1. What kind of Help Desk Support do you provide?
2. How will my store and district managers be trained?
3. How easy is the system to setup for the store manager?
4. How accurate will my associates be?
5. Can my sales associates easily use the scanner?
6. What happens if my stores don't have enough people?
7. How much training is required for my associates?
8. What audit and control functions are provided?
9. Do I need to change store preparation procedures?
10. How will my stores look after a self-inventory?
11. Can I track the inventory progress of my stores?
12. Will the inventory file be compatible with my system?
13. When will the final inventory output file be available?
14. Can the master file be changed during the inventory?
15. What type of instruction manual is provided?
16. What is the memory capacity of the scanner?
17. How quickly can I begin to use the scanners?
18. How much time to download a scanner?
19. Can you handle transmissions from all of my stores?
20. What security and system backups do you utilize?


1. What kind of Help Desk Support do you provide?

24-hour, 7-day support! Staffed in-house at all times, except for a few national holidays, by seasoned Customer Support Representatives who are assisted by the HEAT Help Desk Software, arguably the most sophisticated software of its type.

We utilize a Lucent Technology Merlin telephone switching system to automatically and simultaneously dial cell phones, beepers, and home phones of all other support personnel that are on call in case a situation arises requiring an immediate response.


How will my store and district managers be trained?

There are a number of options available based upon your specific type of organization and preferences. We assist you in every step of the way.

Big box retailers may prefer that we use the "train the trainer" technique, while retailers with smaller size stores may want to individually train each and every store manager and possible the assistant managers as well.

We have trained in excess of 200 retail organizations to use either our Computer-System or Mini-System (computer-less) with a high degree of success. The two most successful techniques we have experienced are district/regional sessions for large box retailers and Group Conference Call training for retailers with smaller size stores.

For retailers that either cycle their inventories, or take a total chain inventory over a number of days or weeks, we strongly encourage the piggyback approach. This approach requires that key personnel (store manager, assistant manager, etc) from succeeding stores be present at the preceding store's inventory to assist in the inventory and thereby learn the inventory procedure.


3. How easy is the system to setup for the store manager?

Our systems are designed and packaged to be setup in less than a few minutes. A picture and simple instructions are attached to the shipping cartons for ready reference. The power cords and cables are labeled and color-coded.

The Mini-System (computer-less) is as simple as one, two, three - (1) remove the one-piece Mini-System from the carton, (2) connect the power cord to an outlet, and (3) insert the telephone line into a jack.

The Computer-System requires a few more steps - (1) remove the computer from the carton, connect the power cord to an outlet, and connect the optional telephone line to a jack, (2) remove the scanner cradle from the same carton, connect the power cord to an outlet, and connect the cable to the computer, and (3) remove the printer from the 2nd carton, connect the power cord to an outlet, and connect the cable to the computer.


4. How accurate will my associates be?

It has been firmly established that a retailer's employees are more accurate than any other group of people taking their own inventory. Your employees not only know your merchandise, the placement of the tickets, and the proper bar codes to scan, they are also the only group of people that can identify exceptions such as mis-marked merchandise and markdowns not taken.

Many retailers use their associates to scan sales, markdowns, transfers, receipts, etc. Scanning inventory will be as accurate, if not more accurate, than recording sales because there are normally no customer or other distractions during the process.


5. Can my sales associates easily use the scanner?

Yes. Over one million store employees, in tens of thousands of retail stores have used our scanners to take inventory. Sales associates, clericals, and shipping & receiving employees have all successfully used our scanners. Recognizing that inventory is only taken a few times each year, we strive to make our system as user friendly as possible, requiring a minimum amount of training.


6. What happens if my stores don't have enough people?

Our rental charges are generally 'daily rates'. The same rate is charged if you use our equipment for 3, 6 or 12 hours. So the easiest step to take is simply expand the hours to complete the inventory. For example, if your outside service uses 8 people over 3 hours for a total of 24 hours, you can schedule the inventory for 6 hours and you would need only 4 people.

