We are in the early stages of developing a wireless mobile interface to ManEx.  This will allow users to access ManEx remotely from a Pocket PC through Terminal Services.  Although it will work on any of the latest Pocket PCs, if the PDA is also a Bar-Code Scanner users will be able to quickly and simply enter and check information in ManEx.

Initially, the sections we plan to integrate into the mobile ManEx module are:

Inventory Receiving
Physical Inventory
Cycle Counting
Material Handling
Shipping

For a standard Pocket PC we have selected the Dell Axim X51 with WiFi.  For an integrated bar-code scanner, we will have tested the Symbol MC9060.  Any Pocket PC with Windows 2003+ and TS emulator should work, but we will complete our development and tests on these two devices.

We are also finalizing the bar-code (BC) receiving process and are considering implementing the AIAG standard in the BC codes.  I have confirmed with some vendors that they already meet this standard.  This will make the receiving process much easier and faster.  If you are aware of any of your suppliers who do not and cannot use this standard, please let us know (as this may impact how we proceed). 

For those who have never heard of this standard, it is simply placing a predefined character (or characters) in front of the provided data (i.e. K0000000012 = PO 0000000012, and Q6000 = Qty 6000).  The attached file provides more of the standard characters and their meaning.  Although it is more involved than the attached file, we are not likely to use much more than this.

As this effort will require some time, we want to ensure we are developing to meet our customers’ needs.  Please take a moment to consider the desirability and usefulness of this upgrade and let us know if any of the sections are not needed, or if any need to be added.