In Lean, inventory is often viewed in a negative light. Indeed, inventory is one of the 7 deadly wastes. Is the traditional position of Lean justified in thinking so negatively against inventory and the warehousing that goes along with it?

Single Piece Flow, while an ideal state for a company to be at, is not realistic when it comes to warehousing. Why? Well, there is a fixed cost any time product is transported. This is especially high when the carrier is ship or plane or train; and to amortize this fixed cost it is necessary to fill the carrier to capacity. Consequently, a distributor may consolidate shipments from vendors into large shipments for downstream customers.

Similarly, when shipments are consolidated, then it is easier to receive downstream. Trucks can be scheduled into a limited number of dock doors and so drivers do not have to wait. The results are savings for all involved in the supply chain.

Put another way, suppose there’s a large retailer with thousands of suppliers. Imagine if those suppliers replenished each retail store directly. That scenario would mean that each trailer would leave the supplier mostly empty or Less-than-truckload (LTL). The model might be illustrated as follows:

In the example where each supplier replenishes each store directly, we achieve the following transportation plan:

Vendors v * Stores s = # of direct shipment transportation runs.

And, each direct shipment will likely be less than truckload and the consequent costs will be much higher.

The alternative is to have a consolidation warehouse. In this scenario, we have Vendors or Suppliers that have inbound shipments to a consolidation warehouse, then that warehouse delivers direct to the stores. The result is the following transportation plan:

Vendors v + Stores s = # of direct shipment transportation runs.

In this scenario, the costs incurred is much lower and the shipments will likely be larger with lower fixed costs. This model might be illustrated by the picture below:

So, despite the negative attitude toward inventory and the field of warehousing in general, lean advocates need to understand the warehousing can be strategic and can actually reduce the overall landed costs in the supply chain.

How a Warehouse Can Reduce Costs and Increase Service Level is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Apple recently released their Apple 2012 Supplier Responsibility Report, which highlights the audits conducted in 2011, violations that occurred with their outsourced manufacturing and supply chain, and corrective actions put in place. Apple was very transparent in the creation of this report and I applaud them for that. Part of the report is spent on discussing the need for a Management System within its supply chain and manufacturing partners. I predict that for Apple suppliers and manufacturers to remain compliant with the Management System requirement, more and more of them will adopt lean management as part of their business.

There’s much media hype on Apple and their decision to outsource their manufacturing and supply chain, such as the iPhone Supply Chain. The media hype has largely been focused on the human rights violations made by their outsourcing partners. For example, here are some cited by Henry Blodget in a recent article ¹:

• The Chinese city of Shenzhen is where most of our “crap” is made. 30 years ago, Shenzhen was a little village on a river. Now it’s a city of 13 million people — bigger than New York.
• Foxconn, one of the companies that builds iPhones and iPads (and products for many other electronics companies), has a factory in Shenzhen that employs 430,000 people.
• There are 20 cafeterias at the Foxconn Shenzhen plant. They each serve 10,000 people.
• One Foxconn worker Mike Daisey interviewed, outside factory gates manned by guards with guns, was a 13-year old girl. She polished the glass of thousands of new iPhones a day.
• The 13-year old said Foxconn doesn’t really check ages. There are on-site inspections, from time to time, but Foxconn always knows when they’re happening. And before the inspectors arrive, Foxconn just replaces the young-looking workers with older ones.
• In the first two hours outside the factory gates, Daisey meets workers who say they are 14, 13, and 12 years old (along with plenty of older ones). Daisey estimates that about 5% of the workers he talked to were underage.
• Daisey visits other Shenzhen factories, posing as a potential customer. He discovers that most of the factory floors are vast rooms filled with 20,000-30,000 workers apiece. The rooms are quiet: There’s no machinery, and there’s no talking allowed. When labor costs so little, there’s no reason to build anything other than by hand.
• A Chinese working “hour” is 60 minutes — unlike an American “hour,” which generally includes breaks for Facebook, the bathroom, a phone call, and some conversation. The official work day in China is 8 hours long, but the standard shift is 12 hours. Generally, these shifts extend to 14-16 hours, especially when there’s a hot new gadget to build. While Daisey is in Shenzhen, a Foxconn worker dies after working a 34-hour shift.
• Assembly lines can only move as fast as their slowest worker, so all the workers are watched (with cameras). Most people stand.
• The workers stay in dormitories. In a 12-by-12 cement cube of a room, Daisey counts 15 beds, stacked like drawers up to the ceiling. Normal-sized Americans would not fit in them.
• Unions are illegal in China. Anyone found trying to unionize is sent to prison.
• Daisey interviews dozens of (former) workers who are secretly supporting a union. One group talked about using “hexane,” an iPhone screen cleaner. Hexane evaporates faster than other screen cleaners, which allows the production line to go faster. Hexane is also a neuro-toxin. The hands of the workers who tell him about it shake uncontrollably.
• Some workers can no longer work because their hands have been destroyed by doing the same thing hundreds of thousands of times over many years (mega-carpal-tunnel). This could have been avoided if the workers had merely shifted jobs. Once the workers’ hands no longer work, obviously, they’re canned.
• One former worker had asked her company to pay her overtime, and when her company refused, she went to the labor board. The labor board put her on a black list that was circulated to every company in the area. The workers on the black list are branded “troublemakers” and companies won’t hire them.
• One man got his hand crushed in a metal press at Foxconn. Foxconn did not give him medical attention. When the man’s hand healed, it no longer worked. So they fired him. (Fortunately, the man was able to get a new job, at a wood-working plant. The hours are much better there, he says — only 70 hours a week).
• The man, by the way, made the metal casings of iPads at Foxconn. Daisey showed him his iPad. The man had never seen one before. He held it and played with it. He said it was “magic.”

The list of embarrassing violations go on and on, leading Henry Blodget to ask all Apple users:

The bottom line is that iPhones and iPads cost what they do because they are built using labor practices that would be illegal in this country — because people in this country consider those practices grossly unfair.

That’s not a value judgment. It’s a fact.

So, next time you pick up your iPhone or iPad, ask yourself how you feel about that.

Need For a Management System

The Apple Supplier Code of Conduct has a requirement for all its suppliers to have a Management System in place. Specifically,

Apple requires that our suppliers establish management systems that ensure compliance with each section of its Code as well as applicable laws and regulations. Suppliers’ management systems must be capable of identifying and mitigating operational risks. They should also help suppliers make continuous improvements to their standards and practices. This section of the Code provides a foundation for its other elements: Enforcement of the standards we’ve defined in the Code’s other areas depends on suppliers setting up the right management systems.

Our audit programs examine both business practices and the management systems that can sustain those practices. There may be cases where our audit reveals compliance in actual practice, but the underlying management system may not be strong enough to assure ongoing compliance. For this reason, Apple audits include examination of the management systems—such as policies and procedures, roles and responsibilities, and training programs—underlying every category in our Code.

Training is an important tool we use to call attention to the need for our suppliers to strengthen management systems. Training also empowers workers, raising their awareness to their rights—an important part of our efforts to drive our suppliers to adopt socially responsible management systems and practices. As part of our audit programs, we follow up to see if training programs result in changes to the workplace. For example, last year, audit scores went up for management systems compliance in underage hiring prevention following the extensive training we delivered.

In sum, Apple is requiring suppliers and manufacturers to have in place:

• Risk Assessment and Management: A process to identify environmental, health and safety, business ethics, labor, human rights, and legal compliance risks associated with their operations; determine the relative significance of each risk; and implement appropriate procedures and physical controls to ensure compliance and control the identified risks. Risk assessments for health and safety must include warehouse and storage facilities, plant and facility support equipment, laboratories and test areas, bathrooms, kitchens, cafeterias, and worker housing.
• Performance Objectives with Implementation Plans and Measures: Written standards, performance objectives, targets, and implementation plans, including a periodic assessment of the Supplier’s performance against those objectives.
• Audits and Assessments: Periodic self-evaluations to ensure that the Supplier, its subcontractors, and its next-tier Suppliers are complying with this Code and with applicable laws and regulations.

If some or most of them haven’t yet, I predict that several Apple outsource manufacturing and supply chain partners will begin to adopt lean management to remain in compliance with the Apple requirement for a management system. This can be good or bad: if the suppliers remain true to the spirit of Lean, then good things can come of it. If the outsource manufacturers and supply chain partners decide to adopt the “lean and mean” mantra, they can use Lean management as an excuse to continue to treat their people badly.

All in all, I applaud Apple for being transparent in their report. As far as Management Systems go, I anticipate hearing poor treatment of employees to be linked to “lean and mean” management, bringing all true lean advocates to an uproar.

Apple Supplier Responsibility Report: Requiring Management Systems is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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An article in the New York Times explains the reason why manufacturing the iPhone in United States will likely never happen ¹:

Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”

The article goes on and explains that it is flexibility and NOT cost that makes China so competitive. With added commentary that the Middle Income in America will continued to get squeezed and eventually disappear, the article is overall very unoptomistic on the prospects of America being able to compete with China. Indeed, the article claims that flexibility of that type is unheard of and virtually impossible in America.

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that this type of Taylorism and inhumane treatment of people is not allowed via government legislation. True, whenever the government steps in, lead time increases and costs also increase, but sometimes the price for liberty requires added precautions and boundaries that keep people from treating others inhumanely. Freedom has bounds.

In general, there are two things wrong with the New York Times article:

1. It is celebrating slavery. By claiming that flexibility will, in its current state and in the end, beat out America, the article is inadvertently celebrating slavery. If the price of flexibility for a company like Apple means that people work 14 hours and $17 a day and are woken up in the middle of the night and given a biscuit and tea to then work some more because of a last minute design change from Apple, then China wins on flexibility.
2. Their definition of “flexibility” fails to acknowledge the power of Lean Manufacturing for last minute changes the article describes. In fact, lean manufacturing – properly applied and executed – shines in situations where there are last minute changes, provided the operation had Heijunka in place and was already operating on a single piece flow philosophy. But that approach doesn’t require people waking up in the middle of the night and slavery-like conditions. It requires a well-formed and designed operation built on the tenets of lean manufacturing.

