Tool Movement shortcut/bar code

Movement of tools from and back to the store can all be done from the Tool Movement Window W101, available from the waterfall menu: ToolMovement | Record option.  Movement can be recorded by selecting the destination and then the tool from the various drop down lists.  There is however a shortcut that will assist with capturing higher volumes of Tools.

This shortcut can be implemented by menually entering the item code in the “Encode” field, or scanning a bar code when the cursor is in the “Encode” field.  Each entry in the database has an unique code id.  You will for example see that staff has an id starting with 1/xxx and jobs 2/xxx etc.

To select a job enter the unique code in the encode field.  In this example our selected job has the code: 2/17793

Now this can be entered into the encode field followed by the tab key on W101 which will select the job and clear the encode field for the next entry.

In the same manner, one can proceed to enter all the other codes for tools and tool groups etc.  This method works exactly the same as manual selection, apart from the fact that selection is done from a code entered.

It is important to note the status messages on this screen as an incomplete instruction or incorrect instruction will be displayed on this status window.

Some of the standard reports incorporate the codes as well as barcodes in the report.

Bar Codes

Bar codes can be scanned from any inline bar code scanner.  These scanners are installed to simulate input from the keyboard. There are various standards in the scanner configuration.  Most scanners require a special character to indicate the start and end of the bar code. If you print your own bar codes, remember to include these in the code.  The ’*’ character is commonly used to indicate the start and end of the code.  If ou want to print your own codes, the example above would require the followinf characters to be printed: *2/17793*  It is also recommended to configure the bar code reader to add a tab character to each scan.  This ensures that users do not have to manually press the tab character once a code is scanned.  To print bar code, download a suitable font.  The one we use in the program reporting is: 3 of 9 Barcode.