Place your tag flat on a horizontal surface, with the scanner held above it and pointing more or less straight down toward it.
The edge of the tag should be at approximately a 45° angle to the scan line so that the scanner cannot read any barcodes.
Position the barcode to be read directly under the scan line, and centred so
that the barcode and scan line form an 'X'.
Rotate the tag so the barcode and scan line are aligned with one another.
You should hear the scanner beep and see the scan line vanish as the code is acquired.
By presenting the tag at an angle you prevent the scanner from reading any barcode until you have it positioned properly.
By turning the tag to present the barcode properly once the scan line is centered over it, you ensure that particular barcode, and only that barcode, is the one the scanner reads.
Now you know how it works you can do it freehand without the benefit of a
flat surface, and with the scanner positioned at more acute angles.
This method can also be used with a handheld scanner by holding the scanner at an angle to the tag, and twisting the scanner after centering its scan line.
With a trigger operated scanner you will have to press the trigger to show the scan line.
A triggerless scanner will begin showing the scan line as soon as it senses the presence of the tag.
How can I ship or sell part of a serialised bundle ?
Your serialised tag represents a discrete quantity of inventory.
Whereas the 'Form' function allows you to alter the quantity being consumed,
the 'Ship' function does not, and insists that the entire quantity be sent.
In order to dispose of only part of the quantity, you can use the 'Manual Tag' process:
- Call up the tag by serial number.
- Change the quantity to the number that will remain in inventory after the shipment.
- Click 'Change' to update the tag.
- Clear the serial number to blank.
- Change the quantity to show what you will ship or sell.
- Click 'Add New' to create a new serial number for this quantity.
Either print the new tag, or make a note of the new serial number so you can use it in the shipping process to create a document and remove it from inventory.
How do I record coil use when milling tubing ?
A variety of different situations present themselves depending on how
you choose to operate the system.
- You are using the whole coil in one step
- This is the default mode of operation, where 100% of the coil will
be consumed to create the number of standard bundles plus the odd lot
bundle and any scrap.
Make sure the 'Percent Used' box is 100.
The 'Calculate' box should be empty.
If you do not supply a weight per tube then one will be calculated
based on coil weight and production, and the yield will be 100%.
If you do supply a standard weight per tube then the coil will be
completely used and a yield will be calculated based on the ratio
of tubing produced to coil consumed.
- You are using only part of the coil
- You can estimate a percentage of the coil used and enter it in the box,
in which case the processing will be just like above except that only
part of the coil will be used.
An alternative is to supply a weight per tube, and check the 'Calculate' box.
The computer will calculate how much of the coil was consumed based on
the weight of tubing produced.
- You are using the last of the coil
- Do this just like using the whole coil in one step as described above.
Make sure the percentage used is 100 and the 'Calculate' box is unchecked.
The entire remaining weight of the coil will be used to produce the
quantity of tubing described.
- I want to wipe out a coil remnant from inventory
- Use the 'Manual Tag' process to change the quantity on hand to zero.
Yield calculated on a coil or work order basis will be adversely
affected if the coil quantity is manually altered rather than
being used up within the 'Mill' process.
How do I record an offcut when cutting tubing ?
Let us assume a scenario by way of example to illustrate how this can be done.
We have ten bundles of 54 pieces, each 288 inches long, and we want to cut them into bundles of 48 pieces, each 46.75 inches long.
Each piece to be cut will yield 6 pieces, and each bundle to be cut will
yield 4 and 1/2 bundles of 46.75 inch pieces.
We are going to make a total of 800 pieces of this size, which will be
16 bundles of 48 pieces each, plus one bundle of 32 pieces.
- We enter the data for the first bundle to cut
- Assign a work order number for the entire cutting process.
Put in the serial number for the first bundle to cut.
The quantity to cut will be 54.
Put in the bundle size to be cut, which will be 48.
Put in the length of piece to be cut, which will be 46.75.
Put in the pieces per cut, which will be 6: each time you cut a 288
inch piece, you get 6 pieces 46.75 inches long plus a 7 inch piece
that goes into scrap.
If you wanted to use the 7 inch pieces, then you could assign them
a bundle size on the line below, with one piece per cut.
A good bundle size would be 1000, which would allow you to simply
accumulate the offcuts in a box and print an odd lot tag for the
entire quantity at the end.
- Make tags for the first cut bundle
- When you 'Cut tube and make tags' for this bundle, several things
will happen:
Four tags will print.
A serial number will appear on your first line, along with a piece
count of 24.
The quantity of the original bundle being cut will drop to 0.
When you cut 54 pieces 288 inches long into 46.75 inch pieces you
ended up with 216 pieces.
Of these, 192 went to make 4 bundles of 48, for which tags were
printed, and the balance of 24 were assigned to the unprinted tag
waiting for you to make more to add to it before it gets printed.