Another approach is to "split" the inventory, over 8 hours - 4 hours the evening before and 4 hours the next morning and use only 3 people each time.

Finally, many clients have stores within driving distance of each other and are scheduled to take inventory on different days. This allows the staffs from neighboring stores to help each other.


7. How much training is required for my associates?

Associates that are inventory scanning for the first time require less than 20 minutes to train each group of approximately 10 employees. For succeeding inventories there is virtually no training required.


8. What audit and control functions are provided?

These are customized to address the concerns of each retailer. There are generally recognized standards for the control and audit of a physical inventory that we recommend, plus additional options are discussed with each client.

Most techniques can be included in both the Computer-System and Mini-System (computer-less). The basic core control and audit techniques do not require printed reports, however a printer is recommended for some of the more sophisticated audits.

Standards that insure every fixture has been inventoried, and all of the merchandise on each fixture has been accounted for include: fixture summaries, missing fixture analysis, pre-count or post-count balancing, and fixture detail analysis. Other techniques that may be applicable include: selective manual recounts or rescanning, high-value and high-unit analysis, on-hand variance analysis, exception reporting based upon various criteria, and analysis of UPC/SKU characteristics.


9. Do I need to change store preparation procedures?

Normally, there is no need to change your store preparation procedures. However, it has been our experience that stores are bettered prepared and organized for a self-inventory than for an inventory counted by an outside service.

The store personnel are more conscientious when preparing the store for a self-inventory because they know it will make their task of counting the merchandise easier if the store is properly prepared. At times, possibly because of daily pressures and time restraints, the store is not properly prepared for outside service inventories because the store personnel are not directly affected by the quality of the preparation.


10. How will my stores look after a self-inventory?

The majority of our clients feel that their stores are "ready for business" immediately after a self-inventory because of the care and concern for the merchandise on the part of the store associates. Store associates generally have pride in their store and the condition of the merchandise that they sell.

It is not uncommon for a retailer to assign personnel, and payroll dollars, to "recover" and straighten up the store after an inventory counted by an outside service.


11. Can I track the inventory progress of my stores?

Internet tracking is standard. We provide our clients a password protected Internet web site to track the inventory progress in their stores. If requested by the client, the status of the entire chain can be viewed by region and district.

The status of each store is displayed on the Internet. We provide a variety of information, such as the date and time each store started their inventory, the number of units that have been counted, the number of fixtures inventoried, and the date and time that the store completed the inventory.


12. Will the inventory file be compatible with my system?

This is a commonly asked question. Every one of our clients requires the inventory data to be specifically formatted for their computer system. We will create the file in any format required. As of this date, we have been able to conform to all of the requirements from all of our clients and prospective clients. We customize the file to your specifications; you do not have to make any changes to conform to our system.


13. When will the final inventory output file be available?

For each store or warehouse the file is available immediately after the inventory is completed. We can accommodate almost any requirement requested of us.

If the inventory results are transmitted for consolidating from the stores and warehouses to our office, there are a number of options that are provided.

Some clients that use the Computer-System prefer to have a disk created in the store or warehouse at the completion of the inventory. In this case the disk is available immediately upon completion of the inventory.


14. Can the master file be changed during the inventory?

Should you require, the master file (PLU, UPC, SKU, etc) can be changed at any time during the inventory. Hart employs a number of different schemes to enable us to update your master file during the course of your inventory. Depending on the size of the master file and your requirements, we will determine the best implementation for updating your master file. Updating the master file take from 1 to 5 minutes to place the file in each scanner's memory.


15. What type of instruction manual is provided?

Step-by-step inventory manuals are supplied for the store manager or inventory supervisors to manage the inventory. Where appropriate, there are pictures and diagrams as well as explanations. All of our instruction manuals are customized and specific for each client.

A section of the manual, usually no more than one page, is devoted to explaining all of the special handling that was requested by the client's corporate office.

