Beverage World - May 2008 - (Page 56) [SUPPLYCHAIN] SUPPLY LINES IN BRIEF BEVSOLUTIONS An Introduction to WMS by ned bauhof System Optimizes Lift Truck Fleets The iWarehouse system, from Greene, N.Y., USA-based Raymond Corp., is an enterprise fleet management solution for warehouse and distribution center managers to collect and analyze real-time lift truck data to maximize fleet productivity and reduce costs.The system draws real-time information from the operating systems of Raymond lift trucks. Warehouse managers can access this information via a custom Web portal to genTHE RAYMOND erate reports IWAREHOUSE system and benchmark connects to the lift truck vehicle manager lift truck and with a single connecoperator protor—the iPort—in contrast ductivity; diag- to the “octopus” design that has eight to 12 wires nose potential lift truck issues connected to switches, contactors and other remotely; external sensors. reduce the risk of impacts and optimize lift truck capital and maintenance costs. “The iWarehouse system provides transparent access to metrics that enable facility managers to reduce labor and maintenance costs, and improve operator productivity like never before,” says David Furman, vice president, The Raymond Corp. “When a vehicle can communicate real-time information about itself and its activities, it allows for continuous operation improvement. Ultimately, this information can be used to optimize one fleet or multiple fleets of lift trucks in a warehouse or distribution center.” raymondcorp.com T Ned Bauhof is a principal and vice president with Precision Distribution Consulting in York, Pa., USA. He has 15 years experience in distribution consulting, including strategic planning, distribution strategies, operations analysis, facility sizing and material handling design. E-mail: nbauhof@pdcinc.us 56_BEVERAGE WORLD_MAY 2008 » here is a lot of buzz in the industry lately about Warehouse Management Systems (WMS). At its core, a WMS is a computer system that provides various levels of control in the warehouse including inventory management, space management and asset management. Although most beverage operations rely on conventional warehouse management, including paperbased tasks supported by verbal direction from front-line supervision, interest in WMS is increasing. Within the world of WMS technology, there are multiple tiers of sophistication. At the most basic level is Stock Locator Systems. This has a single purpose: to track inventory. It relies on operators to identify optimal tasks and locations for product storage. Order planning and picking is still a manual process, therefore staging, order consolidation and truck loading activities all require manual direction. System Directed WMS is a more sophisticated rules-based WMS. System Directed WMS provides the capability to proactively manage space, inventory and labor. Step-by-step work tasks are issued to operators based on the priority of tasks, operator proximity (who is closest) and operator capability (based on job function and/or material handling vehicle). The benefit companies most often look to are productivity improvements. But the level of improvement is directly tied to the level of structure in place before the WMS is implemented. The other main area of improvement is inventory control. With a growing number of SKUs and often-limited warehouse space, it is becoming increasingly difficult to accurately count inventory and maintain adequate product rotation. In order to maintain desired product rotation and avoid product obsolescence, companies often rely on labor to re-warehouse. WMS technology manages inventory on the basis of definable rules possibly resulting in improved space utilization and inventory accuracy and reduced inventory control labor. The recommended first step in implementation is the optimization of the warehouse operating strategy including layout, storage plan, pick area design and overall work processes. Following the warehouse optimization, prepare a well-documented Functional Systems Description (FSD). The FSD will serve as the script for the implementation team. The FSD, at a minimum, should consist of the proposed warehouse layout, storage plan, order planning and release process, inventory control and replenishment strategies. It is also essential to define all operator work processes. Remember, WMS manages the process and space. Like any software, WMS is a tool. It provides direction and information. You must extract, analyze, interpret and disseminate the information in order for it to be of the most value to your business. BW BEVERAGEWORLD.COM http://raymondcorp.com http://BEVERAGEWORLD.COM
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