Scanner manuals

This document will provide a user guide to how the scanner is best used, some inner workings of the scanner and explanations on what happens when. The last section of this document will be an FAQ section where answers will be given to common questions. If you have any questions regarding the usage of the Track and Trace 2.0 scanner that are not answered in this document, please contact us.

The following section is an in depth explanation of how to use the scanner. Depending on the permissions for the logged in user the set of actions available can vary, this section describes all actions available in the scanner but if some buttons are missing for you it depends on the permission settings for your user.

When using the scanner the screen is divided into a set of different areas displaying information reagarding the scanner status and the operations possible to perform.

1. In the titlebar the currently chosen store is shown in bold. The first time the scanner is started this might show as undefined which is ok, this will be corrected once synchronized.
2. Following the chosen store is the currently logged in user
3. The round icon in the top right corner is the Menu icon. Tapping this icon will open the Settings Menu
4. To the right of the logged in user is two square brackets [ ] containing the numer of transactions waiting for synchronization
5. In the center of the screen are all the function buttons that will activate all the actions that can be performed from the Scanner. An in depth description of theese actions is given in the following sections of this document
6. The status bar in the bottom of the screen will display status messages such as “Synchronization successful” or “Scanner Offline”

The first screen that is shown to the user when starting the Scanner App is the login screen. Here you enter your username and pin-code as supplied by the Track and Trace 2 administrators.

The users and pincodes are currently imported from Maximos PERSON registry.

Clicking on the Menu icon in the top right corner of the screen once logged in will open the Settings Menu. From here you can change the user settings, force a resync of the scanner and log out.

The first option in the Settings Menu is where you select another store. Doing this will automatically resync the scanner and download the store contents for the chosen store instead of the currently active store. For every operation it is very important to make sure that the currently selected store is the store you're currently working in, otherwise the scan history in the system will be wrong.

The second option is to select the language for the app. The currently available lanuages are:

• Svenska (Swedish)

Changing this option will instantly translate all the text segments in the Scanner App to the chosen language.

Clicking the Force resyncronization button (Tvinga synkronisering) will force the scanner to perform a synchronization with the server. This can result in either a big green checkmark upon successful synchronization, or a red cross shown on the screen if the scanner was unable to synchronize with the server. This might be due to a bad network connection where the scanner currently is.

The last button in the Settings Page is the Logout button, which should be quite self explanatory. Logout will occur automatically after a set period of inactivity, so if you forget to logout the scanner will do this automatically.

When using the scanner to perform “Scanner actions” there are some functions that are the same regardless of which action is being performed.

• To cancel the action you can tap the Back button on the scanner. This aborts the current action and returns the scanner to the main menu screen
• When entering the Settings Menu and forcing a resync the current action is cancelled and the scanner is returned to the main menu screen
• When entering the Settings Menu and changing the current store the current action is cancelled and the scanner is returned to the main menu screen
• After an action has been submitted one of three results can be shown
  • A green check-mark - signalling that the action was a succes and that it has successfully been synchronized with the Track and Trace 2.0 server
  • A yellow check-mark - signalling that the action was a success but that it has not yet been successfully synchronized with the Track and Trace 2.0 server. This transaction will be synchronized when the scanner is connected to a good network. When this yellow check-mark is shown the number of waiting transactions increases. (Screen Overview #4)
  • A red X - signalling that something went wrong with the transaction and it has not been successfully handled in the scanner. If this occurs, contact technical support for Track and Trace 2.0 and report the issue.
• If the scanner is not up to date or packages and/or items are scanned that are not recognized to be in the active store the scanner will in some cases show a warning, and the item or pack will be shown in the scanner as being of Unknown type. This is ok, all the actions can still be performed on these packs/items and if they are in the Track and Trace 2.0 database the system will handle this correctly.
  • If the serial number of the pack/item is not found in the database this generates an error in the Track and Trace 2.0 client, and will be managed and handled there.