A one page instruction sheet is included for the scanning associates. Most of the explanations on this sheet are specific instructions from the client's corporate office regarding the handling of exceptions such as non-ticketed merchandise.


16. What is the memory capacity of the scanner?

We have standardized all of our scanners on a memory size of 4.2 megabytes. However, this question is usually asked to determine if our scanners can contain the client's entire master file (PLU, UPC, SKU, etc).

The number of items that can be stored in the scanner's memory is dependent upon the client's specific requirements. First and foremost is the information that the client wishes to display to their associates during the inventory scanning. Some clients require a price to be displayed, others a merchandise description, others a "first markdown price", etc.

Using sophisticated data compression algorithms; we can easily accommodate client applications which may require many millions of master file items carried in a single Hart Laser Scanner.


17. How quickly can I begin to use the scanners?

A scanner must be initialized at the start of the inventory, and after each time it is downloaded.

For the Computer-System most of our clients need 1 to 5 minutes to initialize a scanner after it is first taken out of the shipping carton because the master file (UPC, SKU, etc) must be placed in the scanner's memory. There are a few clients that have extremely large master files and require more time to initialize their scanners.

For the Mini-System (computer-less) it takes about 45 seconds to initialize a scanner after it is first taken out of the shipping carton during which time the scanner is also "registered" with Hart. The master file is placed in the scanner's memory before it is delivered to the client.

Thereafter, for both systems each time a scanner is downloaded it takes a few seconds to initialize the scanner. This initializing process is combined with the downloading step.


18. How much time to download a scanner?

The time is directly related to the amount of inventory data in the scanner. From a minimum of approximately 30 seconds to about 2 minutes for a scanner that was used for 4 hours of inventory scanning. There is no noticeable difference between the Mini-System (computer-less) and Computer-System.


19. Can you handle transmissions from all of my stores?

We utilize the latest technology and equipment for transmissions to and from our clients. Most of our clients are either currently communicating electronically with us or are considering an upgrade to communications. Some highlights of our capability are:

Microsoft and Wildcat operating systems used to direct and control all communications.

Direct connection to the AT&T Internet POP using high-speed T1 communication lines.

Modular modem banks connected to multiple in-house NT servers.

Transmission activity monitoring on a continuous basis to anticipate additional requirements for modems and servers.

We handle transmissions from local retailers having only a few stores to national retailers with thousands of stores.


20. What security and system backups do you utilize?

We have developed and continually improve an extremely sophisticated and reliable system in all respects, both for our Mini-System (computer-less) and Computer-System.

All electronic transmissions are routed through AT&T and Airespring/Qwest who is our local telephone service provider.

We have a firewall and multiple virus protection programs running on our in-house servers. Our servers, identical Dell Poweredge 2850's, incorporate a Raid 5 mirroring scheme across 3 redundant hard drives. We also maintain a hot standby server which can be activated in the production environment in a matter of minutes should one of our servers experience an unrecoverable hardware failure. We use Veritas backup exec and Hewlett Packard digital tape drives in our backup scheme. Full backups are performed daily and differential backups occur across all servers every 3 hours. This implementation minimizes our exposure and enables us to perform a point in time recovery.

We utilize Wildcat and Microsoft Windows 2003 systems on our multiple Dell Poweredge 2850 file servers and modem banks. In addition, multiple times each day all data is automatically backed up to digital tape cassettes.

Our Computer-System simultaneously records all inventory data on the computer's hard drive and removable disk for instant backup. Every system includes a process to recreate the inventory data from the removable disk in case of failure: in the store, in a few minutes, on the same or a different computer.

All of our systems maintain the inventory data in "raw" form, to prevent a loss of data due to software failure. We maintain a library of utility programs to massage and recreate the inventory data in case of software, hardware, or other failures.

Our Information Technology staff of programmers and network engineers is available on a 24 hour, 7 day basis to immediately react to any software, hardware, Internet, communication, or other technical situation that may occur.