HP PC Series - Manual (Page 12)

HP iPAQ success story
Guidant Australia
The challenge
- Reduce the time needed to validate
consignment inventory
- Improve customer service
The solution
- HP iPAQ Pocket PC h3870, Ericsson T68 mobile
phone and Symbol Technologies SPS3000
barcode scanner
- HP ProLiant system, running SAP R/3 and Microsoft
SQL Server 2000
The results
- Stock validation time has been reduced by 80 percent
- Cost saving of approximately $350,000 in six months
of operation
- Faster delivery of equipment to customers
When Guidant Australia – the developer of world-leading cardiovascular
medical equipment – approached HP, it was facing serious problems with
its inventory control. About 70 percent of the company’s stock was released
to 80 hospitals across Australia and the mobile sales force had to manually
check 20,000 units from faxed copies of the stock inventory – a time
consuming process and one that made discrepancies difficult to reconcile.
The solution presented itself in the form of a Bluetooth ™ enabled HP iPAQ
Pocket PC and i.Scan, a custom-designed inventory management tool that
allows sales staff to validate the company’s stock instantly. A handheld
scanner is run across the barcode of each piece of equipment and the
data is transmitted to Guidant’s central database via a Bluetooth
™ enabled
mobile phone linked to the HP iPAQ. In just six months, this simple operation
saved Guidant Australia approximately $350,000 by reducing stock write-
offs, which have since fallen from three percent to one percent.
“Using the HP iPAQ system,
we are able to identify stock
that is nearing its expiry and
redeploy it to hospitals where
it has high usage.”
Mark Summerville
Business Manager
Guidant Australia
Guidant Australia streamlines its inventory control
and saves $350,000 thanks to the HP iPAQ