To issue items and packages tap the Issue button upon which the above screen is shown, with an empty list of scanned serial numbers. Proceed with scanning the serial numbers of the packages and/or items you want to issue and make sure that they show up in the list. If the serial number does not exist in the scanner cache the description will say Unknown but this is OK, an issue can still be made.

If you want to keep track of the individual serial numbers that has been scanned instead of the overview, simply swipe left on the list and the list of serial numbers will be shown instead. Swipe right to get back to the overview screen.

To finish the issue operation tap the Issue button at the bottom of the screen. Now a verification will be shown. Carefully read the message and make sure the information is correct and tap the suitable response button to either continue with the issue or abort and get back to the issue overview screen. From here you can make completions to the issue.

If you make a mistake and scan something that is not to be issued, simply scan the same barcode again upon which you will be asked whether you want to remove that item from the list.

If you want to abort the issue alltogether simply use the Back button on the scanner to get back to the main menu screen. If you choose to force a synchronization from the Settings Menu the issue will be aborted and the scanner will return to the main menu screen.

Summary of Issue

• On a scanner with the chosen store as the active store
  • Enter the issue action by tapping the Issue button in the main menu screen
  • Scan the barcodes of the packs/intems to issue
  • Tap the Issue button on the bottom of the screen
  • Verify that the information is correct
• DONE!

To return items and packages tap the Return button upon which the above screen is shown, with an empty list of scanned serial numbers. Proceed with scanning the serial numbers of the packages and/or items you want to return and make sure that they show up in the list. If the serial number does not exist in the scanner cache the description will say Unknown but this is OK, a return can still be made. If online-sync is not enabled in the system chances are that most of the scanned packages and items will show up as Unknown since they're not in store in the database.

If you want to keep track of the individual serial numbers that has been scanned instead of the overview, simply swipe left on the list and the list of serial numbers will be shown instead. Swipe right to get back to the overview screen.

To finish the return operation tap the Return button at the bottom of the screen. Now a verification will be shown. Carefully read the message and make sure the information is correct and tap the suitable response button to either continue with the return or abort and get back to the return overview screen. From here you can make completions to the return.

If you make a mistake and scan something that is not to be returned, simply scan the same barcode again upon which you will be asked whether you want to remove that item from the list.

If you want to abort the return alltogether simply use the Back button on the scanner to get back to the main menu screen. If you choose to force a synchronization from the Settings Menu the return will be aborted and the scanner will return to the main menu screen.

Summary of Return

• On a scanner with the chosen store as the active store
  • Enter the return activity by tapping the Return button in the main menu
  • Scan the barcodes of the items/packs to return to this store
  • Tap the Return button at the bottom of the screen
  • Verify that the information regarding the return is correct
• DONE!

To move items and packages between stores you use the Store Move action. Tapping the Store Move button shows the above screen.

The recommended procedure when doing store move is to use the scanner in the store where the item/pack is moved from to initiate the store move. Scanning barcodes in the sending store will result in a row in the list with a blue icon, like the first row in the example above. This row will have the description of the item in the description field, with the scanned serial number shown below. Items/packs that are scanned out from a store will be placed in a transit condition, meaning that it is registered as being in transit between stores. When the item/pack arrives at the receiving store it is scanned into the store using the same Store Move action on a scanner with the receiving store as the active store. Scanning the item/pack in the receiving store will result in a row in the list with a green icon meaning the product will be moved into the active store.

When all the items and packs that sould be moved have been scanned tap the Move products button at the bottom of the page. A summary of the actions to perform will be shown. Carefully read this summary, and tap the yes or no button either accepting that the summary is correct, or moving back to the scan list to correct the action.

If you accidentally scan an item or pack that should not be moved, simply scan the same barcode again and you will get a question whether to remove that item/pack from the list or not.

If you wish to cancel the move alltogether simply tap the Back button on the scanner. Choosing to force a resync of the scanner in the Settings Menu will cancel the current action and return the scanner to the main menu screen.

