Introducing A New, Modern Data Collection Platform for Fourth Shift.
If your company runs on Fourth Shift, you’ll know how difficult it can be to implement modern manufacturing principles such as integrated, real-time data collection.
Capturing data during key business processes such as Receiving, Shipping, Inventory, and even Shop Floor can provide a wealth of actionable insights into your business – and help you avoid costly mistakes.
And that’s where Fourth Gear Data Collection comes in.
For years, companies running Fourth Shift have had to make due with clunky, expensive data collection tools and platforms that are difficult to implement, use, and manage. Fourth Gear Data Collection changes all of that.
Built for Modern Mobile Devices
Fourth Gear Data Collection is the first truly modern data collection platform for Fourth Shift to take advantage of cost effective modern mobile devices, such as tablets, smartphones, and Android-based handheld scanners.
Gone are the days of needing to hunt down outdated (and unsupported) Windows Mobile devices from the dustbin of yesteryear.
With Fourth Gear Data Collection, you can finally embrace the mobile computing revolution that has taken place in the last ten years. And not only that, but you’ll also be able to realize real cost savings with the devices available to you on the market today – enough so that you’ll never have to be without a scanner for an employee due to cost or availability.
That’s because Fourth Gear Data Collection works with practically any mobile device with a WiFi connection and an HTML5 browser (such as Chrome or Safari). You can use Windows, Android, or even Apple devices without the need to install any applications or software on your devices – everything runs over your own private network. Getting new devices up and running is as simple as firing up a web browser.
Only Fourth Gear Data Collection has been built from the ground-up to take advantage of modern mobile devices: It automatically adjusts to fit different device sizes based on its amazing responsive design. And it’s lightning fast – even over slow or spotty network connections often found in warehouses or on the shop floor.
Barcode and Scan with Ease
Fourth Gear Data Collection takes full advantage of devices with built-in or add-on barcode scanners: You can populate any data collection lookup or field with a barcode scan, which can reduce manual entry errors and drastically speed up processes such as receiving, inventory, and even cycle counts.
And if you’re already using BarTender, you’ll be thrilled to hear that Fourth Gear Data Collection can integrate natively with it to produce labels and even barcodes based on data collection activities.
If you’ve ever wanted to “go paperless” and take full advantage of your barcoding efforts, Fourth Gear Data Collection can help you get there.
Intuitive and Easy To Use
Other data collection platforms can be difficult to use, making mistakes commonplace and training an expensive and time-consuming endeavor.
With Fourth Gear Data Collection, you don’t need to know about special function keys – all you need is to know how to use a web browser.
That’s because we’ve incorporated modern, best-practice user interface and experience processes and techniques into the core of the Fourth Gear Data Collection platform. Built by a team of expert web and mobile developers, you and your team will experience what it’s like to be able to focus on the task at hand – instead of battling the software you’ve enlisted to help you with those tasks.
And not just that, but because we’ve taken a fresh, modern perspective towards data collection, you can incorporate more helpful and useful information into your data collection screens than you could with any other platform, including text, grids, and even tables of relevant information to assist your employees in their data collection efforts.
Real-Time Integration with Fourth Shift
Perhaps best of all, Fourth Gear Data Collection integrates natively with Fourth Shift in real-time: You’ll be able to see up-to-the second information about your orders, items, and even inventory as you perform your data collection tasks.
And what’s more is that Fourth Gear Data Collection enables you to natively process any Fourth Shift transaction (such as updating orders, moving inventory, or even creating shipments) all from your scanner or mobile device. This creates a fully integrated experience for your employees that keeps them focused on the task at hand – rather than having to hunt down a terminal to perform Fourth Shift updates. With Fourth Gear Data Collection, transactions are posted automatically with FSTI using Fourth Shift’s FSTM module based on the business process and activities an employee performed.
Ready to Run Scripts
Most other data collection platforms require that you build your own data collection screens and scripts from scratch, which can lead to expensive consulting and custom development projects.
Only Fourth Gear Data Collection offers a comprehensive and affordable library of already built, off-the-shelf data collection screens and scripts that you can deploy and run.
These scripts have been developed in close collaboration with a number of Fourth Gear clients, and have been proven to solve real business needs in real ways. Fourth Gear maintains a complete catalog of ready to run data collection scripts for customers to choose from, including scripts for:
- Shipping
- Receiving
- Inventory Moves and Adjustments
- Cycle Counts and Physical Inventory
- Shop Floor
- And many more
Completely Customizable
And because every business is different and has its own set of unique needs, Fourth Shift Data Collection makes it easy for you to create and customize your own data collection screens and scripts.
Fourth Gear Data Collection can integrate with virtually any database, ERP, or third party application or API, making it a true centralized data collection platform for large and small enterprises alike.
And if writing data collection screens and scripts isn’t your thing, there’s no worries – Fourth Gear Solutions also provides expert data collection authoring services at an affordable rate.
Get the Insights You Need
And of course, what good is collecting data if you can’t get actionable insights from it?
Fourth Gear Data Collection makes it easy to analyze the data your organization collects through native integration with SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services). With SSRS, you can not only create and run your own custom reports, but you can also receive email notifications based on specific activities, and even schedule daily or weekly summary reports based on the information your organization has collected.
And because Fourth Gear Data Collection was designed to integrate easily with other systems, it can even be integrated with data warehouses and other analytics packages as well.