Warehouse Management Systems Slotting

Why do you see inventory items in a store on the end-caps or strategic locations on shelves? Why does it cost suppliers more discount allowances to the store for those items to be located on an end-cap instead of the middle of the shopping aisle? They are visible, quickly picked up, and are more likely the buyer will purchase them. So give your customers what they want, faster and more efficiently.

Distribution centers, having a heavy and poignant role in customer on-time delivery and satisfaction, need the best systems and software to process materials' high throughput requirements.

Communications problems between people, technology systems (software and hardware) affecting vendors, manufacturers, buyers, and customers center around a lack of synchronization. When materials for a product mix; ranging from finished goods to raw components, lot expiry and conformance, can be tied to demand and supply chain leveling.  

With many experts are predicting tough times ahead which makes it a good time to add supply chain execution capabilities to streamline the shipping and receiving processes, improve productivity and meet the increasingly complex industry and customer requirements.

Unfortunately, not all systems help you compete and if you are a smaller manufacturer or distributor, you may not need the complexity of an ERP application designed for larger peers.  

With this consideration, you still need a solution that helps compete for business in the demanding, global world of distribution.

Industries which have an opportunity to improve functionality, compete and win business, even when times get tough:

Complex industries – Industries like consumer packaged goods often have complex needs such as unique labeling, packaging and shipping requirements.

Regulated industries – Regulated industries such as automotive and those that handle hazardous materials need systems that help them stay in compliance.

Distribution to large retailers – Many large retailers have unique and stringent material handling and labeling requirements that need to be met in order for a distributor or manufacturer to maintain status as a preferred supplier.

Global distribution – Organizations that distribute goods abroad need systems that help them create all the necessary paperwork and ensure that nothing is missed.

Supply chain managers have been trying to get visibility into their operations as long as there have been supply chains. In an omni-channel operating environment, visibility is more critical than ever. When a customer places an order, you need to have some degree of confidence that the inventory is going to be there. The value of a warehouse management system is quickly obvious which brings us to the questions of “which system?” and “who will implement the system?”

When selecting a warehouse management system (WMS), there are an abundant number to choose from. After working with the best (and worst), we understand the frustration of how expectations can be exceeded (or broken).

If you currently operate an ERP system, the WMS functionality may be part of that suite, or you can use a bolt-on WMS package or an extended WMS for convergence. We have implemented both and believe the choice of WMS software should fit exactly to the requirements of your warehouse operations. (vs. changing the operation to meet the demands of the WMS software)

Many changes within the warehouse can have a negative impact on productivity making the original slotting setup less than optimal. SKU stock or velocity, new products, discontinued products, new trends in the industry and new technology are examples. The changes can happen slowly and may not be apparent.

It's been proven that a properly slotted warehouse drives down operation costs and improves distribution productivity by 8% to 15%, and can yield space savings up to 30%.  It is possible to understand the issues and opportunities with a hits and movement analysis, by mapping it out, or by following pickers. Even so, it's very easy to overlook the true opportunity of slotting and underestimate the impact it can have on productivity.

Streamline inventory management, improve productivity and meet complex industry and customer requirements with WMS software. Below we outline four outstanding benefits from WMS software. 

Warehouse Slotting provides strategy and optimization of material pick-bin locations based on the main business drivers. Seasonality, sales trends, industry flex, and satisfying your customer's adapting to change.

• Why do you see inventory items in a store on the end-caps or strategic locations on shelves?
  
  
• Why does it cost suppliers more discount-allowances to the store for those items to be located on an end-cap instead of the middle of the shopping aisle?
  
  They are visible, easily picked up, and are more likely the buyer will purchase them.

You can give your customers what they want, faster and more efficiently.

Introducing Newcastle Mobile Powered Carts. Meet your shipping department's new best friend. In shipping, point of use processing ensures peace of mind that product is labeled accurately, documents are matched correctly and on its way to the customer quickly.

Mobile powered carts can help your shipping area:

• Process goods directly at the pallet
• Increase shipment accuracy and volume
• Keep printing and labeling at the dock
• Remove motion, waiting and transportation waste

Problems Factoring Into Upgrade Decisions

There are challenges in managing the ins and outs of materials, work in process, shipping and receiving; to name a few requirements. WMS must integrate; incorporating connections to accounting and finance, management, sales and customer management, logistics, costing and scheduling systems. Companies are looking for cost-effective, ease of use, manageable enterprise software with seamless transactional integration. Additional components of a WMS system can include all material and labor (shop floor data collection (SFDC), lot and serial tracking, cycle counting, and work in process. These systems should be safe and easy to upgrade without stoppage of processes or transactions when upgrading to newer versions.

By contrast, with code-based systems, customers are spending more every few years — even when they receive free (prepaid) software upgrades under their vendor’s maintenance contract. Because the service-cost to install these upgrades and bring any customer-specific configurations and modifications forward to the latest release becomes risky, costly, and time-consuming process.

These pages will help explain why traditional upgrades can be so costly, and how WMS integrated with your ERP can empower you to break this cycle and save more than money.