Summary of the recommended procedure

• With the scanner in the Sending store (Sending store is chosen as active store in scanner)
  • Enter store move action by tapping the Store Move button
  • Scan all items and packs to be moved (blue icons are shown)
  • Tap the Move Products button and confirm the move
• Transport the products from the sending to the receiving store
• With the scanner in the Receiving store (Receiving store is chosen as active store in scanner)
  • Enter store move action by tapping the Store Move button
  • Scan all items and packs to be received (green icons are shown)
  • Tap the Move Products button and confirm the move
• DONE

An alternative process to do store moves is to skip the first step of scanning products out from the sending store. When scanning the items/packs into the receiving store the store move action will be performed and the logs and integrations will be completed. This method is NOT recommended since in the time during the transit there will be no correct tracking of the items/packs that are being moved.

When a delivery is received at the store, depending on the user privilegies the shipment receipt action can be initiated from the scanner.

This is done by entering the receipt action by tapping the Shipment Receipt button in the scanner. The screen above will be shown. To initiate the receipt, simply scan one (or many) of the barcodes of the packages or items included in the shipment manifest, ie a box or the pallet barcode. Tap the Mark for Shipment receipt button at the bottom of the screen and verify the action in the shown verification box.

The system will now scan all the waiting manifests for the scanned serial numbers, and when found trigger that manifest for receipt. This of course relies on the manifest having been received from the producer and being valid, matching a Purchase Order in Maximo.

Even though the receipt process can take up to a couple of minutes to complete, you can start using the products in the shipment immediately after initiating the receipt.

Summary of Shipment Receipt

• Verify that the received shipment is correct and that the manifest/delivery note contains the correct items and packs
• On a scanner with the chosen store as the active store
  • Enter the shipment receipt acitivty by tapping the Shipment Receipt button in the main menu
  • Scan one or many barcodes on the received shipment making sure that at least one barcode is scanned for every manifest to be received - if more than one shipment is received at the same time
  • Tap the Mark for Shipment Receipt button at the bottom of the screen
• DONE!

To do a store inventory enter the inventory action by tapping the Store Inventory button in the main menu on the scanner. The inventory overview screen above to the left is shown. This overview lists all the currently synchronized items and packs that is supposed to be in the store right now.

The leftmost column shows the number of packs, the second column shows the number of items and the third shows number of items scanned where the serial number is not known.

To perform the inventory simply scan the packs and items in the store making sure that each and every one of the scanned barcodes are being registered in the overview list. To see the list of all scanned serial numbers simply swipe left and the list with serial numbers will be shown. To get back to the overview swipe right.

If you accidentally scan a barcode that should not be part of the inventory simply scan that barcode again and you will be asked wheter to remove that serial number from the list or not.

If you want to cancel the inventory alltogether simply tap the Back button on the scanner. Forcing a resync will also abort the current action and return the scanner to the main menu screen.

When all the barcodes of the selected products have been scanned, tap the Do inventory button at the bottom of the screen. Now you will get a choise whether to do an Article inventory or a full store inventory. Choosing the article inventory will only mark packs and items with the same article type as the scanned items/packs as missing if they are not found in the scan list. The full store inventory expects every item/pack in the store to be scanned.

When scanning items and packs, no item or pack that is contained in another pack is to be scanned. If a pallet is in the store containing boxes which in turn contains bags which contain items, only the pallet should be scanned as that is the top-level packaging at the moment.

When the button according to the inventory type has been tapped a verification will be shown and you will be prompted whether to continue with the store inventory or return to the inventory overview.

IMPORTANT
When doing a Store Inventory all packs and items that are not scanned, or contained in a scanned pack will be marked as missing. For Article type inventory this only applies to packs and items of the same type as the scanned items and packs, but for the full store inventory ALL packs and items not scanned or contained in a scanned pack will be marked as missing. This will update the stock status in Maximo as well as affect the Track and Trace 2 system. If a faulty inventory is accidentally sent a new correct inventory needs to be performed as soon as possible to correct the statuses of the faulty one.

