For an Intelligent Inventory Management

The logistics system by Balluff enables to automate inventory management, by continuously recording your stock levels, and automatically notifying you as soon as they fall below a threshold value. And sensors can be installed anywhere

Manual efforts in inventory recording and warehousing cost time, money and storage space. Therefore, Balluff developed the Smart Reordering System, a logistics system that enables intelligent and dynamic inventory management, either as a fully automated Kanban system or as a supplement to existing systems. The goal is to digitalize your entire intralogistics.If you produce according to the pull principle, you know how important it is to always have enough material in stock to be able to process orders. Stocks are often managed manually with Kanban cards or barcode solutions. Fixed time intervals regulate material provisioning on the part of logistics, making material replenishment inflexible. In addition, there are countless manual processes that make flexible inventory management and thus dynamic production impossible. All this leads to inefficient inventory management and high buffer stocks, which take up space and tie up capital. The advantage of the Smart Reordering System lies in automating inventory management according to your requirements.

The stock situation is always updated

This logistics system by Balluff automatically notifies you as soon as your stock levels fall below the threshold values you have previously defined in terms of your optimal material flow. This means that you are not bound by fixed time intervals, but still always have enough stock on hand. Your current stock situation is clearly displayed on the dashboard at all times. Notifications when stock levels fall below your defined thresholds are displayed either directly in the dashboard or as an e-mail notification. Further notification options are available on request, as is the connection of the Smart Reordering System to your ERP systems. With the help of sensors, the logistics system monitors stock levels and automatically notifies you of bottlenecks. 

The various steps for operation

First of all, you have to place a sensor at the material location. As a rule, you only need one. The sensor is battery-operated and communicates via radio, so wiring is not necessary. Then, put the gateway into operation by connecting it to an electrical outlet to provide power. The connection between the gateway and the cloud app can be flexibly established via either LTE or Ethernet over a wired network. Last step: set up the cloud application. The setup wizard guides you through the commissioning process quickly and easily. In addition, the system can be linked to your ERP system via standard APIs. Whether at Kanban shelves, assembly workstations, pallet storage locations or delivery and pick-up points, the sensors of the logistics system can be installed anywhere and continuously record the material stocks. Vendor-Managed Inventory is also easy to implement with the Smart Reordering System.