Cycle Your Way to a Healthy Warehouse With Eclipse Distribution Software

We all know that exercise is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. And, we know that cycling is a great form of exercise that can improve cardiovascular health and physical condition. But, did you know that cycling can also be healthy for your warehouse?
In Eclipse, you can feel as if you’re in  a never-ending cycle of déjà vu. Your warehouse team tries to pull the same item multiple times from the same ticket, and they probably don’t even realize it. That’s because in Eclipse, after you try to pull an order and backorder it, the ticket prints again. But, oftentimes, someone else gets the ticket and the cycle repeats itself. 
So, how do you avoid all of this repetitious, error-iffic nonsense? Surprise, surprise: go cycling! When you cycle count, you’re basically checking up on your inventory on a regular basis, so what Eclipse says you have in stock is actually what’s in the warehouse. This way, you won’t be trying to ship product that doesn’t exist; and, quite possibly, items will actually be in their proper places most of the time. Cycle counting also eliminates the need for you and your team to slug through a stressful and difficult annual physical inventory. 
There are several steps to executing the cycle counting process, which should be done each day. We recommend that you: 

1. Stop the paper flow before you count. 
2. Find someone reliable to count. 
3. Get a cycle count sheet from your system (i.e. Eclipse).
4. Count from sheet to shelf, starting with primary locations and moving to secondary and overflow locations. 
5. Place labels in each location indicating where the secondary and overflow locations are. 
6. If desired, use cycle counting as an opportunity to restock. 
7. Note discrepancies between the actual stock and the system. 
8. Adjust the system to reflect actual stock. Eventually, you shouldn’t have any discrepancies. 

We recommend you count each item at least quarterly. By taking the number of days you have to count in a year and multiplying it by four, you’ll come up with a number for your daily count. 
From an Eclipse perspective, these apply mostly to paper warehouses (vs. RF). And, cycle counting is even simpler than what’s outlined above. Eclipse cycle counting tracks by what is short-shipped through the warehouse. So, if you ship 10 but needed to pull 12, then the item goes to a count. Thus, you can count the short picks. You can also manually generate a row or counts by priceline. Or, you can do them at random via the Generate Random Counts option. 

If your warehouse is on RF, you can skip step 1 because the system can count in real time. It will also track additional information, such as improper moves and negative items.
Because Eclipse has built-in cycle counting functionality, it’s very straightforward and inexpensive for you to begin these steps. Typically, your location(s) should only require a few system tweaks and some minimal training. For the benefits you’ll see from cycle counting, this minor investment can pay for itself in a matter of days. If you started cycling for exercise, it would take much longer than that to see results! Yet, you might be shocked to find out how many distributors don’t practice this key to overall warehouse health. 
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If you would like to hear more about this and other Eclipse distribution software tricks, speak to a specialist at Zerion today!