Despite Apple’s Code of Conduct for suppliers, last minute design changes like the article describes will continue to “train” suppliers to treat their people badly. Indeed, Apple will continue to be demanding on the one hand, but making it almost impossible for suppliers to comply to its demands on the other.

Celebrating Supply Chain Slavery is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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We’re pleased to have Robert Lockard step in with a guest post and share his thoughts on the What, How, and Where of Inventory Management. This is his installment on Inventory Management Systems.

Read more about Robert after his article.

In my last post I gave a word to the wise about the why’s of using inventory management software. This time I’m going to delve into the details of what, where and how to manage a warehouse.

The What

The purpose of a warehouse is to store parts and products that you need to fulfill customer orders. So it makes sense that you want to stock up on products your customers want and avoid holding onto a bunch of slow-selling products that will just sit in your warehouse for months. That’s what we call lean warehouse management.

To keep your warehouse lean, start by tracking sales trends to see which are your most popular products. We’ll get to how to do that in a minute. By figuring out which products are your top sellers, you can make smarter decisions about when to reorder products, how many to order and which locations to send them to. Plus, you can set up your warehouse to make it easier to get to those hot sellers.

The Where

Even if you have all the right parts and products in your warehouse, if they’re not well-organized and easy to find they won’t do you much good. You need to have an efficient system for receiving products, putting them in the right places and then locating them when an order comes in.

A good way to set up your warehouse is to group products together. Find out which products customers often order together and then store them near each other. Sometimes the connections can seem obvious (like peanut butter and jelly), but other times you might see buying patterns you wouldn’t have guessed without doing some research. Also, you should put your top-selling products close to the warehouse entrance to save time on receiving and shipping.

The How

The best way to identify what your top products are and where you should store them is to use warehouse management software. With barcode scanners, you can track orders, sales and more. Then they can filter all that information into reports, revealing information that would otherwise be tedious to compile. To find the right products to ship, you can use those same scanners to lead you through a map of your warehouse.

It can even help you monitor seasonal trends. If a product is popular during the summer, but not the winter, you can only stock up on it during the right time of year and not be stuck with too much the rest of the time. For manufacturers, you might consider using manufacturing inventory software to not only keep your warehouse well-organized, but also to speed up the production process with multilevel bills of materials, automatic work orders and other tools.

Next time I’ll talk about the positive results you can expect by using lean inventory management tactics.

About Robert Lockard

Robert Lockard works at Fishbowl, the maker of the No. 1 requested inventory management solution for QuickBooks users.

Robert is a prolific writer, having written more than 600 blog posts, hundreds of Web pages and dozens of news articles. He studied public relations at Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 2006.

He has written on a variety of subjects, such as real estate, online marketing, QuickBooks inventory management and film reviews. Robert lives in Orem, Utah with his wife and two children. He loves running, biking, reading and watching movies with his family.

What, Where, and How of Warehouse Management is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Let’s assume that you are the head of process improvement at your company. And, you were given the task of answering the following question:

Should our employees walk or run to get their job done?

How would you answer that?

This question is a classic Operations Analysis, Cost Analysis, and Capacity Analysis question. To illustrate how I’d answer this, I’m going to use an example of a meat processing process: Fresh Hamburgers.

PS: If you are vegetarian, please forgive the example. Just replace the meat example with one that is more suited to your liking.

Okay, back to the illustration. Suppose the process to produce fresh hamburgers is the following:

1. Cows Enter
2. Meat is Processed
3. Meat is Delivered

The manager of the meat processing plant is curious to know the following:

1. Should the cows run into the processing room?
2. Should the cows walk into the processing room?

Under the surface, the question is really about Capacity and the Cost implications for Walking or Running. Given this, let’s now ask more detailed questions:

1. How much meat can be processed (capacity analysis) when the cows walk versus run?
2. What is the cost involved (cost analysis) when the cows walk versus when the cows run?

Capacity Analysis / Production Analysis

Okay, a couple of assumptions to make our example a bit easier to deal with:

• Each cow can make 20 hamburgers.
• The shop is open for 10 hours, 5 days a week.
• Given the current labor, when the cows walk, 10 cows can be processed in 1 hour. This means that roughly 2000 hamburgers can be processed in one day if the cows were to walk (20 hamburgers / cow * 10 cows/hour * 10 hours/Day).
• Given the current labor, when the cows run, 25 cows can be processed in 1 hour. That means 5000 hamburgers can be processed in one day.

Cost Analysis

Assuming that labor increases in proportion to the increase in processed meats and overhead increases disproportionally (because of sunk costs, equipment, and other expenses). Here is the assumed costs analysis:

The conclusion, then, to the question of whether the Cows should walk versus run, the cost analysis shows us that by the cows running, we reduce costs by $0.10 on each hamburger.

So, if we were to base our decision on costs alone, it makes sense for the cows to run. But, of course there are other considerations. For now, we’ll leave the analysis as it stands and move on to other business applications.

Business Applications

It’s not often that one needs to manage cows running, so here are a few other business problems for which the analysis above can apply:

1. In a build to order operation such as Bike Assembly, Personal Computers, etc.
2. In any restaurant operation
3. In a fulfillment operation, having pickers walk versus run (safety aside), etc.

Capacity Analysis, Cost and Production Analysis: A Lesson From Hamburgers is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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We’re pleased to have Robert Lockard step in with a guest post and share his thoughts on the reasons why organization might want to consider an Inventory Management System. He explains why small businesses that require seamless integration with quickbooks should consider an Inventory Management System and the benefits of having an Inventory Management System to their bottom line.

Read more about Robert after his article.

Every company needs an inventory management system. Whether you’re in wholesale, retail, service or virtually any other industry, you have to keep track of your products. Here are five reasons why it’s so important to use small business inventory software:

1. Stop products from spoiling.

If you have too many products in your warehouse, you increase the risk that they will become obsolete, damaged, spoiled or stolen before you can sell them all. Depending on which industry you’re in, you’re probably more worried about some of these risks than others. For example, if you’re in the technology industry, you don’t want your expensive products to become outdated, damaged or stolen, but you probably don’t care about their freshness date. Food producers, on the other hand, put product spoilage high on the list of inventory management concerns.

2. Stop paying hidden costs.

Having too much inventory doesn’t just increase your risk of paying more in the future; it costs you more money all the time. Where will you store the extra inventory? You may need to buy a larger warehouse than you really need or rent trailers if your warehouse isn’t big enough. Plus, you have to provide security to prevent theft. And don’t forget about the money that’s tied up in inventory that you could have used to hire personnel or grow your business in other ways.

3. Stop disappointing customers.

On the other end of the inventory spectrum, if you have too few products in your warehouse, you face a whole other set of risks. Your customers don’t want to wait too long to get their orders shipped to them. So if you run out of the products they’re looking for or if your picking, packing and shipping processes are too slow, you could drive customers away.

4. Stop wasting time.

Inventory management can be time-consuming, especially if you’re trying to do it by hand or in Excel spreadsheets. Speed is everything in business. How fast you reorder products, ship customer orders and update your inventory records could make or break your company. That’s why an automated inventory management system is so important. Scanning product barcodes and setting up automatic reorder points can save valuable time by streamlining complex processes.

5. Start planning ahead.

You can’t afford to be purely reactionary in your inventory management. You need to start planning ahead and being proactive. Instead of being unprepared for sudden spikes in sales, try to notice these trends ahead of time by monitoring social media channels for mentions of certain products and looking at historical records to spot seasonal upticks in sales. All of this is easier said than done. It goes back to having a powerful inventory management system to free up your time and do most of the data analysis for you.

About Robert Lockard

Robert Lockard works at Fishbowl, the maker of the No. 1 requested inventory management solution for QuickBooks users.

Robert is a prolific writer, having written more than 600 blog posts, hundreds of Web pages and dozens of news articles. He studied public relations at Brigham Young University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in 2006.

He has written on a variety of subjects, such as real estate, online marketing, QuickBooks inventory management and film reviews. Robert lives in Orem, Utah with his wife and two children. He loves running, biking, reading and watching movies with his family.

Why Use an Inventory Management System is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Where to build a distribution center, fulfillment center, or warehouse is a strategic question. The answer to “where” are drivers to costs and the customer experience. Where to build your next warehouse is an incredibly important question to answer.

There are, of course, many factors to consider:

• What is your expected inventory profile?
• What is your geographic distribution strategy?
• State and Municipalities incentives? State and Local Government Incentives?
• Proximity to the Logistics Carrier (such as UPS World Hub or Ground Transport)
• The pool of local talent available in the area.
• Inbound and Outbound transportation costs.
• Access to interstate highway systems or inbound sea import locations.
• Crime rate, Housing, Educational Facilities
• State Taxes, Nexus
• Building construction codes and zoning restrictions

The above are important criteria and should be considered. But, to answer the question of “where”, also requires a more quantitative approach that should be used in concert with the above considerations. One common approach to identifying where to build the next single fulfillment center location is a method called the Center of Gravity Method.

Center of Gravity Method

The Center of Gravity Method is an approach that seeks to compute geographic coordinates for a potential single new facility that will minimize costs. It’s an approach where the main inputs that it considers are the following:

• Markets
• Volume of goods shipped
• Shipping costs

This method is beneficial because it’s (1) Simple to compute, (2) Considers existing facilities, (3) and Minimizes costs.

How To Use Center of Gravity Method

Step 1:

• Place existing warehouse, fulfillment center, and distribution center locations in a coordinate grid.
• Place the grid on an ordinary map.
• The relative distances must be noted.

Step 2:

Then, using the equations below,

• Cx= ∑ dix Vi/ ∑ Vi
• Cy= ∑ diy Vi/ ∑ Vi

We calculate the X and Y coordinates using these equations where Cx is the X (horizontal axis) coordinate for the new facility. Cy is the Y (vertical axis) coordinate for the new facility, dix is the X coordinate of the existing location, diy is the Y coordinate of the existing location, and Vi is the volume of goods moved to or from the ith location.

Step 3:

Once you have obtained the X and Y coordinates place that location on the map.

