# Warehouse Management > Warehouse, store, yard and shop-floor inventory, run as nine workflows that read identity and quantity off the item itself and validate it before the document posts. - **Page** - https://iotready.com/solutions/warehouse-management - **Tagline** - ERPs repeat the lies we tell them. We capture the truth at the source instead. Identity + Quantity + Context = Truth. Most systems collect only the first of the three, and collect it from a keyboard hours or days after the crate moved. Every reconciliation meeting is the cost of that gap. We close it by making the reading the source of the record. The crate is scanned and weighed where it is handled, the rules engine decides whether that reading is allowed, and only then does a document reach your ERP. The ERP you already run stays the system of record for finance and gains a unit-level ledger underneath it. - **2,500+** Warehouses and factories live - **100+** Cities - **0.1 %** Pilferage and wastage, down from 5% - **2-3** New sites added every day ## What people run on it "Warehouse management" covers more ground than the four walls of a warehouse. These are the places it gets used, and what each one is really asking for. **Use cases** | Parameter | Value | | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Warehouse and store inventory | Receive, put away, count and pick against your ERP. Handheld QR where scanning is fine, RFID zones where nobody has time to. | | RFID inventory | Fixed readers at dock doors and zones count stock as it moves. Cycle counts stop being a shutdown. | | Yard and gate | Fixed RFID at the yard boundary reads material in and out without a person stopping to scan. This is how Vedanta tracks copper and aluminium from yard to plant. | | Work in progress | Raw material to finished goods, with every stage between them logged. Surface WIP by age, and know which lot went into which batch. | | Lab and consumables stores | Small, high-value, short-dated items - petri dishes at a pharma major - tracked per unit with expiry carried on the label. | | Collection centres | Weighed and scanned at the point of purchase, offline, with the payout triggered off the same reading. | ## Three layers **Hardware that assimilates into the workflow already running.** The logger bolts onto the weighing scale on the floor rather than replacing it, and ships with an optional all-day battery because remote warehouses lose power. **A mobile app that is offline-first.** A dead network at a village collection centre does not stop an operator. Activities queue on the device and sync the moment the connection returns, in the order they happened. **Cloud middleware built for unit-level traceability.** Millions of events a day, thousands of simultaneous operators, and the discipline to batch those unit-level events into the documents your ERP already expects - a GRN grouped by supplier, warehouse and date - rather than flooding it with reads. ![Isometric diagram of a warehouse showing receiving, put-away, processing and dispatch zones, annotated with stock and asset transfers, real-time ERP integration, auditable auto-GRN, guided picking and RM-to-FG traceability](https://iotready.com/images/hero/inventory-management-platform.jpg) _One floor, one record. The same four beats run in every zone, with different tags and tolerances._ ## Every workflow is the same four beats Procurement, transfer, split, count, label and pick are the same four beats repeated. Read the identity, capture the quantity, put both through a rule, and post the document if the rule passes. The operator finds out at the scale, while the crate is still in front of them. ```mermaid flowchart LR A[Read identity] --> B[Capture quantity] B --> C{Rules engine} C -- passes --> D[Document posts to your ERP] C -- fails --> E[Operator alerted on the spot] E --> B ``` The rules belong to you. Tolerances, FIFO policy, fill rates and over-pick allowances are configuration, and when the use case moves past configuration it is about twenty lines of Python on the dashboard. Or describe the rule in plain language to the Engineer, the AI built into Engine, and review what it proposes. ## Nine workflows, one ledger | Workflow | Read at the point of work | Validated before it posts | Document produced | | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | Raw material procurement | Crate or pallet QR/RFID, plus weight | PO and quantity, against the supplier's line | Auto-GRN | | Finished goods procurement | Source crate, then the printed FG label | Fill rate against the RM consumed | FG receipt, ERP stock deduction | | Put-away | Shelf QR, or the RFID zone itself | Zone correctness; unexpected movement | Bin allocation | | Indent and transfer out | Destination, then each crate scanned | Destination and FIFO, with over/under-pick tolerance | Delivery challan, transfer note | | Transfer in | Each crate scanned, weight optional | Source and indent; missing crates named | GRN, stock transfer completed | | Crate splitting | Parent crate, then each child weighed | Quantity against the parent and the indent | Parent-child mapping retained | | Cycle count | Handheld scan, or continuous RFID zone read | Expected against counted, moisture loss allowed for | Tamper-proof quantity adjustment | | Packing and labelling | Source crate, then the scale | Overpacking, before the label is printed | Unique QR label, packed-inventory update | | Customer picking | Sales order, then each label or crate | FIFO and sales order line, by count or by weight | Pick confirmation to your OMS | Each one writes an auditable activity log carrying who, where and when. That log is what makes a downstream question answerable - which supplier's lot went into that batch, who signed off the short-received pallet - without anyone reconstructing it from memory. ## Receiving **Raw material procurement** - Guided activity on the mobile app, at the dock or at a village collection centre. 