Warehouse mobile apps are the apps on handheld scanners that warehouse staff use to scan, receive, move and count stock. Each scan writes straight into the warehouse management system, so the count in the system stays the same as the stock on the shelves. They are often called RF apps. The name comes from the early handheld devices, which sent each scan to the system by radio frequency (RF), over the warehouse's wireless network.
The app runs on a rugged mobile computer, a tough handheld device with a barcode scanner built in. It is made to survive drops on a concrete floor and a full shift in a hot warehouse. The app shows the employee one task at a time: receive this delivery, put this carton in that bin, pick these items, or count this bin. The employee scans a barcode at every step. The scan proves that the right item is in the right place. The app asks for as little typing as possible, because typing causes most mistakes.
Consider a biscuit distributor's warehouse in Nagpur. A truck arrives with a delivery that the purchase order lists as 40 cartons. An employee in the receiving team opens the delivery on the app and scans each carton's barcode as it comes off the truck. After 39 scans, the truck is empty. The app shows that one carton is missing. The employee records the shortage on the screen, and photographs the seal on the truck's door as evidence. The app then prints a label for each pallet on a label printer, and tells the employee which bin to take each pallet to. When the employee scans the bin, the WMS records the biscuits as available to pick.
The missing carton matters for the accounts. The WMS passes the count of 39 cartons to the company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. So the accounts team pays the supplier for 39 cartons only, or asks the supplier to send the missing one. Checking a supplier's bill against what actually arrived is called invoice audit. Without the scan at the door, the warehouse would have recorded 40 cartons. The error would have shown up months later, in a stock count, when nobody could tell where the carton had gone.
The same apps handle the cycle count. In a cycle count, employees count a few bins every day, chosen by the WMS, instead of closing the warehouse once a year to count everything. The app shows the bin, and the employee scans every item in it. If the count differs from the system's number, the app asks for a second count before the WMS corrects its record. Some warehouses also use voice picking, where a headset reads out each task, or small scanners worn on a finger. The idea is the same: every movement of stock is recorded at the moment it happens.