Archive for Warehousing
I recently spoke with Jeff Kastning, Senior Manager of Logistics and Distribution at Brooks Sports, about the company’s recent implementation of a software-as-a-service (SaaS) labor management system (LMS). Brooks Sports, headquartered near Seattle, Washington, designs and markets high-performance men’s and women’s running shoes, apparel and accessories.
The company operates a 140,000 square foot distribution center (DC) that carries 12,000 SKUs and ships more than 6 million units… Continue reading
Labor Management at DSC Logistics
· CommentsI recently spoke with Jim Chamberlain, the Director of Engineering at DSC Logistics about their rollout of RedPrairie’s Labor Management System (LMS) solution.
Jim began his career at Kraft where he worked to develop labor standards. Based on that experience, he knew this was a big opportunity for DSC when he joined them. In 2005, DSC evaluated the major suppliers of LMS solutions. They selected RedPrairie’s solution… Continue reading
ARC recently published a strategic report called Asset Performance Management: An IT Perspective (available to ARC clients only). As I read through the report, I started thinking about a distribution center (DC) I recently visited. This 750,000 sq. ft. warehouse, which cost $250 million to build, made extensive use of conveyors and sorters directing jobs to people at computerized workstations or pick-to-light stations. The conveyors moved packages through box… Continue reading
Voice Recognition Basics
· CommentsJoe Pajer, COO of Vocollect, and Tom Murray, Vice President of Product Management, recently briefed me on their idea that logistics is entering the “voice-enabled warehouse era.” According to a study they commissioned, voice solutions have only penetrated about 10-15 percent of the warehouses it is well suited for, a percentage that I can’t verify but find very plausible. In light of the low penetration, I realized that providing… Continue reading
Tom Kozenski of RedPrairie (an ARC client) sent me a video case study about a WMS implementation at Cummins Filtration that went very smoothly because of good project management: avoidance of customization, RedPrairie and Cummins folks that worked together seamlessly, and role-based training.
The benefits Cummins reported are what I would have expected for a paper-based facility moving to a WMS: better labor productivity… Continue reading
More flexible forms of warehouse automation are emerging. One example of this is real-time location forklift automation—i.e., forklifts equipped with a real-time location system that allows drivers to proceed to a specified location and pick up (or put down) a load without the need for the driver to scan the location to prove that they have picked up (or delivered) the right load. This solution is designed for full pallet… Continue reading
From a supply chain perspective, it often makes sense to have the warehouse work harder, so that downstream recipients of shipments don’t have to work as hard. If certain tasks can be done more cost efficiently in the warehouse, then those tasks should be performed there.
However, there are instances where the warehouse can actually work less hard and still provide lower total supply chain costs. A recent article… Continue reading
Last year, I interviewed several warehouse managers in the chemical industry to learn more about their operations and how they are using supply chain execution (SCE) technology. Chemical manufacturers, distributors, and logistics service providers (LSPs) all operate chemical warehouses which differ in complexity. At one end of the spectrum are distributors (or LSPs that handle chemicals on behalf of manufacturing clients) who receive containers, usually drums, from suppliers… Continue reading