1. Unique IDs on the product itself, or on its carrier - crates, pallets, garment tags; RFID or QR, single-use or multi-use as the unit economics call for 2. Optional weight capture on the data logger, with a display and LED array giving the operator a green light before they accept the crate 3. Individual crate and pallet readings aggregated by supplier into SKU line items, then posted as an auto-GRN via API 4. Scan-only procurement where the product arrives pre-labelled **Finished goods procurement** - The moment a finished unit is created, bound to the raw material it came from. 1. Link FG to RM through the activity itself or through pre-defined rules, so genealogy is captured as it happens 2. Print a unique QR label per unit carrying SKU, batch number and date of manufacture - the same label is later used for put-away, picking and recall 3. Post FG procurement to the ERP and deduct the consumed inventory in the same call 4. Fill-rate validation blocks both the label print and the ERP submission on a mismatch **Put-away** - Two options, chosen by what the site can justify. 1. Auto put-away through RFID warehouse zoning, where the operator is guided to a zone and drops the goods off 2. Guided put-away through a QR code on each shelf or rack - scan the shelf, scan the crate 3. RFID zoning brings continuous asset monitoring with it, so theft raises a real-time alert ## Processing **Indent and transfer out** - Downstream warehouses raise material requests on the dashboard instead of by emailed spreadsheet. 1. Assign a request to a picker, warehouse-driven or SKU-driven 2. Configurable tolerances for over-picking and under-picking 3. Auto-notify the receiving warehouse and auto-raise the stock transfer in your existing WMS **Transfer in** - The audited counterpart to transfer out, reconciled crate by crate. 1. Quantity transferred in compared against quantity transferred out, with real-time feedback to the receiving operator 2. Auto-swap of equivalent crates, pallets or products belonging to the same SKU 3. Bulk transfer-in by weight for statistical averaging, and mandatory representative sampling - 5% of crates, say - where the audit demands it **Crate splitting** - Repackaging without losing the thread back to source. 1. Child crates mapped to their parent, so traceability survives the split 2. One-step split-and-transfer where the material is moving on immediately 3. Quantity and indent validation on every child crate as well as the parent **Cycle count** - Continuous stock verification instead of a quarterly shutdown. 1. QR or RFID verification on a handheld; RFID zoning auto-counts through continuous monitoring 2. Weight-based counting for SKUs with a weight UOM, with moisture loss auto-calculated for the geography and the weather 3. Real-time alerts on unexpected stock level changes, and a tamper-proof trail of every quantity change ## Dispatching **Packing and labelling** - Centrally managed label templates, printed at the edge. 1. Label templates, SKU information and price lists pushed from the central dashboard, so a price change is instant across every site 2. Scan the source crate before printing, so the unique QR on the pack points back to the lot it came from 3. Overpacking prevented at the scale, and packed inventory tracked in real time 4. Labels from 1 to 6 inches, on USB and serial printers from Zebra, TVS, TSC and Argox - and designed to run inside a freezer **Customer picking** - Pick lists created from the sales orders already in your OMS. 1. Sales-order-driven or SKU-driven picking, assignable to a specific user 2. Loose and weight-based SKUs confirmed by weight on the scale 3. Auto-progress and quantity alerts built into the app, with rack and shelf identification 4. Optional smart inventory trolley to assist the picker with verification and labelling ![A printed thermal traceability label showing product name, net weight, barcode, packed-on and best-before dates, MRP and FSSAI licence number](https://iotready.com/images/hero/inventory-traceability-label.jpg) _The end of the chain. Net weight came off the scale, the barcode off the source crate, the price from the central dashboard. None of it was typed at the packing bench._ ## Built for the site The hardware is designed for the warehouse it ships to. The logger integrates with any RS232 weighing scale from 100 g to 100 tonnes, on a stand customisable from 0.5 m to 1 m, with a barcode or RFID scanner built into the head so the crate ID and the weight are one motion rather than two. The app runs on any Android 7+ device, including the Zebra TC and Urovo DT handhelds your IT team has already bought. - ![IoTReady data logger mounted on an existing RS232 weighing scale, wired to a thermal label printer](https://iotready.com/images/hero/inventory-weighing-printer.png)\ **Retrofit onto your scale** - The logger head bolts onto the RS232 scale already on the floor and drives the label printer directly. - ![IoTReady data logger with an integrated barcode scanner mounted above a crate on a weighing platform](https://iotready.com/images/hero/inventory-weighing-crate.png)\ **Weigh and scan together** - One placement reads the crate ID and the weight in the same motion, no separate step. **What it plugs into** | Parameter | Value | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Weighing scales | Any RS232 serial scale, 100 g to 100 tonnes | | Label printers | Zebra, TVS, TSC, Argox and others, USB or serial, 1" to 6" labels | | Handhelds | Any Android 7+ device; Zebra TC and Urovo DT series supported out of the box | | ERP and WMS | SAP, Zoho, ERPNext and others, over documented APIs | | Authentication | SSO and LDAP, with data import and export | | Power and network | Optional all-day battery; offline-first app with ordered sync | ## In production **BigBasket** runs sourcing, mid-mile and last-mile on IoTReady Engine. Crates are scanned and weighed at the collection centre; the operator gets a green light to accept; the GRN and the payout to the farmer are auto-triggered off the same reading. **Vedanta** tracks the complete material flow from raw material to finished goods across stores and multiple facilities, with real-time visibility, a central dashboard for the CFO, sharply reduced PI/PV time, and automatic integration into their existing SAP. **GoDesi** holds raw-material-to-finished-goods traceability across the whole production workflow, which is what lets them evidence FSSAI compliance for the inputs of any given batch - posted automatically into ERPNext. ## What changes | Your ERP today | With IoTReady | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- | | Stock counted once a quarter, by hand | Stock counted continuously, by the reader | | Discrepancies discovered at audit | Discrepancies raised at the scale, the same shift | | A system integrator, six months to integrate, another two when the use case moves | Live before afternoon chai, because the workflows already exist | | Reluctance to change a workflow, because changing it is a project | Twenty lines of Python on the dashboard when the use case moves | | Every number is a claim | Every number carries its evidence | Raw material to finished goods, one dashboard, one ledger. It runs sourcing at a national grocer, copper and aluminium at a metals major, petri dishes at a pharma major, snacks, and cold chain, with different tags and tolerances in each. Once the tags and readers are on site, [asset tracking](https://iotready.com/solutions/asset-tracking.md) runs on the same infrastructure. ## Identity + Quantity + Context = Truth - **Identity** - A QR, RFID or NFC mark on the crate, pallet, carton or SKU unit - single-use or multi-use, read off the item itself. - **Quantity** - Weight from the RS232 scale already bolted to your floor, from 100 g to 100 tonnes, with moisture-loss estimation for the geography and the season. - **Context** - Supplier, operator, site and time, carried by an offline-first mobile app and a business-rules engine that syncs to SAP, Zoho, ERPNext and others. ## Where it runs - [Quick Commerce](https://iotready.com/industries/quick-commerce.md): Dark stores move faster than any ERP can follow, so the record has to be made at the dock while the crate is still there. - [Snacks & Sweets](https://iotready.com/industries/snacks-sweets.md): Short shelf life, batch recall exposure and weight-based yield, all of which need the record made on the line. - [Heavy Manufacturing](https://iotready.com/industries/heavy-manufacturing.md): Large parts, long cycles and expensive tooling, where knowing where a thing is matters as much as knowing how many there are. - [Solar](https://iotready.com/industries/solar.md): Every module carries a serial for twenty-five years of warranty, so the trail is a contractual requirement and the only question is what it costs to capture. - [Coldchain](https://iotready.com/industries/coldchain.md): The stock record and the temperature record belong together, because a reading you cannot tie to a pallet proves nothing. ## What captures it - [QR & Barcode Scanner](https://iotready.com/hardware/qr-fixed.md): A fixed-mount, IP68 scanner that reads every common 1D and 2D code over one RS232 cable, built for washdown lines a handheld will not survive. - [RFID Reader](https://iotready.com/hardware/rfid-fixed-gate.md): One UHF platform, ordered as Long Range for dock doors and gates or Short Range for point-of-sale and desks - the same read event either way. - [Profiler](https://iotready.com/hardware/profiler-station.md): Length, width, height and weight of a parcel, carton or freight item captured in one placement, in under two seconds. - [Weighing Scale Data Logger](https://iotready.com/hardware/weighing-scale.md): Turns an existing RS232 scale into a connected station - weight and a scan together, shown on a jumbo display and published over Bluetooth LE. - [Label Management & Printing Station](https://iotready.com/hardware/label-printer.md): Puts an existing weighing scale and an off-the-shelf barcode printer under one central label catalogue, so the price and the weight on the label are the ones the system holds today.