Hi, I’m Kiley. One of the many hats I wear at work is that of the inventory/check-in person. I’m actually the first person to see your cherished memories when they arrive here. Thousands of ScanDigital orders arrive at our facility in El Segundo, California each year and it’s my job to make sure everything in these boxes are inventoried and accounted for. See below for a detailed peek into our check-in process.
First, check out the video of me checking in an order here:
Step 1- UPS delivers your order to our facility.
Before we get to the actual inventory process, let me explain our shipping process. It starts with our ScanDigital website, which is fully integrated with UPS. When you place your order, a UPS shipping label is generated. You can then print out and use the label when you’re ready to ship. This provides you with a tracking number for the package, which is also cataloged in our system to fully track your package while on route to our facility.
Step 2- Open each package and put in separate sealed containers.
Similarly, the first thing I do when packages arrive is to grab plenty of plastic containers. When I open a package, I instantly empty the contents into a separate container, which ensures each order is properly inventoried separately.
The packages we receive at ScanDigital come in different shapes and sizes. Whether it is a large box, a round tube, or a padded envelope, I always make sure to open it very carefully. I’ve seen photos get stuck in the corner of large manila envelopes and slides jammed under the box flap, so it’s very important to take great care in ensuring the materials remain unharmed and nothing is left behind. Also, if a customer has arranged their photos in a certain way, I am careful to keep that organization when lifting the entire package into the container.
Step 3- Put a name tag on the container for easy tracking.
Then, I put a name tag on the container, allowing for easier tracking within our facility. The name tag includes all the order information including the customer name, the order ID, the date received and the date due.
Once checked in, is trackable on our site. To view the current status of an order, customers can login to their ScanDigital account at anytime. Our EssentialTracker System allows you to see exactly what stage your order is in through all of our 13 steps including check-in, scanning, editing, finalizing, and shipping stages.
Step 4- Inventory the material in each package and enter information into our system.
Once I complete double-checking the box the materials arrived in, I begin the process of entering the order’s details in our system. First, I search by the customer’s last name on the box, or by the order ID provided in the order confirmation sheet included inside the package. Then I fill out the form with the exact count and format of the materials, as well as enter any additional instructions written by the customer. An accurate form is most important, as everyone from the scanners to the editors will use it as a reference while they work.
While customers don’t have to include notes or a set of instructions, they are welcome to in order to make sure we process the order exactly how the customer intended. While checking in each order, I also copy any specific instructions in our system to assure every request is noted.
Step 5- Print order details to include within the container.
The very last step of the process is to print out a hard copy of the form. This will be included in the container with the materials for the scanners to fill out and refer to. As soon as the container is properly inventoried and tagged, all that’s left is to deposit the container into the backroom, ready for the scanners to start work.
If you have any questions, you can contact me personally at 310.773.3970 or find me on Twitter at @KileySD. Hope you hear from you soon!
