Motorola AP 5131 - Wireless Access Point User manual

Case Study
Keells Super uses Motorola for
real-time inventory of goods
“Our aim is to be the most technologically advanced
retail chain in the South Asian Region and offer our cus-
tomers excellent customer service. With our new stock-
counting system, using Motorola’s MC3000 mobile
computers, we have achieved effective, efficient stock
reconciliation and greater time and cost savings for the
company.”
- Nalaka Umagiliya
Assistant Vice President - JKH Group
Head of Business Systems - Consumer Foods and Retail Group,
John Keells Holdings PLC
Company Overview
Keells Super is one of the largest super market chains in Sri Lanka. It is a
subsidiary of John Keells Holdings PLC, a Sri Lankan blue chip conglomerate.
Traditionally, it has a reputation for being the most technologically
advanced supermarket chain in the country. Keells Super’s many
technology firsts have included integrated POS solutions, online shopping
(www.keellssuper.com), intranets, Enterprise Resource Planning (SAP),
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with loyalty programs and
automated SMS alerts on key performance indicators (KPIs).
The Challenge: Improving the effectiveness and efficiency of
the stock taking and reconciliation process
In a single Keells Super store, there are between 12,000 – 15,000 individual
items for sale. The IT team wanted to improve both the efficiency and
accuracy of the stock taking process. So they explored ways of adopting a
fully automated process to replace their manual stock taking and verification
process. In particular, Keells Super wanted to take advantage of mobile
computing combined with Wi-Fi technology. The team worked with
Crosspoint Business Solutions to help implement a new stock verification
system using MC3000 mobile computers working on a Wi-Fi network,
across 30 supermarket stores.
In the past, Keells Super had used its entire staff for eight days to complete a
single stock count. So for eight days there was a black hole on inventory when
staff did not have an accurate idea of what was in the store. Staff were also
spending a great deal of time actually doing the count.
Customer Profile
Company
Keells Super
– JayKay Marketing
Services (Pvt) Ltd.
Location
Sri Lanka
Industry
Grocery retail
Products
Motorola MC3000
mobile computers,
AP-5131 access points
Partner
Crosspoint Business
Solutions
1 CASE STUDY Keells Super

This caused delayed reconciliation, posting and
stock re-ordering. Inevitably, the result was poor
customer service and poor supply chain
management since purchasing and re-ordering was
delayed for seven to eight days which often led to a
shortage of stocks.
Keells Super also wanted to get all 30 stores
enabled with Wi-Fi, so the entire solution could be
driven from a wireless backbone.
The Solution: Real-time access to
information and stock taking using
Motorola MC3000 mobile computers
and AP-5131 wireless access points
Keells Super developed a real-time solution with
Crosspoint based on Motorola MC3000 mobile
computers, and the new mobile stock verification
system was deployed across the Keells Super
chain. It is a wireless stock take and verification
system linked to SAP (ERP) which is the backend.
Motorola’s MC3000 mobile computers are small,
lightweight and rugged for applications requiring
high-quality data capture and high-performance
real-time computing. Using the MC3000 to scan
the barcodes on each stock keeping unit (SKU),
the data collected is transferred to the SAP system
in real time, which does all the data manipulation
and reporting.
At the same time, this wireless stock count and
verification system makes it possible to do conduct
stock count anywhere in the supermarket using
Motorola wireless access points. Simple to deploy,
the Motorola AP-5131 access points offer 802.11a/
b/g wireless networking flexibility, the latest wired
and wireless security standards, and the speed
required to support the most demanding
applications, including voice and video.
The new system uses around 120 units of MC3000
mobile computers and wireless infrastructure of 60
access points including Motorola AP-5131 and oth-
ers. Keells Super is planning to open 120 supermar-
ket outlets with this system in the next three years.
The Benefits: Accuracy, overall
efficiency, reduced operating costs
and enhanced productivity
As a direct result of installing this new stock taking
and verification system, Keells Super has improved
the accuracy of its stock taking and reduced its
operating costs. The use of wireless MC3000
mobile computers in particular improved
productivity as staff no longer needed to return to a
central processing point and the data is transferred
instantly across the wireless network.
Initially, the new system helped reduce the time to
do a stock take from eight to three days and this
has now been reduced further to two days with
more refined processes. From these two days only
one day is taken for the actual mobile computer
based stock count; the remaining day is taken for
other documentation and manual work.
Operating cost has been reduced dramatically,
as the whole workforce no longer needs to be
involved in the stock take and it takes a fraction of
the time, saving about US$53,000 per year at this
level of operation. Accurate visibility of the
available stock has also improved significantly.
Managers are now able to plan more effectively,
keep stock levels at just the right levels and
allocate staff resources more appropriately, all
of which helps to provide a better experience for
Keells Super customers.
Solution
Using MC3000 to scan
the barcodes on each
stock keeping unit
(SKU), the data collected
is transferred to the SAP
system in real time.
At the same time, this
wireless stock count
and verification system
makes it possible to do
conduct stock count
anywhere in the
supermarket
through Wi-Fi.
Benefits
• Improved
information accuracy
• Reduced
operating costs
• Enhanced productivity
and availability
• No disruptions to
the sales process
• Better customer
experience
Future Enhancements
• Portable point of
sale system
• Accessing the SAP
client from the device
and do receiving
using Motorola
MC3000 mobile
computers
• Tracking stock
availability in the
back store
• Tracking of product
locations within the
store
2 CASE STUDY Keells Super
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