to open our stores on the day of stocktake by 9.30am instead of around 10.30am in the past. Across our network of stores we believe the extra trading hours could generate significant additional sales.”
The RapidStocktake technology replaces Just Group's use of portable data terminals with laser scanners. While the old terminals had to be connected to each store's point of sale system at the commencement and conclusion of stocktake to download and upload data, the new handsets are able to transfer data wirelessly.
Dunstan said the replacement of laser scanners with image scanners in the portable Rapid Stocktake handsets was also a time saver for the company as “the image scanners are much more forgiving than laser scanners”. The reduction of the weight of handsets from 15 kilograms to six kilograms each is expected to reduce the freight associated with stocktakes “by around a third or more”, Dunstan added.
The new stocktake technology is now available to other retailers, with Demantic claiming “a number” of companies are currently testing it.
Just Group labels include Dotti, Just Jeans and Portmans.
Erin O'Loughlin