Valora Services Austria achieves new transparency thanks to BARCOTEC and BHT-700

Whenever magazines are delivered in Austria, Valora Services is usually involved. Valora is the country's leading magazine wholesaler and delivers around 3,500 titles to 10,300 retail outlets, four times a week. The company recently installed a new system to improve their parcel control processes, with data being captured with the help of BARCOTEC's BHT-700 product family and "easyMITS" software.

Data capture with BHT-700 "just in time"

With the choice of the BHT-700, Valora Services Austria opted for a modular Handheld Terminal with open hardware and software platforms. The unit supports a variety of different technologies, including Batch, WLAN, GPRS or Bluetooth®. Thanks to the open architecture, hardware requirements can be matched to the needs of any given application on a modular basis, as with a PC.

The article data scanned with the BHT-700 is transferred to the new system via a GSM/GPRS mobile network on a "just in time" basis, before being synchronized in real time with the data at each book store's own central stock control system across Austria. This enables precision tracking of the data stream. Wolfgang Ertl, who was responsible for implementing the "easyMITS" integration at Valora Services Austria, explains: "It was important to us to find a standardized system that didn't involve additional programming. With BARCOTEC's "easyMITS" solution, we have exactly what we were looking for. It's easy to use and the system's open architecture means we can make changes or add functionality in the future."

BARCOTEC's "easyMITS" software allows faster data transfer

"Through the software's seamless, end-to-end parcel-tracking functionality, we are able to optimally meet the high expectations of our customers. Simplified communications have also prevented unnecessary returns and refunds, which reduces our costs," observes Fritz Koch, Head of Logistics at Valora Services Austria. "With "easyMITS", we know immediately where our deliveries are and when they will reach their destinations."

Michael Hofstätter, MBA, Head of Sales at BARCOTEC, is delighted at the success Valora Services Austria is enjoying: "With "easyMITS", Valora Services Austria is now able to respond to changing market requirements in the shortest possible time frame, while being able to get a transparent overview of costs. Winning this sort of competitive advantage is of crucial importance to all our customers right now.

Thanks to the new parcel-tracking system, Valora Services Austria has also been able to radically reduce error rates. At the same time, the amount of work time needed to process deliveries has been significantly reduced while service quality has visibly improved.

Valora Services Austria

Valora Services Austria is Austria's leading magazine wholesaler. Every day, over 200 employees are involved in meeting the needs of the country's publishing industry, magazine retailers and readers. The company delivers around 3,500 different magazine titles four times a week to 10,300 retail outlets. This involves moving 18,000 tons of printed paper a total of 7.7 million km (4.8 million miles) every year.

For more information, please visit www.valoraservices.at

BARCOTEC

BARCOTEC specializes in automatic identification solutions for barcodes and RFID, as well as data capture systems. Founded over 20 years ago, the company has established itself as the market's leading provider, with offices worldwide. From its in-house, manufacturer authorized service centers in Vienna and Salzburg, BARCOTEC can service customers across Europe with minimal lead times. The company is a member of Austria's National Logistics Association (BVL) and the Association for Network Logistics (VNL).

For more information, please visit www.barcotec.at