case study presentations warehouse management

These carts are used to cluster pick orders both on and below themezzanine floor.để phân cụm các đơn hàng lấy hàng cả trên và dưới tầng lửng.. Oncepicked the orders are transported to th

Case study PresentationsWarehouse Management

The content of the presentation will include:- Contents of the case study- Lessons learned from case studies

- More in-depth studies of the techniques or machines applied in the case studies

Case study Presentation Groups – Allotment List

Case study No 1:Consumer Electronics

The client is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobilecommunications and home appliances.

When it set up its new European central parts operation it installed a mezzanine floor withshelving (đặt một tầng lửng với giá đỡ,), a conveyor system (hệ thống băng tải) and the Inther

LC Pick to Cart system to manage over 70,000 spare parts (phụ tùng thay thế)

To increase productivity and reliability (năng suất và độ tin cậy) a total of 10 pick carts wereintroduced initially These carts are used to cluster pick orders both on and below themezzanine floor.(để phân cụm các đơn hàng lấy hàng cả trên và dưới tầng lửng.) Once

picked the orders are transported to the packaging and shipping department via a conveyorsystem.

When an operator logs on to a pick cart the Inther LC system will generate a batch of pickinginstructions (một loạt hướng dẫn lấy hàng) from all the available orders in the database When

generating the instructions the system will use logic to provide the picker with orders in the samearea and produce the most efficient picking route through the warehouse It will also instruct thepicker to pick the highest priority orders first.

The operator is instructed to load the pick cart with empty totes (thùng rỗng) Each tote mustbe scanned for the system to register the tote against the pick cart After loading the totes theoperator can start picking The central display on the pick cart will show the location to pickfrom After the operator confirms the location by scanning its barcode, the corresponding picklights light up with the requested quantities to pick The operator must pick the articles andconfirm the pick by pressing a button Omitting and shortage functionalities are also available.After the products from the first location are allocated to the totes, the next location is shown onthe central display.

When all orders are picked the operator unloads the totes from the pick cart onto a conveyor thattransports the totes to the packing workstations When the pick cart is empty, it is ready to start anew cluster of picks.

Each pick cart can be used, without recharging, during a full eight-hour shift A battery isinstalled on the pick cart to provide power for the pick lights, hand scanner and wirelesscontrollers.

In the above example plastic totes are utilized These may or may not be the final shippingcontainers The totes can be replaced by cartons thus reducing the number of touch points by nothaving to decant the totes A check weigh system can be used at the shipping area to ensureaccuracy.

Although having the advantage of being able to pick several orders at the same time andreducing overall travel, it does need experienced pickers if a putto-light system is not utilized.There is a possibility of putting the wrong product or wrong quantity of product into a containerand therefore a check system needs to be in place to ensure picker accuracy.

Cluster picking can also be used with conveyors, where a tote containing multiple orders divertsinto a pick zone As the tote passes a barcode reader its unique ID is read and all the picks for thecurrent tote are displayed on the individual pick-to-light terminals.

Each terminal indicates both the quantity to be picked and the tote location where it is to beplaced A pick of eight pieces into the B compartment would be displayed as B8 When all picksfor all compartments in the current zone are complete, the tote is returned to the conveyer beltand it proceeds to the next zone, where additional picks for any compartment are required.

The number of orders per cluster will depend on the number of lines, units per order, total cubeand the capacity of the totes, cages or trolleys.

As seen above we have a combination of technologies and pick strategies.

Case study No 2:SSI Schäfer and Yankee Candle

Picking efficiency has improved by 50 per cent and picking errors have significantly reduced atYankee Candle’s European distribution centre in Bristol as a result of SSI Schäfer’s paperlesspick-to-light system installation.

Yankee Candle are distributors of the world’s largest selection of scented candles and homefragrance product scents to retail stores, export organizations and the consumer via the internet.They wanted to improve overall picking accuracy and efficiency by building upon the existingKDR (push-through conduit shelving) flowracking system previously installed by SSI Schäfer.The original KDR flow racking, designed to hold forward-picking stock in over 1,800 locations,is divided into pick zones in a U-shaped layout with a conveyor running through the centre.Originally supporting paper-based picking, the KDR flow racking has been significantlyenhanced by the addition of SSI Schäfer’s pick-to-light system.

