Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Professional Cooling and Control Systems (PCACS) provides commercial facility management systems with high-performance building automation systems and HVAC services. The company houses thousands of expensive items that are used to supply automatic HVAC services to customers like large Army, Navy, and Air National Guard bases, along with power plants and civic centers throughout the United States and internationally.

PCACS keeps more than 5,000 items in stock valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars. More expensive items, such as drives that run chillers and boilers, can cost more than $15,000 each.

For years, PCACS used an informal approach to tracking inventory. Employees would log incoming and outgoing items on spreadsheets, but did not manage the stationary items that were already in stock. Having such a relaxed system ultimately resulted in several major issues that cost PCACS valuable time and money.

“We were continually missing items that we thought were in stock. Oftentimes when we would order a certain part for a particular job, it would be used for a different job and we would have no idea,” explained Tommy Gugliotta, operations manager of PCACS. “On numerous occasions, we had to have inventory shipped overnight because our tracking system was so inefficient. We wasted countless dollars and time searching for specific items to replace a part or repair a machine.”

New Beginnings

When Gugliotta joined the PCACS team in February 2010, his first task was to repair the inventory management system that had been in place for over 20 years. He witnessed the ineffective nature of manually tracking inventory and knew there must be a better way to streamline the process and save his company money. Gugliotta began researching inventory software programs and came across Wasp’s Inventory Control solution, which offers inventory software with real-time tracking capabilities.

“I tested several software programs but was immediately drawn to Wasp Inventory Control. I started out with a 30-day trial and was impressed with how easy it was to use,” noted Gugliotta. “Inventory Control offered all of the features that PCACS needed, like multiple PC licenses, and the option to purchase barcode printers and mobile scanners to accompany the software.”

While testing Inventory Control in May 2010, PCACS was starting several big projects that required a trustworthy, easy-to-use inventory tracking system. “After just two and a half weeks, I was convinced that Wasp Inventory Control was the answer to our inventory issues. It was a simple program that would be easy to teach to other employees,” explained Gugliotta.

In June 2010, PCACS purchased Wasp Inventory Control Professional, which included five PC licenses and one mobile license. PCACS also purchased a wireless handheld WDT3200 mobile computer and WPL305 barcode printer. This allows them to update inventory records and perform transactions on-the-go, as well as print inventory tags, product labels, and shipping labels.

Cooling Down on Costs

PCACS has been using Wasp Inventory Control for approximately one year. “Since deploying Wasp Inventory Control, we now have in-depth insight into our entire inventory — not just the incoming and outgoing items,” Gugliotta said.

One of the greatest benefits of Wasp Inventory Control has been financial savings. “Once we began using the software, the issue of overnighting items completely ceased. We no longer had to spend excessive amounts on shipping items we thought we had in stock.

“Ultimately, Wasp Inventory Control paid for itself within six months. We no longer are subject to missing inventory and have significantly cut down the amount of time spent looking for items. Now, it only takes one or two seconds to look up a certain part, versus scouring through pages and pages of spreadsheets,” said Gugliotta.

Publication date: 09/19/2011