In its 20 Belgian and Luxembourg sites, electronics chain Media Markt makes use of terminals supplied by PHI DATA to inventory goods. Thanks to the rotating head and the lack of handle, employees can handle the equipment more easily and thus scan delivered goods faster and in a more user-friendly way.
Media Markt – Saturn is the largest electronics chain in Europe with over 800 stores in 16 countries. The shops are known for their large range of electronics, household appliances, CDs, DVDs and games.
Challenge: Speed and ergonomics
The extensive product portfolio and the size of the stock make receiving and inventory of the products that are delivered quite a big task.
“At the opening of a new store some 70,000 different products have to be scanned”, says Benoit Brumagne, ICT-manager at Media Markt BeLux. “Because the products are so different in shape and size – ranging from CDs to washing machines and refrigerators – scanning was a time-consuming and often tiring task for our employees. After all, the scanners need to be perfectly positioned in front of the label in order to properly scan.”
Since unsold CDs can be returned after a certain time, Media Markt was also looking for a solution that would speed up the scanning and inventory of large numbers of CDs.
Solution: Rotating head
PHI DATA supplied 800 Motorola MC3090R terminals without handle and with a rotating head to the 20 Media Markt stores. “Thanks to these devices employees can perfectly position the terminal more easily in front of the label in order to scan”, says Benoit Brumagne. “An additional plus point is that the terminal can be used by both left-and right-handed users.”
Because the devices are equipped with a radio card the data can be sent in real time over a wireless network, making them readily available in the software system.
To return unsold CDs PHI DATA developed its own software solution. “When a CD is scanned, the solution immediately checks the inventory to verify how long that CD has been on the shelf. If a pre-set date is passed, the employee who is scanning is immediately alerted and he can then retrieve the CD from the shelf and return it”, says Vanbellingen.
Result: Fewer mistakes and gain of time
The choice for the PHI DATA solution delivered concrete results for Media Markt. For instance, the return process of unsold goods is running considerably more smoothly, thanks to the easier follow-up of existing stocks.
In addition, Media Markt realised a saving of half an FTE for goods receiving at the opening of a new store. But the most important result is that Media Markt saw a considerable increase of the data entry quality, according to Benoit Brumagne. “Errors associated with manual entry now are completely taken out ever since we have been doing the entire goods receiving via scanners.”
“For 8 years already we have been customers of PHI DATA and time and time again we are pleaseantly surprised by the quality of their service and the proactive way in which PHI DATA deals with specific requests and problems.”
Benoit Brumagne – ICT-manager at Media Markt BeLux