Yankee Candle is already reaping the benefits of the new paperless system which uses the latestin Schäfer’s software technology by providing the advantage of flexible zone picking to balance

out workload, contributing to increased picking efficiency, meaning fewer labour hours andreduced picking errors, resulting in fewer missed or low-level product shipments.

Mike Alibone, business development manager, SSI Schäfer, says: ‘As well as improving pickingefficiency the system is designed to provide enhanced volumetric packing, multiple orderconsolidation, order progress optimization and shipping detail transfer to third-party carriers,taking Yankee Candle to a new level in operational excellence.’

Bruce Mitchell, operations manager at Yankee Candle, is delighted with the new system Hesays: ‘The system has lifted picking efficiency by 50 per cent whilst significantly increasing theaccuracy of the pick In fact, shipping volumes are up by more than 40 per cent on this time lastyear while the number of errors is down by over 50 per cent of last year’s figure.’

In terms of packing, the system calculates the sizes and number of cartons required and printslabels in advance with the content The system is reliant on using a database of cartonvolumetrics/packing parameters and is enabled when the operator scans the barcode on thecarton label Multiple orders can be consolidated for a single shipment to a customer.

For order progress optimization, all defined pick zones are able to commence order pickingsimultaneously, even when a single large order is split across different zones It relies onoperators in each zone picking in the printing sequence of the labels, which have been issued tosynchronize order progression For each pick wave the system looks at the distribution of thepicks and calculates a zone size for each operator to work in, thereby spreading the number ofpicks evenly across a maximum of 12 operators.

Shipping detail transfer to third-party carriers allows cartons to be scanned and the details of theshipment to be transferred electronically via an interface between the SSI Schäfer system to anyone of five carrier systems in order for the latter to generate their own despatch documentation.Having installed the original, highly customized ‘flexible zone’ pick-to-light system, to improvepicking efficiency and reduce picking errors, SSI Schaefer were contracted back in to supportand work with Yankee Candle® Europe in their move to a new 175,000 square foot warehouseensuring the necessary alterations and extension to the system within the new site.

In just one month, SSI Schaefer dismantled the existing zone picking system made up of cartonlive storage, pick-by-light picking and conveyor-based carton sortation, transported it to the newDC and reinstalled it in conjunction with a complete reconfiguration and extension At 175,000square feet, this new DC is almost three times the size of the old facility and the addition of extrapallet positions has significantly increased storage capacity.

There are now more picking locations in the carton live storage, an additional fullcase ‘pick tobelt conveyor’, additional ‘sort-to-route’ sortation lanes for completed orders and separateshipping carton feeds from two zone picking areas The whole system has also been given acomplete software overhaul including additional interfaces to contract carriers’ systems.The extended automated system, which includes additional sortation capability and a newautomated full-case picking area, has and will enable Yankee Candle® Europe to continueincreasing its throughput efficiency of the picking operation and accommodate with ease, futurerequirements of its growing internet business.

Case study No 3:A case of UK clothing retailer

A UK clothing retailer installed a put-to-light system at one of its DCs Twenty stations wereinstalled, each with a capacity of up to 24 stores Product is automatically delivered to eachstation, utilizing an automated storage and retrieval system.

The light display at each location indicates how many items must be placed into each of theorder totes, which means that a single operator can look after 24 store orders at the same time.Once an order tote is full, the display instructs the operator to push the tote onto a conveyorsystem, which takes it to the despatch area.

The high-rate put stations (up to 1,000 items per hour, depending on order profile) significantlyreduce the time taken by staff travelling between store orders.

Operators are fed with a continuous supply of products and each workstation is ergonomicallydesigned.

A leading sporting goods manufacturer introduced a put-to-light system at a UK operation in2008, investing over £20 million in the project The company says: ‘Automation allows us tohandle a lot of volume in a relatively small amount of space, which keeps overheads down automation allows us to flex the volume up and down accordingly High-rate put stations enableoperators to achieve an average of 500 units per hour, with a potential capability of 1,500 picksper hour With over 70,000 SKUs the pick face for a manual operation would have been massiveand given the seasonal nature of our business we would have been continually changing it –automation improves efficiency fivefold.

