New Features
Point of Scale

Innovative Astra Tool Captures Weight Data Automatically, Instantly, and Accurately

Click here to download the PDF version >>

Increase Productivity

Eliminate Costly Errors

Get Trucks Out Quicker

Most Food Distribution/Processing/Importing companies have their sales and accounting departments fully automated, but not their processing rooms. This means that critical tasks such as determining what to cut and pack, and the recording of individual item weights is done manually, which is time-consuming and increases the likelihood of errors.
As a Technology Partner who anticipates the needs of its clients, Astra Information Systems, Inc., has developed a revolutionary online scale interface tool, Astra Point of Scale, which seamlessly integrates digitally capable scales to the Astra software system. This scale integration easily and efficiently completes cutting and packing tasks, while it also automatically and accurately records that information. The processing is streamlined, saving both time and money.

Astra Point of Scale System Functions

Astra Point of Scale allows Astra System users to select from three operational modes: fast food, whole order, and direct scan.The fast food mode presents sales order lines for items to be packed or cut, the amount of finished product ordered for each line, the total amount that is needed, and the total whole product required to make it. Each Astra Point of Scale user is able to select which order lines to work on from an extensive array of options including warehouse section, product, route, and date wanted. Each station memorizes its standard selection criteria, making it very user-friendly. Typical Astra Point of Scale users are selecting line items by product line in order to maximize production efficiency. The whole order method fills all the lines of a customer order at one time. The most common method is where orders are selected for a specified route. Of course, only items that need to be weighed are displayed. The direct scan mode works in conjunction with pre-printed bar coded pick labels or pick slips. It jumps directly to the sales line to be filled. This allows the Astra Point of Scale system to easily integrate into the existing flow of clients with sophisticated picking systems already in place.

Advanced Design

The Astra Point of Scale Station integrates virtually any scale with digital output capability. It features a water resistant POWERPAD that allows users to easily operate the system - even wearing gloves. With an industrial strength sealed scanner, the workstations fit easily on a roll-away cart, have no moving parts to wear out, and were developed with a splash resistant keyboard. Users simply press the print button on the scale and the data is instantly captured, error-free. A small footprint label printer with an automatic peel and present function aids in quickly applying labels to packages.

Meeting Needs

Astra Point of Scale has intuitive easy to use screens, and presents a more professional image by giving customers clear, concise information. A label is produced for each package weighed making it easy for warehouse personnel to route properly.
It can also scan weights from supplier labeled products, fill sales order line quantities, interface to processing, and enable bar code labeling of packages that can be scanned to verify loading on the proper delivery truck. In addition, the software can be customized to meet a company's specific requirements.

A Competitive Edge

Astra System clients who use Astra Point of Scale recognize the many benefits associated with using this tool. One such client is Lombardi's Seafood Inc., a distributor and importer of a variety of seafood products such as mahi-mahi, tuna, grouper, swordfish, marlin, snapper, sea bass, cod, mussels, etc. headquartered in Orlando, Florida. They deal with a multitude of both fresh and frozen products, so being detail-oriented is essential to remaining competitive. Lombardi's installed an Astra Point of Scale unit in it's processing room, and uses all three operational methods depending on their needs at the time. "For us, Astra Point of Scale is foremost a great time saver," said Operations Manager Michael Lombardi. "At first, our fresh fish crew was completely intimidated by the thought of a computer in the processing room. Now they can't live without it."

Eliminating Steps

Another satisfied Astra client, The Poseidon Group, also uses Astra Point of Scale to increase efficiency and remain competitive. One of the largest fresh andfrozen wholesale seafood distributors in the southeast with divisions and affiliated companies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and Tennessee, the company uses six Astra Point of Scale workstations, some of which also utilize bar-code scanners to scan the vendors' labels to capture weight data directly from boxes of fish.
According to Poseidon's Chief Financial Officer John Hill, the company primarily uses Astra Point of Scale's fast food mode during the night shift at its Charlotte, North Carolina operations center.

"At that time, we are mainly geared towards bulk packouts, which means a large amount of a particular species group will be cut at one time to fill many individual orders," said Hill.

"So, we set up what we call 'species stations' at which all six of the Astra Point of Scale stations are used to determine not one order, but many orders dealing with one particular species. For example, if one of our staff knows a total of 140 pounds of tuna is needed to fill all the orders, he makes just one trip for the tuna and brings all his work to the area to be cut."

During the day, Poseidon uses the direct scan method with three to four Astra Point of Scale stations for individual order-filling. Working in conjunction with pre-printed bar coded pick labels, the critical information goes directly to the sales line to be filled. Prior to using Astra Point of Scale, Poseidon workers determined what to cut, what to pack, and recorded individual item weights manually on weight sheets.

"Through Astra Point of Scale, a lot of steps which had the potential to produce errors have been eliminated," added Hill. "We're saving time, and have increased accuracy and efficiency. It literally pays to take advantage of such a tool." Another company that went from handling processing tasks manually to the efficiency of Astra Point of Scale is Supreme Seafood, a regional distributor headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida. To the delight of the company's Fresh Fish Manager, Alan Shields, they experienced immediate results.

"Astra Point of Scale improved our operations considerably within the first week of using it," said Shields.

"You can't even compare handling all the processing steps manually, to the streamlined integration of Astra Point of Scale.A major benefit has been the time-saving aspect - we no longer have to key in catch weights into the system after they have been weighed. Our trucks can go out sooner, saving time and money. Getting on the road sooner allowed us to increase the number of stops a truck could make."

According to Shields, another example of this tool is especially helpful to them is that it allows orders to be filled instantly.

"Previously, if our sales team placed late orders, we had to run invoices and then fill the orders with the weights later. Now, because sales and production are linked, last minute add-ons instantly show up on our screen and the orders are filled immediately. We couldn't be more pleased with Astra Point of Scale."