Order Quality Assurance Process

Our distribution software maintains order quality assurance as we create, pick, check, pack and ship through the use of bar codes and scanning at various points in the process. PSSC maintains an inventory and order processing with a very high accuracy rate.

The essence of the process is as follows: 

• Inbound data (EDI or hand entered) is checked for compatibility (the book codes have to match in both systems) and inventory levels are checked. If order forces a negative number in the inventory data base an error message is create. Depending on the services provided to the publisher either the publisher will be contacted for instructions on how to proceed or in the case of “full service publishers” orders will be either short shipped or back ordered depending on the instructions of the purchaser and the future availability of the item in question. This order data is part of the inventory control data base process.
  
  

• Picking slips created by the system for warehouse use, direct pickers to the locations where the inventory is stored. After the order has been picked it goes to checking where a program driven process and the use of bar code scanners verifies that the correct books have been picked and that the quantities of books picked matches the order. Shortages, over picks and wrong items trigger error messages and stop the order from progressing further.
  
  

• Additional reports are run to check on order status both if it has progressed through the checking process and if it has progressed through the final shipping process. This is to guard against paperwork for an order being inadvertently lost or misplaced and thus not clearing the system. Problem orders can be caught early in the process rather than waiting for a customer complaint or inquiry. 
  
  

• Once an order has been shipped the shipping system returns to the main data base a ship date, the shipping amount, carrier tracking numbers, and other related data.