But, it doesn’t end there. As I mention earlier, there are other factors to consider. What this method allows is a point of departure – or, literally, a starting point of where (from the perspective of longitude and latitude) you options are for where to grow your fulfillment or logistics network.

Center of Gravity Example

Let’s suppose your company wants to expand its logistics network and locate a facility within a network of three existing facilities. Given the following assumptions below, what are the coordinates for the new potential location?

Let’s assume the following:

• Warehouse 1 has a daily outbound goods volume of 2,500 units
• Warehouse 2 has a daily outbound goods volume of 1,300 units
• Warehouse 3 has a daily outbound goods volume of 5,000 units

And the current coordinates of the existing facilities:

Given the assumptions and grid coordinates above, we get the following:

• d1x= 200
• d2x= 300
• d3x= 100
• d1y= 50
• d2y= 100
• d3y= 150

And,

• V1= 2,500
• V2= 1,300
• V3= 5,000

Which gives us,

• Cx= (200 x 2,500) + (300 x 1,300) + (100 x 5,000) / (2,500 + 1,300 + 5,000) = 158
• Cy= (50 x 2,500) + (100 x 1,300) + (150 x 5,000) / (2,500 + 1,300 + 5,000) = 114

If we were to plot the new suggested warehouse coordinates on the grid, we would get:

Or course the discussion doesn’t end here. Once a coordinate or several are identified given the current logistics network context, then other factors must be considered. This is just the beginning – a point of departure.

Distribution Center Location: Optimizing Your Logistics Network is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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In many organization, Supply Chain management is sometimes viewed as a necessary evil or a cost-center where the the goal is to make it less of a cost center. It is rare that we see Supply Chain Operations become a strategic arm to growth for a firm. Amazon’s Supply Chain powerhouse is clearly an example where Supply Chain and Operations are what has been the key to its growth. And, taking a cue from BMW’s fun and delightful Supply Chain, I’d say Domino’s Pizza is another.

Where’s My Pizza?

Domino’s Pizza took a common question for pizza delivery orders and made it into a supply chain wonder and delighting the customer along the way. Domino’s Pizza online has what it is calling the “Domino’s Tracker”, which tracks the steps involved in the pizza you ordered. The steps are:

1. Pizza Order Placed
2. Prep Pizza
3. Bake Pizza
4. Quality Check the Pizza
5. Pizza is Out for Delivery

Knowing where your pizza is in the pizza “manufacturing” process provides several benefits:

1. Showing the order pipeline of events for the pizza baking process gives the customer peace of mind.
2. Showing the order pipeline of events for the pizza baking process reduces inbound “Where’s my Pizza?” contacts. This reduces costs for Domino’s Pizza.
3. The Domino’s Tracker shows a commitment to transparency.
4. The Domino’s Tracker is fun for the customer – it’s actually pretty cool.

Taking Something Old and Making it Novel

But wait – it doesn’t stop there. Domino’s Pizza takes a question it’s been getting for years and makes it into an opportunity to improve how they operate. The Domino’s Tracker also provides a 5 question survey entitle “Help us Get Better”, which is phrased in a simple but compelling way – in a way that would make me want to complete the survey.

Then, a perfectly phrased question: “We want your ordering experience to rock. How was it?”

Then, a question to capture the end-to-end pizza ordering experience by asking a satisfaction question after the pizza arrives: “Our goal is exceptional delivery. How was your delivery experience? Can you let us know after your order arrives?”

Then a quality question on taste and overall experience.

What is great about this survey is that it’s interactive and it is asked during the transaction – immediate feedback while the experience is fresh in our memory. Most surveys are sent out after the event, but this is during, which is a very unique approach. Moreover, the questionnaire was short and shows respect for the customer’s time, which is perfectly aligned to their approach of transparency and one of the reasons behind the Domino’s Tracker in the first place.

And, the free text responses, for a time, were publicly shown on Times Square. This is probably the most honest and boldest move Domino’s takes in their approach to transparency:

Domino’s really puts itself out there by providing both the good and the bad reviews to be publicly viewed by the world. This shows a commitment to transparency and its commitment to improving their internal operations by taking those reviews seriously.

About Domino’s Pizza Supply Chain

Domino’s offers Pizza, Pasta, Breadsticks, Cheese Dips, Beverages as its main offerings. In March 2010, Domino’s Pizza opened its 9,000th store. Approximately 3,400 of those stores are outside the United States. In 2010, Domino’s Pizza made 400 million pizzas.

Strategic Supply Chain: Domino’s Pizza Online is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Zipcar is a car sharing service that allows one to purchase the benefit of automotive mobility without having to actually buy the vehicle. Unlike traditional car rental services, Zipcar allows one to rent a car by the hour coupled with an annual premium, instead of by the day. This way, Zipcar allows customers to buy only the mobility they need – nothing more and nothing less.

Late returning of cars appears to be a problem and long-standing theme with Zipcar. In fact, for late returning cars, the customer is charged a substantial late fee of $50. With such a high late fee rate, one can only surmise that late returning cars is a large enough of a problem and Zipcar’s response to this is to change the behavior with a large penalty.

But, Zipcar’s response doesn’t address the root cause. Instead, high late penalty fees only addresses a symptom, but not the root cause.

Variability, Utilization, Queueing

I have never used the Zipcar service, but I am an admirer of such a unique and simple idea that adds tremendous value to people. So, I’m not speaking from experience, but I want to address the concept of variability and utilization as it applies to the Zipcar business and the problem of late returning cars and late fees.

Let’s contrast for a minute. For Zipcar, what would perfect performance mean? I submit perfect performance is the following:

• Each capable car is 100% utilized, meaning that each hour for each capable car, is “rented”.
• No car accidents.
• No car is ever late – that is, a returning car is never late so the next customer scheduled for that car does not have to wait.
• Each Zipcar car is returned with fuel levels at High and the Zipcar car is returned clean.

Now, looking at perfect performance above, how likely is it that the above happens 100% of the time? Unlikely I’m sure. But why?

How Does Variability Degrade Performance?

There are generally two types of variability: Internal and External.

Internal Variability

Taking from the list of Perfect Performance Variables above, internal variability could be the following:

• Returning a car dirty, leads to delays for the next customer. This can be considered “set up times” in the language of Lean.
• Returning a car late, leads to delays for the next customer.
• A Zipcar Car breaking down. In Lean, this would be considered “down time”.

External Variability

External variability is typically in the form of unknown, bursty, or irregular demand.

Variability and Utilization

As you can see in the above discussion on Variability, it is often not wise to schedule with 100% utilization as a goal. Doing so, will likely lead to the following:

• Wait times for the next customer of the Zipcar Car
• Customer complaints via customer service regarding the late fees

The answer of high penalty fees for late returning cars will likely not be effective in itself. This is true because Variability is a given in dynamic systems. And, if a system is scheduled to 100% utilization with no regard to variability, the customer experience will be negatively affected.

The Concept of Buffer

By Buffer, I mean “slack” of a type in case the process doesn’t perform perfectly (as described above). Given the physical law of variability, there are typically responses to it:

• Inventory Buffers: In case there are problems, there is an inventory buffer so the downstream processes can still perform.
• Capacity Buffers: In case there are problems, there is a capacity buffer so the process can still perform (an extra machine, additional people, etc.)
• Time Buffers: In case there are problems, we add slack of time, so that downstream service processes aren’t negatively impacted.

In the case of Zipcar, the countermeasure that addresses the root cause of late returning cars is to add a time buffer in the system. In other words, instead of scheduling Zipcar cars every hour, add slack in the schedule between rentals – that is, if a car is scheduled from 9:00 – 10:00, schedule the next customer at 10:15 to add a 15 minute buffer. Couple this scheduling approach with a late fee penalty, then the root cause is address through both policy and by addressing the root cause of variability.

Zipcar Customer Experience: Variability, Utilization, and Queueing is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Most of us take for granted what we wear and what we eat. Little do we realize that for those shoes you’re wearing, the coffee you drank this morning, and that shirt comfortably resting on your body, made a long and arduous journey to end up where it is.

In a typical supply chain diagram, we might have three distinct events before it reaches the customer:

• Supply Chain Events
• Shipping Events
• Destination Events

And each of the events are related to each other and, indeed, either proceeds or precedes the other.

Supply Chain Events

These events typically trigger the beginning of a supply chain and can consist of the following (in sequence):

1. Issuance of a Purchase Order (PO)
2. Order Confirmation and provide Available to Ship (ATS)
3. Sample Order Proof
4. Sample Proof Approval
5. Testing
6. Arrival of Raw Materials and Components
7. Production Planning (sometimes Sales and Operations Planning or S&OP)
8. Beginning of Production
9. Production Inspection and Product Inspection
10. Final Inspections (Quality Audits)
11. Packaging
12. Shipment Sample

Shipping Events

13. Shipment Bookings
14. Shipment Approval
15. Distribution Center and Port Split
16. Cargo Receipt or Bill of Lading
17. Scanpack
18. Palletization (stack product on pallets)
19. Design and Execute on Container Load Plan
20. Export Customs Clearance
21. Full Container Load – Load Product in Containers (FCL Load)
22. Delivery of Containers to Terminal
23. Export Customs Inspections
24. Vessel Departs Port with Container of Products
25. Carrier Completes Documentation
26. Export Documentation
27. Transhipment (Travel by on Vessel by Sea)

Destination Events

28. Schedule DC Delivery
29. Provide Advanced Ship Notification (ASN)
30. Pre-Arrival Import Clearance
31. Vessel Arrives at Port with Containers
32. Import Customes Inspections
33. Container Release by Customs
34. Load Container onto Trucks
35. Trucks with Containers of Product travel by land or rail to Distribution Center (DC)
36. Truck arrives at Fulfillment Center (FC)
37. Distribution Center receives merchandise
38. Fulfillment Center documents receipts and stows product inside warehouse
39. Container dehire and manage empty container and repurpose

Does that supply chain look complicated to you? Yeah, me too. But, as things currently stand, that’s an average supply chain network for soft goods, electronics, and pretty much most things that is manufactured overseas and delivered to a port other than the manufacturing country.

So, the next time you put on that jacket, play a game on your iPod, iPhone, or iPad or Kindle, think about where it came from and the long journey it made so you can enjoy it.

