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Pharmaceutical distribution Smith Drug Company


DCs providing service to 18 South Eastern states, Smith Drug’s Randy McConnell was concerned about the ability to sustain productivity and performance amid rapid growth. This prompted the company to contact Vocollect back in 2005. “When we first contacted Vocollect six years ago they didn't try to sell me a whole new system; they set out to ensure their system fitted my existing system and my business,” explained McConnell. “At that time – before the later


Randy McConnell:


“When you don’t send out errors that means a lot to our customers and to our business.”


specifically manage the Smith Drug’s data centre in Spartanburg. The company relies on several types of Dell PC and server, together with Cisco 2800 and 2900 series routers. This equipment is used both to store, receive, backup and supply data to/from back-office equipment such as the company’s IBM iSeries ERP system, Vocollect VoiceLink software or the Motorola handhelds in the field. For general printing tasks, HP laserjet CM2320 3000 series printers are used in the Spartanburg DC, while, for shipping labels, Zebra 140 and 170 series printers are in regular service.


Sustaining productivity and performance amid rapid growth


One of the biggest IT investments for Smith Drug in recent years was the decision to source a Vocollect Voice-directed system back in 2005. With three strategically located


www.logisticsit.com October 2011


MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS


IT 7


implementation of iSeries ERP – our main IT system was a large IBM mainframe and we didn’t use File Transfer Protocol (FTP). I soon learnt that, by utilising FTP, I would be able to use Vocollect’s VoiceLink software without needing a true WMS system. And by using this software I realised I would be able to use FTP


even while continuing to use our large IBM mainframe.”





… before the later


implementation of iSeries ERP our main IT system was a large IBM mainframe and we didn’t use File Transfer Protocol (FTP). I soon learnt that, by utilising FTP, I would be able to use Vocollect’s VoiceLink software without needing a true WMS system.”


Before sourcing VoiceLink, Vocollect’s Voice interface software, and Vocollect hardware, together with the accompanying Vocollect SR Voice headsets, Smith Drug regularly experienced errors even after verification barcode scans. “In a week’s time, we would have thousands of dollars of customer- reported errors,” remembered McConnell. “Errors in picking pharmaceuticals are very expensive, running anywhere from a dollar or two up to $10,000, and the profit margin for a DC is razor-thin. It doesn’t take too many $10,000 bottles lost to eat up profits. It was obvious that we had to move fulfilment away from a paper system. That was holding us back; keeping us from reaching the kind of productivity and service goals we knew we were capable of.”


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