Dec 07/Jan/08

Retailer Habitat is taking delivery of just over a hundred Unitech handheld computers as part of a programme to improve stock accountability and provide better visibility and control of items in store.

The units form part of a bespoke stock taking and management package from Portech Systems, a mobile workforce solutions specialist, which has supplied both software and hardware for the application.

Once an initial stock audit has been undertaken, Habitat will be able introduce a system using perpetual counts and rolling counts. Until now, counts have been conducted on a paper-check basis and the stock audit process differs from country to country. The new system will help to provide a unified approach to stock auditing.

Habitat is expected to use the new units and software to improve speed and accuracy of counts, as they are programmed to recognise and alert the stock auditor to problems very quickly. The new system is also likely to reduce stock-taking time, improving the productivity of stock audits. The work will be done out of trading hours where possible.

Habitat manages over 3,500 products in approximately 100 different product 'typologies'. The company currently operates 72 stores - 38 in the UK, 24 in France, six in Spain and four in Germany. Following successful implementation in the UK, the new system is to be rolled out in Spain and possibly elsewhere.