Supply Chain Management or How Did Those Shoes End Up on My Feet? is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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I’m interested in how goods and services flow from the source to the customer. In an earlier post, we traced the supply chain of the White Truffle. Today, we’ll see what the supply chain looks like for pharmaceutical drugs.

The pharmaceutical supply chain in the United States is complex, but only involving a few players. As we’ll see shortly, even though the number of key players are low in comparison to other supply chain networks in the consumer packaged goods space, the pharmaceutical supply chain is unnecessarily complex.

1. Big Pharma is Big Money

Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, based on 2004 numbers from the Kaiser Family Foundation, estimates sales for that year to be over $450 Billion in worldwide sales. That study estimates that sales will grow 9% Year over Year.

But, as we’ll see, pharmaceutical manufacturing is only one player in this supply chain, The size of the pharmaceutical market is much larger than the $450 Billion indicated by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

2. The Key Players in Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

But Pharmaceutical Manufacturing is only one player in the supply chain. There are 4 major players:

• Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: These are the Eli Lilly, Merck, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson’s of the world. They primarily conduct scientific research and develop new drug therapies that address diseases that affect humans. Within pharmaceutical manufacturing, there are two distinct types: generic drugs and brand name drugs.
• Wholesale Distributors: The next upstream player in the pharmaceutical supply chain are the wholesale distributors, who purchase drugs from pharmaceutical manufacturers. Wholesale Distributors are primarily in the business of inventory management, warehousing, and fulfillment and distribution of drugs. The key value they add to the supply chain is the ability to have efficiencies by geography and the ability for storage of pharmaceutical drugs.

  Wholesale Distributors primarily sell to Hospitals, other Medical Facilities, Pharmacies, and the like. Key players in the wholesale distribution of pharmaceutical drugs are McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen. Wholesale Distribution of pharmaceutical drugs is estimated to be a $202 Billion dollar business in the United States.Other value added services provided by Wholesale Distributors in the pharmaceutical supply chain are drug packaging, drug repackaging, drug buy back programs, reimbursement support, and reverse logistics.

  At bottom, economies of scale is the largest value added service provided by pharmaceutical wholesale distributors.

• Pharmacy Benefits Managers: A Pharmacy Benefit Manager is not visible to the end customer, but plays an important role in the pharma supply chain. It is estimated that 2/3 of drugs dispensed in the United States are through the PBM network.

  The Pharmacy Benefits Manager is the primary interface between the Health Insurance Plan, the customer, and the pharmaceutical manufacturer or the wholesale distributor. They handle things like claims and disease management services.

  The relationship between the Pharmacy Benefits Manager and the Pharmaceutical Drug Manufacturer centers on the question: Should your drug be included in the health plan’s benefit formulary? Because of this relationship, there is an effort for sales agents from the pharma manufacturer to sell to pharmacy benefits managers. And it makes sense: the more plans a manufacturer’s drug is in, the higher market share the manufacturer will have.

  The Pharmacy Benefits Manager and the Pharmacy relationship is around cost and quantity discounts, reimbursement, and dispensing. Often, a Pharmacy will want to be part of a PBM, to take advantage of the value added services the PBM provides.

• Pharmacies: The pharmacy is what the end customer is very familiar with – this is the place where we submit our prescriptions from the doctor and the place where we pick up our prescriptions when they’re ready. Pharmacies receive the drugs they sell from wholesale distributors and, sometimes, from the pharmaceutical manufacturer themselves.

The pharmaceutical supply chain can be visualized by the following process map, showing the flow of drugs, flow of money, and flow of drug rebates:

3. Stealing Pharmaceutical Drugs is Big Business

According to a recent Fortune Magazine article, in 2010 pharmaceutical drug theft account for 15% of total theft value, or roughly $4 Billion dollars. Second in terms of the value of the stolen goods is Tobacco, then Electronics coming in at third.

4. Traceability is an Issue in the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain

Because the pharmaceutical supply chain is unnecessary complex, it opens up the opportunity for mistakes, such as drug theft.

According to the same Fortune article, pharmaceutical drugs have been stolen from wholesale distributor’s warehouses or from the manufacturer’s facility. The stolen drugs are then sold to other wholesale distributors, which then get sold to other wholesale distributors, and finally to a pharmacy. At the end of this supply chain is the patient or customer.

And tracking stolen pharmaceutical drugs is difficult. The only way to do so today is to track by lot number. Which means that if 300 pills were stolen from Lot #989 which has 2000 pills, the manufacturer has to recall the entire lot of 2000. This method is costly, but is the only method pharmaceutical drug manufacturer’s have in stopping the flow of stolen pharmaceutical drugs.

4 Things You Didn’t Know About the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Ubiquitous in fulfillment and warehousing is the information technology that runs it all – Warehouse Management System. Below is a table of the current WMS vendors and the Warehouse Management Software they provide and WMS Reviews.

Warehouse Inventory Management System: A Buyer’s Guide

Here are some suggested steps as you evaluate and learn more about the Warehouse Management System Market.

1. Research The Warehouse Management System Software Market

The research phase is one of the more enjoyable steps in the software selection process. You can surf the net, read blogs and download white papers – all in an effort to “get smart” on the state of the warehouse management software market. If you already know a fair bit about warehouse management software, use this step to learn what’s new. If not, don’t worry about becoming a software expert, but work to gain context for the evaluations you will be performing. You’ll need to learn what functions these systems perform, understand the various deployment models (e.g. web-based vs. onpremise) and learn industry terminology. It’s also important to imagine the possibilities for improving your logistics operations. You are making a big new investment, so use the opportunity to redesign processes and leapfrog to vastly improved levels of efficiency. Finally, get a general sense of what these systems cost.

2. Prioritize Your Software Requirements

Now it’s time to get focused on identifying and prioritizing your software requirements – the key capabilities you need from new software. This critical research process serves as the foundation of the software selection process. By knowing what you need, you’ll be in a better position to control the selection process, rather than let software vendors dictate your needs. Start at a high level by identifying what challenges you want to solve and what your current system isn’t doing for you. Then create an Excel spreadsheet to list all of the software capabilities you would need to address those challenges and shortcomings. Involve your coworkers to get their input as well. Finally, when your exhaustive list is complete, you need to prioritize it into “must-have” features and those that are just “nice-to-have.”

3. Make the Case to Executive Management

At this point, you have a good sense of “what’s out there” and what capabilities you need. You are probably getting excited about the prospect of implementing a new system. Hold on! If you are not the ultimate decision maker for this purchase, you need to get management bought into the idea before you go any further. Earning that buy-in takes some work. You need to present a compelling case that the benefits of new software vastly outweigh the costs. Benefits include improved visibility across your logistics operations, reduced costs, increased efficiency, and better collaboration both internally and externally. Costs should include software licenses, service, training and the indirect costs of organizational change.

4. Build a Short List of WMS Software Vendors

Building a short list of warehouse management software vendors is one of the more challenging steps in software selection. It isn’t feasible to evaluate more than five products in great depth, so narrowing down the field to five or fewer is a critical step. The challenge is that there are literally hundreds of warehouse management software systems and only a small subset of those are right for you. Step 4 can take weeks of work. There are, however, some very straightforward criteria you can use to narrow down your short list. Start with a long list of products and then eliminate systems that don’t serve your industry, size of operation or high-level functional requirements. Next, request rough pricing to eliminate systems far outside your budget. Once you have a short list, you’re ready to engage vendors.

5. Educate the WMS Vendors on your Project

The best sales people are focused on helping their prospects and customers solve business challenges. Help these people do their jobs by educating them on your operational needs and your software selection process. The more the software vendors know about your needs, the better they can communicate how their software can help. For example, if you highlight which functional capabilities are most important to your logistics operations, the software vendors can spend more time demonstrating those capabilities in their software. Meanwhile, educating the sales people on your selection process will help them be more responsive. If they know what you need and when you need it, they are in a better position to deliver what you need.

6. Evaluate Live WMS Software Demos

Reviewing demos is perhaps the most critical step in the software selection process. This is where you see the systems in action and really learn what they can do for you. You can certainly do more than one demo, but this is likely the only opportunity that you will get to see the system in great detail (i.e. trial periods are rare). To make the most of demos, you should provide each vendor with a few “demo scripts” to detail common processes (e.g. generating a bill of materials) that you want to see in the demo. The more detail you provide, the more you will remain in the control of the demo process. Be sure to set a specific date and time for each demo and include the right people from your organization. During the demo, keep track of your impressions using a “demo scorecard” and compare notes with colleagues afterwards.

7. Score and Rank the WMS Vendors

After the demos, you should have a sense for which vendor, or vendors, you think offer the best product for your operations. However, don’t make a decision until you have thoroughly scored and ranked the systems you have evaluated. You’ll want to tick down your requirements to ensure that the front runners offer all of your “must-have” capabilities and most of your “nice-to-haves.” Meanwhile, consolidate all of your demo scorecards to calculate which systems addressed your scripts most efficiently. Gather the opinions of your team, especially as it relates to ease-of-use. If the jury is still out, software vendors will be happy to provide a second, deep-dive demo. Conversely, if you think you have a winner, hold off on communicating the decision. There are still a few more critical steps before we’re done.

8. Gather and Compare Price Quotes

Now it’s time to get detailed pricing quotes from each of the software vendors that remain in the hunt. While we don’t think that price should be your primary decision criteria, it can be an important tie breaker. Moreover, having two to three vendors compete for your business may create a more competitive pricing dynamic. Ask each vendor to provide a detailed price quote, inclusive of all costs associated with the system. This includes software licenses, customization, support, training, and other fees (e.g. internal costs). Also ask them to specify any third-party hardware or networking equipment needed to run the system. Realize that there are many pricing models (e.g. up-front license, monthly subscriptions), so you’ll need to “normalize” the quotes to compare them on an “apples-to-apples” basis.