- Make tags for the next bundle
- Put in the next serial to cut, and click the button at the bottom
to cut and print tags.
This time you will get five tags, and there will be no part bundle
left, since the 24 pieces from the previous cut and the 24 odd
pieces from this cut go to make exactly one more bundle, hence
five tags instead of four.
- Make tags for another complete bundle
- Put in the next serial number to cut and click the button.
The result will be just like the first time.
- Make tags for your last bundle
- Put in the serial number to cut.
This time, change the quantity to cut at the top from 54 to 25.
We have already cut 13 full bundles of 48, with 24 pieces left over,
making a total of 648 pieces, so we need 152 more to make our 800
total.
At 6 pieces per cut, we need to cut just over 25 pieces.
We can cut a part piece, as we will see below, but for now we are
using a cutting pattern for whole pieces, and we are only going to cut
25 whole pieces.
If you are making a tag for the 7 inch scrap, then mark the
odd lot tag box on the line for the 7 inch scrap cut.
Do not mark the odd lot tag box on the line for the 46.75 inch
pieces.
When you cut tube and make tags this time, you will get three tags
(four if you asked for a tag for the scrap) and will have 30 left
as an odd lot.
- Finish the job
- To cut only part of a length, change the quantity to cut to 1.
If you have a line on the cutting pattern for the 7 inch scrap,
then change its pieces per cut to 0.
Add a new line to the cutting pattern for the 2/3 of a length that
will be left over.
It will have a pieces per cut of 1 and a length of 194 inches.
Change the pieces per cut for the 46.75 inch line to 2.
Put a mark in the odd lot tag of the 46.75 inch line.
If you want to tag the 194 inch offcut, then also mark the odd lot
tag box on its line.
If you do not mark it, then a serial will still be produced for it
and it will be in the inventory records, but it won't have a tag.
Cut tube and make tags.
You should get one tag for 32 pieces 46.75 inches long.
If you marked the odd lot for the offcut then you will have a tag for
it as well.
You should have 28 pieces left in the final bundle that was being cut.
How do I install a new bar code printer?
Several options are available to you depending upon the type of
printer:
- Your printer has an internal network interface:
-
- Plug your printer into your LAN.
- With reference to your printer manual, configure your printer with
a static IP on your LAN.
- Configure your firewall to pass through port 9100 to the internal
fixed IP for your new printer.
Note: any port can be used, but 91xx (ie. 9100, 9101, 9102 ...)
is recommended:
these ports are normally used for print services.
- Call or email to inform us of the IP for your firewall and the port
you are using for the printer.
We will configure our system with an id for your new printer so your
login can use it.
- Your printer is a USB or serial printer:
-
- You will need a compatible print server or alternately
you can use a suitable printer port on your firewall.
Many firewalls do not incorporate a printer port, but some do.
- With reference to the manual for your print server (or firewall device),
configure the print server (or firewall printer port) with a static
IP.
- Configure your firewall to pass port 9100 through to the fixed IP for
your new printer.
- Call or email to inform us of the IP for your firewall and the port you
are using for the printer so we can configure our system.
- Your printer is a parallel printer
-
- You can connect it using a print server (see above), OR
- You can try using the following experimental method:
- Connect your parallel printer to the printer port (LPT1:) on your
computer.
- Install your printer as a generic, text only printer on LPT1:
- Call or email to inform us of the IP for your firewall and that you
are using an attached parallel printer so we can configure our system
for the new printer.
- The first time you print a barcode label through the system to your
new printer you will be asked to accept a Java applet from IBIS Inc.
In order to use your printer in this mode, you must trust and accept
the applet.
If you do not wish to trust the applet then you must use a print server
instead.
We can assist you with configuration and handle all of the setup, provided
that
- You are able to configure your firewall to temporarily give us
administrative access to it from our WAN IP.
- Your firewall is one we are familiar with or for which we have
adequate documentation available online.
- Your network printer interface or your print server is one we are
familiar with or for which we have adequate documentation available
online.
- You recognise and accept that these are billable service tasks.
If your firewall is administered by a third party, then if you introduce us
by phone or email to your firewall administrator, we can detail the particulars
of the firewall reconfiguration necessary to make your printer work.
We can usually remotely reconfigure your print server or networked printer
to a static IP if you are unsure how to do it yourself, provided we have
adequate access through your firewall for this purpose.
Configuration our system to interface to your first bar code printer is
included in the setup fee for access to your space on our system.
Any work involving configuration of your firewall, print server
or networked printer, or advice on configuring your PC operating system to
install a printer, or configuration on our system of additional printers
beyond the first, is an extra and billable service.
If you have support contracts with third parties you are encouraged to make use
of them in order to avoid being charged by us for overlapping services.
There is no reason why you should pay twice, and we want you to avoid
incurring unneccessary costs, but if you use our professional services
to support your end of the network, then it seems only reasonable that we should
be paid for providing those services.