Summary of Store inventory

• On a scanner with the chosen store as the active store
  • Enter the store inventory action by tapping the Inventory button
  • Scan all the packs and items of the chosen type that are not contained in another package
  • For each scan, verify that the list on the scanner is being updated
  • Tap the Do Inventory button at the bottom of the screen
  • Choose whether to do a full store inventory or an article inventory
  • Read and verify that the inventory is correct
• DONE

To be tested and documented..

To be tested and documented..

To be tested and documented..

This chapter contains a brief description of what is happening in the background for a more in-depth understanding of the system. For even further details see the Client documentation or the System documentation.

All actions that are performed in the scanner, such as Issues, Returns, Store Inventorys creates transactions in the scanner. A transaction is a piece of data describing the said action, for example describing an issue with the time of the issue, the ID of the user performing the issue, the store from which the issue is made and all the scanned serial numbers.

The transaction is stored in a transaction queue in the scanner when the action is completed, and immediately after the completion of the action a database synchronization is attempted. All the transactions that are successfully synchronized with the server are deleted from the scanner, so when a complete synchronization is successfully completed no more transactions are stored on the scanners transaction queue.

The number shown in #4 in the Scanner Overview shows the total number of transactions waiting in the transaction queue in the scanner at the moment. After a successful synchronization this number will be 0.

Storing all transactions in the scanner this way makes sure that each and every action that the user performs will eventually reach the server system, and since the transaction is already timestamped it will log the correct time of the action in the Track and Trace 2.0 system, regardless of when the next successful synchronization happens.

If a scanner is lost or broken before successfully synchronizing the transactions stored within theese transactions are however lost, so a good practice should be to make sure that the scanners are successfully synchronized at least every day.

A normal synchronization on a healthy network with the Track and Trace 2.0 system takes no more than 5-10 seconds. If scanner synchronization on a regular basis takes more than 30 seconds, please contact the Track and Trace 2.0 maintenance team for troubleshooting.

When the scanner synchronizes with the Track and Trace 2.0 system the following tasks are performed:

• All the transactions stored in the scanner is sent to the Track and Trace 2.0 system
• Successfully synchronized transactions are removed from the scanner transaction queue
• All items and packs in the active store is fetched from the Track and Trace 2.0 system
• The Scanner database cache is updated with the result from the pack/item request

The scanner will automatically attempt to synchronize at a preset time interval, default is 30 minutes, and if the scanner is connected to a network with access to the Track and Trace 2.0 system the synchronization will be successful. This automatic syncronization is done in the background and will not cancel any ongoing actions or send any actions that has not been completed.

Every time an action is completed, like sending an issue or return, a synchronization is attempted after adding that action to the transaction queue. If the scanner is connected to a network with access to the Track and Trace 2.0 system the synchronization will be successful. This means that the transaction queue will be empty and the Scanner database cache will be up to date.

A scanner synchronization can also be triggered manually in two ways:

• Using the Force Synchronization button in the Settings Menu which will trigger a synchronization and report the success status
• Changing the active store in the Settings Menu will trigger a synchronization and fetch the items/packs from the new store to the scanner database cache.

The scanner can be used in offline mode in the same way as when it is online, but to be able to log in the scanner has to have the user database synchronized at least once since the installation of the app.

When the scanner is offline and out of sync items that are in store might show up as Unknown when scanning their barcodes. This is ok, when synchronizing the transactions everything will be correct in the Track and Trace 2.0 database and all actions will be logged correctly.

When scanning a barcode with a serial that has not been synchronized to the scanner database cache the item/pack will show as Unknown in the list. Theese items and packs can still be used in the actions in the scanner as the serial number is stored in the transaction and synchronized to the server upon sync.

If the item or pack identified by the serial number exists in a different store this will be shown in the transaction history for that item/pack and the action will be performed in the active store from the scanner. If the item or pack identified by the serial number does not exist in the Track and Trace 2.0 database, an error is raised in the system and handled by an operator in the TnT2 client.