9. Verify References of WMS Software Vendor

You should now be ready to move forward with one vendor. You know that the system can meet your needs. You like the look and feel of the system. The price is right (or at least digestible). One critical remaining task is to verify that the software company and its product are what they have claimed to be. Tell the front runner that you have decided to more forward, and ask them to provide one or more customer references that share your industry and operation size. When you talk to these references, dig in deep: ask what challenges they faced with the system; ask how the vendor responded; and, ask what they would change about the software if they could. Finally, make sure the company will stick around. Feel comfortable asking the vendor to provide evidence of their financial and strategic viability.

10. Review the WMS Software License Agreement

One more step. You’re ready to buy. Before you write a check, you need to review the software license agreement and negotiate the best deal possible. Historically, software companies have provided discounts that increase based on the size of the deal (e.g. bigger deals = bigger discounts). There are, of course, some vendors that don’t discount; they charge one standard price for all customers. Regardless, it doesn’t hurt to ask for a discount. The terms and conditions of the deal are every bit as important. Make sure you are purchasing enough licenses for the entire organization, be careful of automatic renewal clauses and make sure you have some recourse if the vendor doesn’t hold up their end of the bargain (e.g. an “out clause” at three months).

Warehouse Management System Software is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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There are several things to consider when thinking of expanding your supply chain distribution network for your warehousing and fulfillment functions. This post isn’t an attempt to answer that question because it really depends on your business, the profile of the products you sell, the geographic locations to which you ship and receive, and other items.

But one important factor in helping you decide where to build your next fulfillment center is actually not considered much, or is often ignored – that factor is this:

Where are customers moving to and where are customers moving from?

This factor is important because, depending on your customer profile, can be an indication of demand. For example, suppose you are a fulfillment center and your customers are primarily in the United States. This household migration data can indicate where the potential future demand for your products might come from – in other words, where you might be shipping to the majority of the time.

In a recent Atlas Van Lines study, they published migration patterns from 2010 that shows to which states households were moving to and which states households were moving from. The pattern is interesting and can and should be considered as a factor in your quest to decide where to build a distribution center next.

The data below shows the states migration patterns from 2001 to 2010. The result shows whether a state is mostly an “inbound” state or mostly an “outbound” state.

• “inbound” state: means that over 50% of the households that moved for that given year moved into the state and
• “outbound” state : means that 50% of the households that moved that given year moved out of the state.
• “balance” state: means that there is a approximate equal proprotion of households leaving and entering the state within the year.

Below are the trends:

• Inbound States: California, Alaska, North Carolina, Kansas, South Carolina, and Indiana.
• Outbound States: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia.
• Balance States: Idaho, joining California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona.

Where Should You Build a Distribution Center is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Oracle is a leader in almost every enterprise software category. The foothold of Oracle WMS is good, but it finds many other competitors in its space. Luckily for Oracle, they have also actively acquired many of their direct and close competitors and folding their features into the Oracle WMS.

Free WMS Information

WMS Details

Over the past several years, Oracle has brought to bear the full force of its software research and development power to renew and deepen its Warehouse Management Solution (WMS). Now a leader in this arena, Oracle’s investment has delivered hundreds of advanced features and offers unprecedented flexibility in deployment regardless of your existing application footprint.

Flexible Deployment Options
Oracle WMS’s new distributed deployment capability is a true game changer in the field of enterprise warehouse management. It challenges the traditional idea of integration by providing a seamless, yet decoupled warehouse management solution. Oracle WMS can be deployed to power global operations independent of other enterprise systems—or tightly integrated with EBusiness Suite. It’s your choice. So regardless of your version of E-Business Suite or host system, you can expect exceptional implementation flexibility, greater availability of mission-critical warehouse systems, and all the latest features we offer.

It’s just part of the next generation WMS from Oracle.

Hundreds of Advanced Features
If you knew Oracle WMS in the past, then it’s time to a new look at the many rich features, including:

• Advanced Wave Planning—Minimizing material movements, optimizing labor resources, and tightly integrating warehouse activities with transportation planning;
• Demand-Driven Replenishment of High-Volume Items—Minimizing labor movement, improving labor productivity, and reducing pick-time in outbound flows;
• Cross-Docking—Synchronizing warehouse material handling with transportation activities, eliminating unnecessary inbound material handling steps, and increasing material velocity.

Oracle WMS’s pre-integration with core enterprise processes, use of standards-based technologies, and extensive network of implementation partners are all part of our commitment to bring you the lowest total cost of ownership.

Get a WMS Quote Today!

Oracle WMS has an impressive client list including Shutterfly, MTN, and many others. You can download the Oracle WMS Data Sheet Here.

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Warehouse Management System: Oracle WMS is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Sumudra is another company that provides a Warehouse Management solution, but not much is known about the company. Sumudra appears to be based in India, but has presence in the United States and in the UK. On their website, there is a good amount of information about their WMS.

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WMS Details

Below is from their website.

Warehouse management systems is a powerful, easy-to-use, web-based Warehouse Management System designed to increase the productivity and inventory accuracy of warehouses and distribution centers. It supports real-time data collection and validation ensuring invetory information is always accurate up to the minute. Our WMS works well as a stand-alone system (network based) and you can use it with existing ERP systems, data exchanging and interpretation is the core strength of our solution.
Our WMS enables you to see where inventory is or will be available, optimize fulfillment and distribution processes to ensure that products are delivered on time and in full, consistently. The result: improved Supply Chain Management from order inception to delivery. In a nutshell, it is a end-to-end solution for your warehouse management requirements.

It gives managers robust planning, execution and measurement tools and brings operational discipline to complex operations. By leveraging the SOA architecture it enables a multi-enterprise collaboration strategy, and provides improved visibility and communications between business partners.Our WMS is cost-effective software solutions that helps automate the entire warehousing process and offers a systematic approach of receive, put away, storage and shipping processes.

Designed specifically to serve the changing needs of today’s business, our WMS provides the same benefits as much larger and more expensive software systems but remains much easier to use, faster to deploy and a easy to maintain. This technology and functionality helps you to streamline operational processes, control inventory, reduce paperwork while complying with audit regulations. It is an advanced WMS software solution for manufacturing, distribution, and retail enterprises and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) that can be used by enterprising organizations of all sizes. It helps companies maximize product placement strategies, prioritize tasks, implement fair productivity standards, and increase logistics efficiency.

Designed specifically to serve the changing needs of today’s business, our WMS provides the same benefits as much larger and more expensive software systems but remains much easier to use, faster to deploy and a easy to maintain. This technology and functionality helps you to streamline operational processes, control inventory, reduce paperwork while complying with audit regulations. It is an advanced WMS software solution for manufacturing, distribution, and retail enterprises and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) that can be used by enterprising organizations of all sizes. It helps companies maximize product placement strategies, prioritize tasks, implement fair productivity standards, and increase logistics efficiency.

Our WMS also provides capability to cater to an integrated multi-site operating environment, the system offers support of multi-warehouse stock management through simplified processes and allows the various operations to be viewed as a single consolidated operating entity to external entities.

Our WMS also provides capability to cater to an integrated multi-site operating environment, the system offers support of multi-warehouse stock management through simplified processes and allows the various operations to be viewed as a single consolidated operating entity to external entities.

key functions of sumudra wms

• Material Requisitions
• MR Approvals
• In built workflow
• Receiving
• Put away
• Order management
• Picking
• Returns Management
• Satellite Warehousing
• Quality Control
• Storage Location management
• Value Added Processing
• Billing
• Global Visibility of Assets through the web based Portal

• Release&Hold Capacity
• Dispatching
• Work Load Planning
• Support for Multiple Owners for the
• Same SKU
• Condition Code Management
• Shipping and receiving within
• Warehouses
• Inbound Tracking
• Cycle counting/Physice/Inventory
• Inventry Control
• Shipping
• Performance management
• Rf SupportReporting and Dashboard capability

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Warehouse Management System: Sumudra WMS is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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FoxFire Technologies provides a warehousing WMS solution. It appears that they have a leadership position within the apparel supply chain. Taken directly from their website.

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WMS Details

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Foxfire provides complete Warehouse Management Software Solutions for distribution and manufacturing that can be integrated into a totally seamless WMS System for controlling the physical operation of a distribution center, including: labeling at manufacturing plants or at the receiving dock, receiving using ASN, directed putaway of reserve stock, floor ready merchandise preparation, material handling functions, cycle counting, physical inventory, wave management, conveyor PLC interfacing, auto in-line scanning and weighing, audit trails of all activity, suspense triggers, inventory tracking and control, team/individual efficiency assessment, RF-picking, verified case packing, and finally, directed loading and shipping.

Rather than simply using RF equipment to collect data, Foxfire’s WMS System also uses it to manage the workforce by assigning tasks to employees dynamically, in priority sequence, as they are directed to, or created by the system.

Technical Features:

Client/Server architecture with SQL compliant data base
MS Windows Graphical User Interface with Report Writer package, intuitive and easy to learn
High-speed 802.11x RF (Radio Frequency) communications
Fast-track, rapid implementation capability
24/7/365 technical support
Numerous user configurable system options

Features:

• Intuitive Windows™ GUI set-up and user interface
• PDA support for RF functions
• Web-based Supply Chain Management Software
  Manufacturing pack/load/ship with Advanced Shipment Notification (“ASN”) to DC
• ASN RF-based receiving from plants/vendors with directed case sorting, palletizing, and QC audit
• Real-time systems directed task management
• RF-directed reserve stock putaway
• RF-directed picklane replenishment
• Order backlog analysis and control
• Pick wave generation and control
• Powerful RF order picking options
• FRM (Floor Ready Merchandise) processing and control
• UPC scan packing (with RF option) and comprehensive audit trail
• RF-directed staging, loading, and shipping
• UCC Retail compliance
• Employee productivity control
• Product serial number tracking
• Cycle counting/physical inventory
• Support for 3PL logistics providers and billing calculation
• Raw materials and finish goods controls across multiple warehouses
• Foxfire’s WMS System will handle large, complex facilities or can be used to control satellite
• Locations for inventory storage with minimal configuration

Benefits Include:

• Improved inventory accuracy (99%+)
• Increased order fulfillment capacity
• Quick response order fulfillment
• Significant reduction in order fulfillment cost
• Significant increase in cube utilization
• Ability to expand into and manage large, complex facilities including satellite locations
• Computer Directed Task Management

Perhaps the most important and unique design concept employed by Foxfire’s WMS System is Computer Directed Task Management. Using directed task management concepts, the system is designed to assign manageable material handling tasks in real-time to employees who request work assignments on their portable RF devices. Tasks are categorized by major job (skill) such as putaway, replenishment, picking, etc., and are assigned to employees by the system in accordance with defined management priorities. Once assigned, tasks are monitored by the system until they are completed.

