Glenn International stays mobile with TRAVERSE

What do you do when you need mobile device capabilities in your warehouse, but don’t want to be tied to a system that only works on expensive specialized mobile equipment? With the growing selection, increasing quality, and falling prices of consumer tablets and mobile devices, shouldn’t you be able to find a warehouse system that supports those widely available products? When Glenn International needed to update their warehouse operation, Open Systems set out to show them just how inexpensive and accessible such a solution could be.

A History of Growth and Innovation

Glenn International is the leading supplier of electrical, lighting, and telecom equipment for the Caribbean and Central America.

Recognized as experts in the field of electrical construction products for over 70 years, Glenn Associates was founded in 1927 in Atlanta, Georgia. Glenn International, Inc. was incorporated in Puerto Rico in 1967, and in 1971 the first office and warehouse opened.

Glenn International continued to flourish for decades, and in 1995 construction began on the Glenn International headquarters in Puerto Rico, where the company still does business today. 65 employees currently keep the company humming with locations in the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica.

An Opportunity for Efficiency

As Glenn moved into the 21st century, its aging warehouse technology needed to be updated. “The warehouse used old hardware technology with minimal space on screens,” says Ricardo Rios, Project Manager with Glenn International. “We needed to improve our warehouse and ERP integration through the use of the latest technologies.”

To create a new vision of how a mobile warehouse should operate, the Solution Services Group at Open Systems Puerto Rico deployed the TRAVERSE Enterprise Warehouse Management Solution. “The idea was to keep functionality high and costs low,” says Open Systems Executive Business Consultant and Project Lead Gilberto Faisca.

On the Floor

Rather than employing expensive equipment limited to warehouse scanning and information retrieval, Open Systems created a system to seamlessly link with iPads outfitted with Bluetooth scanners. The result is easily obtainable and inexpensive consumer-grade equipment easily upgraded to enterprise-level functionality.

“With mounting brackets, tablets, and scanners, the total cost per mobile system can be far less than typical specialized scanner solutions” added Open Systems Manager of Project Delivery Services Adam Brister.

The result is a tough, floor-ready warehouse solution with familiar technologies that provides seamless inventory management and tracking with their TRAVERSE system. Glenn International is pleased with the results and happy to be utilizing the newest technology at a fraction of the cost of traditional solutions.

To the Boardroom and Beyond

TRAVERSE also immediately broke through the information wall, making real-time information accessible throughout the company, from the shop floor to the president’s office. “TRAVERSE provides visibility into the the whole ERP process through the company, from the users to the top management,” says Rios. “Anyone who needs it has access to inventory, sales, expenses, top customers, top items, and budget information.”

Interactive views and dashboards also provide easily configurable insights into the information that Glenn International employees need. “Our users are very tech knowledgeable,” says Rios, “so the interactive views have been the preferred tool to analyze the data on a daily basis.”

Glenn International also takes advantage of Info-Alerts to stay notified of critical aspects of the sales order process, inventory levels, purchasing notices, general ledger expenses, and budget limits. Instead of watching for problems, the critical levels are proactively reported before they become issues.

Result? Win!

The final verdict by the people using the TRAVERSE Enterprise Warehouse Management Solution? “The users at Glenn International are very enthusiastic!” says Lyderma Flores, Warehouse Manager. “The use of iPads has injected a lot of energy to the process.”

From the front lines on the shop floor to the bottom line in the budget, Open Systems has helped Glenn International achieve excellent cost/benefits compared to other software packages and specialized equipment. Glenn stands ready to put its mark on another 70+ years of electrical, lighting, and telecom innovation and service.