Digital Inventory
for DOD, USTRANSCOM, Department of State Moves
All US DOD and department of state moves are handled according to a set of standard procedures.
Here are the main steps:
What makes it challenging is the frequency with which these types of transferees move – some of them once every 2 years. Regardless of the original quality of the furniture the stress it gets subjected to makes it challenging to make it arrive at destination in the same condition it left its left point of origin. And the seasonal nature of military moves means that subcontractors are used and there is no way to license their devices. The mechanics are the same around the world. Here are the main steps:
With at least one export and one import customs authorities to deal with, along with different languages, custom regulations and third-party carriers and intermediaries, it’s hard to underestimate the importance of a tight packing inventory control process. At a minimum, there are 2 points of inventory transfer in a described process and traditionally very little computer power controlling the process. And that leads to all sorts of trouble – from the “missing pieces” to missing liftvans and fraudulent damage claims.
How do we know all this?
Because some of the largest DOD movers have turned to Voxme to help set up a digital, barcode based inventory control system to help them be as efficient as possible given the increased volumes, raising insurance costs and US TRANSCOM mandate for electronic inventories.
What Voxme system does is blend the right doze of technology into the established process. In practical terms it means:
Printing labels for the crews going to pickups
Dispatching inventory jobs to the crews’ tablets and smartphones – that’s right, smartphones. No need to buy any special equipment.
Allowing the pickup crews to label boxes and furniture and quickly create a packing list with the sufficient level of content details, preexisting damage descriptions and photos to avoid insurance claims.
Adding item details such as member progear, spouse member progear, high risk/high value items, firearms.
Allowing the crew to create a list of liftvans with all the details including seal number and photos.
Printing more labels in the warehouse when the crews come back from pickup.
Allowing multiple crews to add to the same inventory on successive days whilst allowing the transferee and the office to see the up-to-date inventory at any time.
Scanning pieces into liftvans and printing full size liftvan labels with all relevant shipping info.
Scanning liftvans into their warehouse locations.
Scanning liftvans out of the warehouse into a container or to a trucking company.
Scanning liftvans into the next hub.
Dispatching delivery jobs to the destination agent for electronic delivery bingo check-off.
Does it mean that you have to do all of the above?
Absolutely not. You can start with simple digital inventory and go from there. Talk to us and we’ll help you add efficiency and control to your established paper based processes. That’s what we’ve been doing for the last 20 years.