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Warehouse Management System: Foxfire Technologies is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Catalyst WMS was acquired by SAP and rolled-into their broad product offering.

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Here is the description for Catalyst WMS. To receive a quote for their WMS Solution, click here.

Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) was released with the SAP Supply Chain Management module ( SCM). The terminology can be confusing, but there are really two different forms of EWM, depending on how they are being used. When SAP Warehouse Management is being used with SAP release ECC 5.0 or higher, in the centralised mode, it is referred to as ERP EWM. When SAP WM is being used in the decentralised form in conjunction with the SCM module, it is referred to as SCM EWM. In its decentralised form, the capabilities of EWM are expanded.

SAP SCM EWM offers increased flexibility and capabilities beyond SAP WM. Typically, SCM is tailored to organisations which have high stock and line item volumes, very fast moving product, complex cross docking requirements, detailed packaging and shipping processes, and third party logistics services (3PL) on either or both of the inbound or outbound areas.

Catalyst is focused on delivering high volume, complex SAP SCM EWM implementations. We have worked with SAP throughout the development cycle of its warehouse management products and have exceptional understanding and experience of all aspects of a successful implementation. We have developed a comprehensive library of SAP console radio frequency (RF) transactions, as well as fully integrated applications that further exploit the potential benefits of the SAP SCM EWM solution.

We build long term partnerships with our customers, who benefit from our unrivalled knowledge and experience of implementing successful SAP SCM EWM and ERP WM solutions.

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Warehouse Management System: Catalyst WMS is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Sentai Software provides a WMS solution that is meant to serve those in the consumer packaged goods, healthcare, and other industries. Sentai Software’s WMS solutions is called Pinpoint WMS.

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WMS Details

To receive a quote for their WMS Solution, click here and read more below:

The benefits of an automated warehouse system are extremely far reaching. While cost savings are an unquestionable benefit of implementing an automated system, the effects that such a system can have on customer service can enhance customer loyalty and result in increased sales. In fact, accurate and timely delivery of customer orders is often more important than price. With an automated warehouse, you will realize higher fulfillment rates due to accurate visibility of inventory, eliminate shipping errors through line-by-line confirmation of order lines, and greatly reduce the time required to get orders through your information system and out the warehouse doors.

Internal cost savings affect the bottom line immediately. With inventory accuracy in excess of 99%, safety stock can be reduced substantially, directly affecting the capital cost of inventory and freeing up cash flow to be invested in more profitable areas. The overall productivity of warehouse labor will rise dramatically when tasks are assigned according to set rules focused on overall efficiency. Staff training will be reduced as personnel will no longer have to be as knowledgeable about products or warehouse layout.

Other benefits to be realized by the implementation of an automated warehouse system include

• improved customer satisfaction due to more accurate orders,
• more timely shipments, improved fulfillment levels on standard stock,
• faster turn-around on special orders, and real time visibility of order status to warehouse floor
• more effective use of warehouse space
• reduced labor costs
• extremely high inventory accuracy (99%) year round
• dramatic reduction in training costs
• higher service levels with reduced inventory levels
• elimination of physical inventory through implementation of cycle counting
• savings from reduced customer errors
• savings from reduced inventory write-offs

Sentai can provide a WMS Cost Justification spreadsheet if a concrete business case is needed. Sentai Warehouse consultants can also provide WMS Cost Justification services and build the ROI spreadsheet.

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Warehouse Management System: Sentai Software is a post from: Lean Six Sigma Consulting

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Robocom International provides Warehousing and Transportation software. Below is the description of their WMS offering.

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WMS Details

RIMS® (Robocom’s Inventory Management System) is a flexible, cost-effective, Warehouse Management System (WMS) that integrates with leading front-end business systems and provides supply chain visibility critical to success in today’s global marketplace.

RIMS operates in an open system environment and interfaces with your existing information systems infrastructure. Designed to maximize productivity and streamline warehouse operations, RIMS offers an easy and effective method of optimizing the flow of materials and goods in and out of your warehouse while ensuring high levels of accuracy in the distribution process.

RIMS is a user-friendly, menu-driven application designed to satisfy the requirements of virtually any warehouse operation, from simple paper-driven systems to completely wireless environments. As a browser-based system operating on a variety of platforms, RIMS is an easily maintained warehouse management application incorporating the latest technology. In addition, RIMS integrates with external material handling devices (carousels, conveyors, etc.) to provide maximum control over warehouse and inventory activities.

RIMS provides a rapid return on investment, immediate cost savings, and increased productivity and profitability.

RIMS includes the following features:

• Management Control – Management control features include security, history and archiving, compliance labels, ABC tracking, and labor management.
• Inventory Management – Inventory management features include cycle and physical counts, automatic and manual replenishment, demand replenishment, quality assurance, reporting, and item rebranding.
• Inbound Order Processing – Inbound order processing features include receiving (purchase orders, returns, lot control, and so on) and putaway (directed putaway and manual override).
• Outbound Order Processing – Outbound order processing features include picking (batch/order/wave picking, multi-level bill of material, backorders, and so on) and packing/shipping (compliance labeling, bill of lading, hierarchical innerpacks/outerpacks, and so on).
• Radio Frequency (RF) Subsystem – RF features include bar code validation, real-time updates, and hardware independence.
• Platforms
• RIMS operates on the following platforms: Unix, Windows 2003, Linux, and Sun-OS.
• Supported Interfaces
• RIMS supports the following interfaces:
• ERP and Legacy Hosts
• Engineered Labor Standards (PLUS ELS)
• Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
• Shipping Systems
• Yard Management Systems (YMS)
• RFID Printers and Readers
• Radio Frequency (RF) devices
• Bar Code Scanners
• Conveyors
• Sortation Systems
• Label Applicators
• Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS)
• Carousels
• Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV)
• Voice Technology
• Pick-to-light
• Crystal Reports
• ROC Enterprise

ROC Enterprise provides everything you need for supply chain optimization, from robust warehouse and inventory management to invoicing, accounting, customer service, internet services, EDI, and much more. ROC Enterprise is designed to provide all the supply chain solutions your company needs, including:

Warehouse Management – Our best-of-breed WMS provides complete configurability for your facility and inventory. Definable options include paper, RF or voice, as well as functionality such as receiving, picking, and shipping. At the item level, date, lot, weight, length, size, serial number, and point of origin can all be tracked.

Transportation Management – Our Transportation Management System (TMS) module provides the functionality to manage your own fleet, broker freight from other carriers, and track on-board shipments. Transportation Management also provides sophisticated rating, freight audit, and payment processing capabilities. The traffic management component manipulates customer orders to create optimal loads, pre-assign carriers, balance trailer weights, and review route and stop configurations.

Business Intelligence – Our Business Intelligence (BI) module captures current and historical data into a data warehouse where it is archived, utilized for reporting and analysis, and accessed by occasional users.

Enterprise Application Integration – Our Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) module allows you to communicate easily with customers, trading partners, and other internal systems, eliminating expensive VAN-to-EDI costs. EDI, XML, flat file, and SAP are among the currently supported interfaces.
Event Management – Our dashboard allows you to maintain a constant view of key productivity indicators, such as labor utilization, order fulfillment, and inventory optimization.

Labor Productivity Management – Maximize your warehouse and transportation productivity with our labor forecasting and management tools that are based on either engineered labor standards or historical averages.

RFID – Our RFID solutions will help you comply with the RFID requirements that companies are issuing and gain significant internal benefits as well.

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Royal 4 Supply Chain Solutions provides a WMS solution for warehousing called WISE. According to their website, below are the features of the WISE WMS Software:

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For your business, government agencies, manufacturers and distributors alike, the warehouse is the critical hub of the business, the central depot through which everything must pass – from raw materials waiting to be manufactured into finished goods to product waiting for shipment downstream to a distribution center, retailer or end-customer. WISE can be applied throughout all core warehouse processes, transforming the warehouse into a competitive advantage.

Our warehouse management application suite (WISE) is the core of our Supply Chain Solution. WISE has user defined location rules, package types, picking rules, shipment procedures, packaging techniques, and all other significant details regarding your operations. WISE then optimizes these tasks for you based on detailed algorithmic rule engines. These extensive WISE Functions are available to improve the distribution center’s operations by minimizing costs and increasing productivity.

• Improves inventory accuracy;
• Increases inventory turnover and lowers inventory levels;
• Improves order throughput;
• Reduces response times;
• Improves real-time communications with other supply chain participants;
• Complies with industry shipping standards;
• Reduces transportation costs;
• Increases labor and equipment productivity;
• Enables and facilitates distribution through multiple delivery channels;
• Improves customer relationships, thereby increasing orders; and
• Improves real-time visibility both within the enterprise and across the entire supply chain.

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Royal 4 provides a case study of how organizations have used their WMS solution:

The Company:

ARD is a logistics company that operates under the philosophy of CSP. Customer satisfaction is their number one concern, providing a safe, clean environment for employees while driving profits through effective process mapping. Their Alabama facility is a full service facility with 120,000 sq feet of warehouse, 10,000 sq feet of offices and 18 dock doors.

The Problem:

ARD had a requirement to deliver parts to a Major Luxury Auto manufacturer. This had to be done Just-In-Time (JIT) and Just-in-Sequence (JIS) with VeryNarrow Aisle Storage (VNA) and utilizing an Automated Storage Retrieval System (ASRS). ARD needed a fully integrated warehouse management system that could meet all these specific requirements and optimize the loading of Specialized Delivery/Transportation by our fleet of box trucks.

