Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1275152
44 SMT007 MAGAZINE I AUGUST 2020 Feature Interview by the I-Connect007 Editorial Team Foad Ghalili of Epoch International discusses the inventory management practices the com- pany has in place between its two facilities in Fremont, California, and Dalian, China; and how upgrading to an electronic management system made maintaining a much larger inven- tory possible. Barry Matties: We're looking at inventory man- agement on the EMS side. Foad, please share with us how Epoch manages inventory. It must be interesting because you have multiple loca- tions. Is it computerized, manual, or a combi- nation? Foad Ghalili: Sure. Let me give you just the over- all view of what we do. We use the Oracle E-Business Suite, which we purchased in 2008. All our ERP and MRP systems are done through that, and we generate a unique ID code for every item that we purchase everywhere, both in Fremont and in China. Every item comes with a barcode, which is identified there. And many of our material suppliers are also putting our barcodes on their label as it comes through. The system catches the barcodes as it comes through; then, it goes through the IQC system, and we transfer the material to our cabinet through our barcode system. The cabinet is linked to our ERP system and controls everything that comes in and out of the cabinets. By the way, we have developed the interface modules in-house for the barcode system and all the software for the cabinet. We have done a lot of in-house software develop- ment to feed into the Oracle ERP system. Our feeders are also linked to the Oracle system. We know which component is fed where, so we have a fully integrated system. An EMS Perspective on Inventory Management Foad Ghalili