Case study No 4LPT

LPT, the Liverpool-based fresh-produce terminal, has partnered with ATMS, its WMS provider,to help to bring the ATMS GlobalTrack service to market.

The ATMS STP WMS is a key part of LPT’s operation, helping to optimize the receipting,warehousing and despatching operations LPT’s warehouse is a state-ofthe-art, brand new,temperature-controlled facility with 5,000 locations and caters for cross docking as well asadded-value services ATMS’s system supports and optimizes all of these processes, includingdock, yard and vessel management.

‘LPT needed to go one step further to provide a level of service for its customers far ahead ofanything in the market place,’ states Andy Rickard, operations director of LPT ‘One of thereasons we selected ATMS was because of their strategy of developing their WMS to become thecore of a global tracking and supply chain visibility offering – in the form of GlobalTrack; we’revery pleased to be one of the first companies to work with them to prove the benefits ofGlobalTrack in the real world.’

Stephen Cross, ex-managing director of ATMS plc, says: ‘GlobalTrack is a hosted solution thatprovides improved control and visibility across the supply chain It is designed to beexceptionally easy to use and exceptionally low cost; for instance, users can pay for systemusage on a per transaction, pay as you go basis It is fully multilingual and is supported by officesin UK, Dubai, Singapore, China and Manila.’

The system helps users improve the control of their import-tracking process Order andfulfilment requirements can be logged onto the system The system then allows producers andmanufacturers, wherever they are in the world, to log their production and productivity againstthese orders and call-offs A facility is then provided for remote labelling of cartons, pallets andunit-load devices Labelling is carried out to the global GS1 standard, the barcode on each labelis unique and identifies the carton, pallet or other item and its contents; the system recordsquality, traceability and other conformance information Pack sizes, weights and dimensions canalso be recorded The system can then be used to generate and share packing lists, manifests andadvanced shipping information Information can also be provided to and from customsauthorities, freight forwarders and logistics providers.

Pre-labelling and electronic advanced shipment notices help LPT receive stock accurately andswiftly Any errors are alerted automatically.

The system not only assists the upstream operation but can be used downstream as well, from thepoint of despatch from LPT, through re-warehousing and crossdocking operations, to proof ofdelivery GlobalTrack supports proof of delivery and has a remote warehouse control module thatallows warehouses to be controlled with the use of hand-held terminals communicating overmobile phone GPRS networks.

The system is designed for in-house and third-party use – for instance, the system is designed toallow clients of third-party logistics providers to view their own stock and their own supplychain information – and only their own Information visible across the web includes productioninformation, receipt and despatch information, stock status, quality control status.

Documentation can be downloaded remotely Stock call-offs and other action requests can beentered remotely.

David Hughes, who heads up business development at ATMS, comments: ‘We are proud to be astrategic partner of LPT They are a highly innovative operation with a superb management team,with the dedication and focus to deliver a first-class service from a first-class facility.’James Woodward, managing director of LPT, comments: ‘LPT is in a unique positiongeographically to reduce customer costs whilst reducing their carbon footprint and now is in aunique position technologically to provide the highest levels of visibility, traceability and control.

Case study No 5Narrow Aisle Flexi

The international automotive supplier Brose has been using Flexi Euro articulated trucks in theirJIS factory supplying Mercedes in Sindelfingen since August 2008 These trucks are suitable forvery narrow aisles and have created more space in their existing line side warehouse.

The products produced at the Brose factory are door systems for the Mercedes S, C and E ranges.A further order for a new Mercedes range as well as the increasing production depth urgedmanager Jan Francke, who is responsible for the two Brose factories in Sindelfingen and Rastatt,to react early enough An external canopy for the factory in Sindelfingen for storing empties hadalready been planned when head of logistics at the Sindelfingen factory, Dana Mühlenhof, cameacross the concept of the Flexi articulated forklift trucks.