How Royal 4 Systems Helped:

Utilizing Royal 4 Systems decades of functional expertise and the rapid configuration tools within WISE, Royal 4 enable custom features to meet every requirement. WISE manages Inbound, Value Added Services, Outbound, ASRS integration and the Sequencing for JIT deliveries. This included load planning, delivery scheduling and EDI ASN confirmations. Royal 4 Systems has been instrumental in improving productivity and lowered the cost of operation at ARD.

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Swisslog WarehouseManager is the name of Swisslog’s WMS solution. In addition to providing warehouse solutions, they also have a significant presence in the IT consulting arena in US,  UK, and elsewhere.

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WMS Details

Swisslog’s WarehouseManager™ is a warehouse management software (WMS) system for manual and automated solutions in warehouses and distribution centers. It maximizes supply chain efficiency by automating key processes from inbound goods arrival and processing through inventory storage to fulfilling outbound shipping orders. Its broad, flexible and efficient functionality can be rapidly deployed and integrated to provide customers with improved inventory visibility and maximum throughput with minimum inventory.

Swisslog’s warehouse management software system supports all forms of order processing for example wave and batch-picking for both radio frequency (RF) and paper-based operations and other value-added services, order consolidation and outbound load management. This optimizes the order-picking process, minimizes order cycle times, customer returns and inventory, and maximizes pick accuracy, customer satisfaction and throughput.

WarehouseManager™ is a standard warehouse management software system that is configured to a customer’s specific requirements. Easily installed upgrades provide new functionality based on Swisslog’s global experience. The software is based on Oracle database and runs under Unix and Windows operating systems.

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AFS Technologies provides a solution primarily geared toward the Food Industry and Food and Grocery Distribution.

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AFS offers multiple WMS solutions to fit the needs of facilities large and small. Our Enterprise solutions offer the advanced features needed to operate a 1,000,000 sq. foot, highly automated facility while our standard Priya product allows operators of warehouses as small as 10,000 sq. ft to gain the benefits of that a full featured WMS can deliver. Regardless of size, a Priya WMS implementation typically yields a project payback/ROI within nine to eighteen months. We utilize RF, Voice and X,Y,Z coordinate tracking technologies to optimize the performance of your warehouse by reducing labor costs, improving space utilization and increasing inventory/transactional accuracy. Our Web-enabled, specialized 3PL solutions provide activity-based billing and full financial reporting to create an integrated product suite. In addition, AFS guarantees performance results as measured by an agreed upon statement of work.

Priya™ Enterprise Warehouse Management System (WMS) for Distribution Centers – Our flagship offering, Priya Enterprise WMS offers unparalleled functionality at a fraction of the total cost of ownership associated with comparable systems. Larger warehouse operators choose Priya Enterprise and its advanced labor management features including engineered labor standards, real-time X,Y,Z coordinate tracking and task interleaving to maximize productivity and ensure inventory accuracy.

Priya™ Enterprise WMS for 3PL Providers – Priya Enterprise 3PL provides operators with a flexible warehouse management system tailored to the multiple client/multiple item owner 3PL environment. Our automatic activity-based billing feature eliminates the cost and time associated with manual billing processes. Priya´s integrated web portal gives your clients system access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our configuration tools enable you to personalize your system for each of your client´s specific needs.

Priya™ WMS for Dedicated Warehouses – Our standard WMS offering provides full featured WMS functionality for smaller warehouse operations including RF and Voice driven activities. Operations with as few as 10 users can gain the labor efficiencies, improved space utilization and inventory accuracy/control that their larger competitors enjoy. More importantly, Priya WMS offers the lot code tracking and detailed inventory controls needed to stay compliant with increasing government regulations.

Priya™ WMS for 3PL Providers – The perfect solution for growing 3PL operators, Priya 3PL offers all the features and functionality of larger, more costly systems. Priya 3PL includes activity-based billing, full RF/Voice capabilities, multi-customer ownership by item and web enabled customer portal. This solution includes an integrated financial package including AR, AP and reporting, making it the only software package you will ever need to manage your 3PL operation.

Mobile Delivery Automation – AFS Logistics Solutions extend your efficiency gains beyond the warehouse by automating the delivery process. Utilizing wireless handheld technology, our Mobile Delivery Automation Solutions enable route accounting, route planning/management, paperless delivery, mobile order management, on-site returns processing and electronic signature capture.

Discovery™ Supply Chain Intelligence Tools – Built on our award winning Discovery Business Intelligence platform, this solution provides data visibility and analysis across your supply chain. Our clients use this highly flexible tool for a wide variety of purposes including: continuous performance benchmarking, vendor scorecards, labor forecasting, 3PL price modeling, multiple warehouse comparisons and supply chain performance metrics.

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Infosite Technologies provides a WMS solutions called DM Warehousing.

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WMS Details

Features

• Automated customer specific charges by cycle.
• Handles re-pack, cross-docking and storage.
• Manage customer inventory, perpetual counts, annual counts and adjustments.
• Control stock rotations.
• Allows User defined warehouse planning.
• Generate all documents (i.e. packing slips, bills of lading, etc.)
• Comprehensive documents and reports package.
• Inventory and interface with major accounting software or enterprise system.

Options

• EDI interface available.
• Wireless bar code scanning application.
• Bar coding and scanning interface available.

Inventory Tracking and Management

• Get alerted when perishable goods pass a certain time limit.
• Quarantine items.
• View warehouse sections and available space.
• Inventory reports for customer and operator.
• Find a product and location just by typing it in.
• hazmat capable.
• Track lot, production date, first in first out, serial number, rolls number, weight height, etc. at any level.
• Find where a product or item history with a simple right clicks.
• Automatic Billing and Charge Management – All billing can be automated and never have to double check an invoice. Monthly charges and invoices are automatically generated.

• Diversified Operations – We support full rework, repack, restack, movement, put away, product transfer and many other warehouse secondary operations. Control forms to verify warehouse operations.
• Warehouse Web – Your customer login in and there is there inventory from your warehouse LIVE! Verify your own warehouse levels and statues anywhere in the world. Allow customers to request orders from the web.
• Accounting – All of our software will integrate almost seamlessly with most accounting software, you can view our partners page for a list of existing accounting interfaces and even if your software if not listed there we are normally able to make a customized interface for your business.
• Language – Because our clients do business across North America, our software can be used in both french and english and we also offer all our forms in both languages as well.

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Eclipse Systems provides a WMS solution and has a good foothold in the ecommerce and apparel markets. Below is their offering, as advertised on their website.

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WMS Details

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Infor, the maker of Exceed WMS, is a major player in the Warehouse Management Systems industry. They have acquired a number of smaller players, adding capability to their current WMS offerings.

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Experts estimate that 20% of all orders are filled imperfectly. Thus, the ability to meet customer demand by getting the right products to the right place, at the right time, and in the right condition is an essential competency with bottom-line implications.

Infor SCM’s Warehouse Management system solution enables you to see what inventory is or will be available, organize work and align resources and labor to satisfy customer requirements, and optimize fulfillment and distribution processes to ensure that products are delivered on time and in full, each and every time. The result: improved supply chain management with end-to-end fulfillment from order inception to delivery.
Infor’s warehouse management system helps companies like yours:

• Reduce inventory 5 to 20%
• Increase labor productivity 15 to 40%
• Improve shipping accuracy 2 to 5%
• Increase inventory accuracy 99+% at location level
• Boost perfect order rates
• Reduce direct operating costs and increase overall revenue

Warehouse Management is a proven, advanced WMS software solution for manufacturing, distribution, and retail enterprises and third-party logistics providers (3PLs) that can be used by enterprising organizations of all sizes. It helps companies maximize product placement strategies, prioritize tasks, implement fair productivity standards, and increase logistics efficiency. Capabilities include:

• Inventory Management—multiple units of measure, lot control, and catch weights improve inventory accuracy and visibility to offset margin squeeze.
• Work and Task Management—deep functionality for work order/location grouping into batches and waves optimizes productivity.
• Labor Management—forecasting, time and attendance, assignment scheduling and monitoring, and enforcement of standards optimize labor and reduce costs.
  Cross-Docking—flow-thru, trans-shipment, and opportunistic process capabilities increase inventory speed and throughput.
• Slotting and Optimization—the ability to arrange SKUs advantageously within a range of pick faces/slots accommodates variable demand.
• Value-Added Services—deferred manufacturing, preparation of store-ready pallets, light assembly, and kitting enable customization of products closer to the point of sale.
• Voice-Directed Distribution—voice-enabling order selection, replenishments, put-aways, transfers, and receiving enhances productivity and accuracy.

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Viaware WMS, is the warehousing solution from Provia Software. Provia means the “proven way,” and Provia Software has been delivering supply execution software since 1988.

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Its customers include Gillette, Lanier Worldwide, and Owens Corning. Formerly part of German company ViaStore Systems, Provia was acquired by enterprise software company SSA Global Technologies in early 2006.
From the company’s website:

To manage the complexity of a supply chain in today’s business environment, you need a supply chain management software solution that utilizes specialized functionality tailored not only for the current climate, but for your business. Infor SCM solutions meet that criteria with features that help you corral complexity while increasing profitability, competitiveness, and growth. Whether your business needs a warehouse management software solution, order management system, manufacturing software solution, or a combination of many solutions, Infor can create a comprehensive supply chain management suite that improves your company’s performance.

Infor SCM will work for your specific industry and your specific challenges. By using an SCM solution created and implemented by a single vendor, you will simplify your processes and be able to focus on creating, selling, and delivering products that grow your bottom line. Our supply chain management solutions encompass key components like strategic network design, demand planning, distribution planning, transportation fleet management, and production. Infor SCM solutions implement easily to work for you today, and scale to meet your growing enterprise’s future needs. Learn more about how Infor can optimize your company’s supply chain management solution.

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Manhattan Associates is currently the leader when it comes to Supply Chain software, especially warehouse management system software. They have many competitors, but their WMS is used by some of the largest companies in the world.

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Inside the walls of your warehouse, your utilization of every component—space, people, inventory and equipment—will impact your bottom line in profound ways over time. Warehouse Management enables you to analyze these components continually, so you can conserve effort, fill orders faster and more accurately, save space and reduce inventory.

