Required and Recommend Equipment by Workstation/Team Function

Overview

This article breaks down the required and recommended equipment at each workstation to fully optimize the usage of Lister and Link, along with other recommended equipment to help increase productivity and sell-thru rates.

Store Team Equipment

Required Store Equipment:

One internet-connected computer, laptop, or tablet per store is strongly recommended to create digital manifests in Upright Lister and ensure accurate reporting and seamless processing at e-commerce
- Click here if your stores are unable to manifest items
One regular office printer to print out 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper with a manifest barcode which allows transportation and e-commerce teams to quickly pull up the manifest
Optional: One label printer per store as an alternative to a regular office printer to print out manifest barcodes instead of printing 8.5 x 11 manifest sheets
- Note: If using this option, Lister Connect will need to be installed on the store computer

Recommended Store Equipment:

Reusable round-trip totes to place manifested items into for transportation to e-commerce
Tote Seal tags to secure valuables during transportation
Serialized tamper-evident security bags to further secure the transportation of jewelry and precious metals to e-commerce

💡Operational Tip: Enter the serial number in the manifest if using serialized security bags!

Transportation Team Equipment

Teams that utilize Manifest Tracking to transfer goods from stores to e-commerce can use the following options:

Transportation Drivers will need either access to the store's internet-connected computer or an iOS 13 or later internet-connected Apple device (supported iOS device list) with the Link app installed

Receiving and Processing Workstation Equipment

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer with Lister Connect installed per workstation
One label printer per workstation
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
Manifest Tracking Optional Equipment: Either an iOS 13 or later internet-connected Apple device (supported iOS device list) with the Link app installed to mark the manifest received or a tablet/desktop/laptop computer and barcode scanner (this can be the same computer used to process manifests)
Utility carts or mobile shelving units to move accepted products to photography and listing stations. These carts will then be used to move listed products to inventory
Blue painter’s tape to attach printed barcodes to fragile items that may otherwise be damaged by barcode label adhesive residue

Jewelry Processing:

The following equipment is highly recommended for jewelry teams in addition to the standard processing workstation equipment above:

Thermo Scientific™ Niton™ DXL X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analyzers to test for precious metals
Gemstone hardness tester to identify diamonds and other precious stones
High-precision digital scale to accurately weigh items in grams
Digital Calipers are highly recommended to precisely measure jewelry items

💡Operational Tip: Gold purity acid testing kits, although comparatively cheap, are not as reliable as XRF Analyzers, are prone to errors or false negatives, and may possibly damage high-value items!

Photography Workstation Equipment

Photography in Link (Recommended)

Using Link to photograph items is our recommended workflow as it streamlines the process of adding high-quality, eye-catching pictures with an iOS device, with no downtime compared to traditional digital camera editing that requires dedicated computers and work slowdowns as photos are exported, edited, and imported to your listings.

Non-jewelry photography:
- One iPod Touch 7 (7th Gen) or newer Apple iOS device capable of running iOS 13+ with the Link app installed per photography station.
  - Note: The more recent the iOS device, the better quality pictures it will be able to take
- Photography lightboxes for professional-looking listing pictures
Jewelry photography:
- One iPhone 8 or newer Apple iOS device capable of running iOS 13+ with the Link app installed per photography station
  - Note: iOS devices with both optical and digital zoom capabilities will provide the best-quality pictures
- Jewelry displays to showcase high-value precious metals and stones
- Photography lightboxes for professional-looking listing pictures
Optional: One ring barcode scanner per iOS device to speed up scanning barcodes

Uploading Photographs in Lister

Pictures can be added to listings directly, but this is generally not a best practice, as it requires additional (and sometimes expensive) cameras and more time to complete due to extra steps.

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer with a good quality monitor for photo editing (minimum 1080p resolution) per workstation
- Optional: A monitor color calibration tool to ensure pictures are a true color match when editing
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
One DSLR or point-and-shoot digital camera per workstation
Photography lightboxes
Jewelry displays to showcase high-value precious metals and stones

Listing Workstation Equipment

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer per workstation
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
Optional: A USB scale to weigh items (recommended)
- Note: If using this option, Lister Connect will need to be installed on the workstation computer

Inventory Workstation Equipment

Adding and removing items from inventory quickly and reliably is critical to an efficient workflow. Slow-downs in this process cause bottlenecks in productivity in all other areas of e-commerce and delay customers from receiving their purchases in a timely manner.

As such, we highly recommend using Upright Link to add and remove items from inventory!

Storing Inventory, Picking Orders, and Purging Products via Link (Recommended)

One iPod Touch 7 (7th Gen) or newer Apple iOS device capable of running iOS 13+ with the Link app installed per headcount assigned to inventory
Optional: One ring barcode scanner per iOS device to speed up scanning barcodes (highly recommended)
Optional: One phone neck lanyard or one wristband phone holder per device for hands-free operation (highly recommended)

Storing Inventory, Picking Orders, and Purging Products via Lister (Not Recommended)

One internet-connected laptop or tablet per headcount assigned to inventory
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per laptop/tablet
Access to one standard office printer to print order pack slips and Product purge lists

Inventory Material Handling Tools

One or many inventory rolling cart(s) and/or mobile shelving units, depending on the size of your operation. These allow for easy movement of products from listing to inventory and from inventory to shipping or aftermarket revenue streams for purged unsold items
- Global Industrial and Uline both offer sturdy carts that are well-regarded by many clients
Optional: Tote Picking Carts may be a more suitable option for pulling multi-item orders for shipping than using Inventory Rolling Carts

Order Packing Workstation Equipment

For larger teams with separated order packing and shipping workstations, we recommend the following equipment at each order packing workstation:

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer per workstation
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
Optional One label printer per workstation to reprint Product SKUs
- Note: If using this option, Lister Connect will need to be installed on the store computer
Optional: One standard office printer to print order Pack Slips and Pack Mode Control Sheets

Order Shipping Workstation Equipment

For larger teams with separated order packing and shipping workstations, we recommend the following equipment at each shipping workstation:

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer with Lister Connect installed per workstation
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
One label printer per workstation
One USB scale per workstation
Optional: One standard office printer to print out order Pack Slips and USPS Scan forms

Combined Packing and Shipping Workstation Equipment

For smaller teams with a combined order and packing workflow, we recommend the following equipment at each workstation:

One internet-connected desktop or laptop computer with Lister Connect installed per workstation
One 1D or 2D barcode scanner per workstation
One USB scale per workstation
One label printer per workstation
Optional: One standard office printer to print out order Pack Slips and USPS Scan forms

Have questions? Reach out to us at support@uprightlabs.com or via chat anytime between 9am-6pm ET, Monday to Friday