Use Warehouse Management to optimize:

• Inventory: With our complete inventory management capabilities, track data on every unit utilizing the latest technologies. Improve the accuracy of every order and reduce safety stock.
• Labor: Make people more efficient by managing their tasks and improving their processes. Plan and balance workload and monitor activities with integration to Labor Management.
• Physical Space: Cross-docking and flow-through capabilities, plus integration with Yard Management, reduce the need for warehouse space. Improve warehouse layout for faster fulfillment and overhead reduction.



• Time: Automate picking, packing and shipping, and minimize the number of moves per order. Analyze every facet of order fulfillment to speed processing and improve customer service.
• Costs: Aggregate orders to reduce transportation and shipping costs. Eliminate annual physical counts. Reduce expenses on labor and storage.

Your warehouse is one link in your supply chain. With visibility into processes that precede and follow that link, your warehouse will become an accelerator—not a roadblock—to drive greater profitability and customer satisfaction. Warehouse Management links robustly and easily with:

• Slotting Optimization: The physical location of inventory in a warehouse is critical to your workforce’s ability to fill orders quickly, accurately and safely. Slotting Optimization scientifically determines the best picking profile for your warehouse, and enables you to make timely, intelligent decisions as ordering trends change.Are fast-moving items in the most accessible locations? Are slots allocated in the most efficient manner according to product size and weight? Are risks to your employees reduced or eliminated? Is your storage capacity optimized for your current stock? Slotting Optimization automates these enhancements to your warehouse, and, working alongside Warehouse Management, tracks your changing inventory to enable continual improvements. Slotting Optimization can be used from day one to plan racking requirements and maximize capital investments in costly warehouse infrastructure.
• The Science of Product Slotting: How does it work? Slotting Optimization uses data on each product’s physical characteristics and order frequency to calculate a relative value for each position its slot might inhabit within your facility. Then it aggregates these values for all products, and compares millions of move combinations against your user-configured strategies to determine the single optimal layout for your warehouse.As input data changes, such as seasonal ordering trends or new or discontinued products, Slotting Optimization can revise its recommendations incrementally, to keep your warehouse at maximum efficiency without costly overhauls.
• Distributed Order Management: Meeting customer demand on a timely basis drives customer satisfaction, while ordering excess inventory hurts your bottom line. Keep supply and demand in profitable balance with Distributed Order Management. That means having a global view of your inventory—at the supplier, in transit or at your warehouse—along with real-time aggregated order reporting. You’ll always know what you need and what you have.Distributed Order Management simplifies your fulfillment process by orchestrating the following services inside a business process engine:Aggregating and prioritizing orders: Whether your customers order online, at a store or through your call center, all orders land in a central repository for visibility and enterprise-wide order fulfillment. Distributed Order Management also ensures your most important customers receive the inventory when it’s in short supply.
• Sourcing: Optimize procurement across an extensive supply network, including stores, distribution centers and your suppliers, to meet current demand. Automatically generate purchase orders for additional supplies when needed. Plan for the future with Demand Forecasting. Receive immediate notice of events that may delay order delivery.Scheduling and shipping: Ensure your delivery commitments remain realistic by monitoring available-to-promise (ATP) requirements. Efficiently route your orders to customers, distribution centers, retailers and partners to minimize delivery time and storage costs. Reduce transportation costs by linking to TransportationPlanning and Execution: Managing exceptions and substitutions: Predict inventory shortages, potential customer service issues and delivery problems, so you have the time and information necessary to place new orders, reroute, substitute and communicate with customers. Reduce back-orders and meet customer demand by automating substitutions for similar products based on your own rules.Deploying Inventory: Reroute in-transit inventory based on where it’s needed most. Monitor distribution center and store-level inventory positions and distribute inventory as it clears customs. Fulfill customer orders from anywhere in the inbound network, including transloading facilities and logistics hubs.Reporting: Capture key performance metrics and establish benchmarks for on-time deliveries, cash-to-cash cycle time, inventory turns and forecasting accuracy. Get the information you need to continuously improve your fulfillment process.
• Labor Management: Labor is a significant cost—typically 55% of the total cost of warehouse operations—yet it is among the most manageable. Manhattan Associates’ Labor Management enables your warehouse to be more productive with the workforce it has, or find new ways to cut costs. At the same time, it decreases employee turnover by providing essential feedback to workers—feedback that rewards efficiency, quality and safety. These improvements ultimately lead to faster order fulfillment and flawless execution.Labor Management works by storing your database of standards for every key task. For each associate, the actual times for task completion are monitored in real time and compared to standards. Employees at all levels receive immediate feedback on their performance.
• Transportation Lifecycle Management: Because your customers count on you to deliver the right products to them when and where they’re needed, you can’t afford to be blindsided by shipping problems in Asia, blizzard-bound trucks in Canada or even delays unloading at your warehouses. Managing deliveries is only one part of the job, though; you also need to manage costs. You want to be sure you’ve struck the right balance between your own fleet and commercial carriers—and negotiated the best rates for all your lanes in every mode. And, that the bills you receive reflect the prices you set.Manhattan Associates’ Transportation Lifecycle Management provides all the tools you need to reduce costs, reroute around trouble spots, coordinate deliveries precisely and deliver more, faster, for less money. Your business requires a global view of transportation across all modes. Inbound or outbound, from bidding to billing, Manhattan Associates helps you see it all.

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Mincron Software Systems, based in Houston Texas, provides software systems for distribution. Their Warehouse Management System solution is called Warehouse Manager.

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Whether your warehouse is a thousand square feet or a million square feet, the fundamental challenges are the same: how do you reduce inventory, fill orders fast (and ship them faster), improve accuracy, prioritize the movement of your most profitable goods, maximize worker productivity, minimize wasted space and at all costs keep from having to tell your customers that you don’t have what they need?  Mincron’s Warehouse Solution can help you answer all of these challenges by providing you with an extraordinarily powerful and flexible tool, whose comprehensive menu of capabilities and practically infinite flexibility in the application, makes it an ideal product for virtually every warehousing and logistical operation.

Using leading-edge warehouse management concepts, such as multiple, nested “moveable-units” and virtual shelving locations, the Warehouse Solution dramatically reduces both employee time and warehouse space requirements significantly. The product utilizes the latest in bar-code and RF equipment to further increase warehouse productivity, resulting in quick payback on your entire investment.

Key benefits of Mincron’s Warehouse Solution include:

• Integration to Mincron’s Distribution Solution or to your existing ERP system.

• Reduce transaction costs by eliminating receiving, picking, and putaway errors and mis-ships.

• Increase customer service and satisfaction by increasing shipping accuracy (shipping the correct product to the correct customer).

• Improve productivity by increasing the speed of processing warehouse transactions, reducing unnecessary product movement throughout the warehouse, and eliminating the time wasted looking for an item.

• Improve inventory accuracy by reducing the number of errors and through the automatic generation of cycle counts.

• Reduce training costs by directed task management and product verification.

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A key piece of machinery in manufacturing, fulfillment, distribution, and warehousing is the Forklift. When considering the geographic market for Forklifts, it usually follows the general population – where there is the most people, then there’s the greater need for warehouses, which means those warehouses need forklifts.

In California, though the economic climate isn’t ideal, there is a very large population that relies on a supply chain that requires warehouses to store food, material, or other goods.

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1. What do you need a Forklift to do? Answering this question is critical because, depending on need, that will determine the size and weight you need the forklift to be.
2. Forklift Tires? Depending on your answer to question #1, then that drives what type of forklift tires and other forklift equipment you’ll need.
3. Warehouse Equipment Budget? Yes, this is important. Additionally, is the serviceability of the forklift – how well can the the forklift company help you when you need them the most, in order to reduce downtime.

To help you answer these question, you may want to contact a Forklift professional to help you with your forklift needs. Click below to receive a free quote on Forklifts:

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I led a project several years ago whose aim was to reduce the replenishment cycle time from the Reserve Bins to the Prime Bins. The process to replenish the Prime (pickable bins) Bins from material in Reserve (Backstock) Bins is called Replenishment.

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Let me share what a Reach Truck or Order Picker looks like:

In Toyota’s words,

Toyota 8-series Electric Reach Trucks revolutionize the way materials are handled when cube utilization is at a premium. From the versatility of the latest electronic control technology to the comfort and convenience of an ergonomically designed operator compartment, Toyota’s 8-series single reach and double reach trucks represent a dramatic approach to reach truck performance and quality.

Here are some other characteristics of the Toyota Reach Truck:

Operability and Performance

• AC Powered System delivers precise speed and torque control loaded or unloaded.
• AC Hydraulic Control System provides fully variable lift/lower control for fast, efficient and smooth operation.
• Multifunction Control Handle allows single-handed control of travel, lift/lower, tilt, reach/retract (including high speed), horn and optional sideshifter for simplified operation.
• Electronic Power Steering provides quiet, effortless and responsive operation for precise maneuverability.

Reliability and Durability

• Rugged Single or Double Reach Pantograph with high speed reach and retract increase reliability and performance
• Dual Articulating Polyurethane Load Wheels offer excellent durability, especially on uneven surfaces, for improved performance.
• Unitized Frame Design provides optimum rigidity and strength on all 8-Series Reach Trucks.
• Regenerative Braking improves overall efficiency and prolongs brake component life.

Ergonomics

• ERGOMAT® Padding absorbs vibration to reduce foot and ankle fatigue.
• Spacious Operator Compartment with 11″ low step height eases frequent entry and exit during the work shift for reduced body fatigue.
• Cushioned Backrest, Armrest and Floor Mat are designed to limit fatigue and keep operators productive.
• Polyurethane Drive Tire absorbs shocks caused by uneven floors to allow for smooth traveling.

Serviceability (Ease of Service)

• Self-Diagnostics help maximize lift truck uptime by checking critical functions at start up.
• Built-In Analyzer provides easy troubleshooting and eliminates the need for an external hand-held analyzer.
• One-Piece Top Cover with interlocking door provides access to major components to reduce service time for inspection and maintenance.
• Bolt-On Toe Boxes allow for easy wheel replacement without taking the truck out of service for extended periods of time.
• Lift-Out Battery Gate and rollers facilitate fast removal and service.

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