Warehouse Management in Nutshell

WH Objectives

Maximise Cube Utilisation

Maximise Equipment Utilisation

Maximize Human Resources Utilization

Reduce your SKU Handling

Minimize Operating Expenses

Protection of Companys Assets

WH Activities

Receiving;
Inspection; Put-away; Storage; Value Addition Order Pick Packing; Sortation; Manifestation; Unitizing and Shipping; Data Processing
MANIFESTATION

WH Value Added Activities

Warehouse Value-added Services
Cross dcok/transloading Customer Returns Customization/Postponement Home or catalouge delivery In-transit merge Inventory control Kan Ban Kitting Labelling/pre-ticketing Lot Control Manufacuturing Support Order fulfillment Pick-n-pack Pool Distribution Repair/Refurbish Returnable Container Management Reverse Logistics Sequencing Metering Spcialty Packing Store Support/direct store delivery (DSD)

Factors Influencing WH Function

Increasing Employee Training, Impact of IT and Internet, Automation, JIT and Across-the-dock operations, MRP and DRP, Distribution Strategy optimization, Advanced material handling technology, Outsourcing, Increase in value added services.

WH Master Planning Methodology

KPIs & Goals

Technology

Human Resources

Master Planning

Innovate

Implement

Investigate

Receiving and Put-away Process Design

Key Questions:
Receiving mode

Put-away batch sizing

Put-way tour construction

Required Profile
Purchase Order Profile

Profile Components
Order mix distribution Lines per receipt distribution Lines and cube per distribution

WH sizing process design

Key Questions:
Overall Warehouse space requirements

Required Profile
Inventory Profile

Profile Components
Item Family inventory distribution. Handling unit inventory distribution

Key Questions:

WH Lay-out & Material Flow design

Objectives:

Overall warehouse flow design

Maximize the Space utilization, Product flow Optimization, Efficient Order Pick, Reduce operating Costs, Improve WH productivity, Efficient use of Warehouse equipment, Inventory Protection, Maximization of Customer satisfaction, Provide for expansion, Safe work environment.

Required Profile

Activity relationship profile

Profile Components

Activity relationship distribution

WH Layout Philosophies
Family Group Philosophy, Product Rotation Philosophy, Rack Row and Aisle Direction of Flow Philosophy, Aisle Length Philosophy, Building height Philosophy, Storage Method Philosophy, Storage Vehicle Philosophy, Customer Order pick Philosophy, Order Sortation Philosophy, Internal Transportation Philosophy, Building construction Philosophy, Facility shape Philosophy, Product flow pattern philosophy, Material handling system philosophy.

Factors Influencing Layout Philosophies

Type of SKU handled, SKU popularity or Paretos law (80/20 rule),

Travel distance for the transportation vehicle,

Family grouping, SKU rotation, Rack row and aisle direction, Aisle length, Building height, Storage method, Storage vehicle, Order- pick method, Internal transportation method, Sortation method, Handling of returns and out-of-season product transfers, Receiving and shipping dock design, Facility construction, Building size and shape, and SKU flow pattern.

WH Facility Layout Principles

Provide adequate aisles and aisle width in the key warehouse function areas. Consider the product flow and volume through the reserve area; pick area, and other functional areas. Provide adequate SKU accumulation prior to each workstation. Provide adequate ceiling height for warehouse equipment. Provide required space for fire protection and security equipment. Locate all support or administrative activities. Locate the building facilities on the site for excellent present utilization and future expansion. Locate the key warehouse functions for future expansion. Design space building columns and bay size to facilitate space utilization, product flow, and employee productivity. Use gravity-propelled transportation in combination with mechanized or automated equipment.

WH Automation & Staffing Design

Key Questions:
Staffing Requirements Capital-Labour substitution Level of Mechanisation

Required Profile
Automation Profile

Profile Components
Economic Factors

distribution

Slotting Design
Key Questions:
Zone Definition Storage mode selection & Sizing Put-away tour construction

Required Profile
Item Activity Profile

Profile Components
Popularity Profile

Cube Movement/Volume Profile

Order Completion Profile Demand correlation profile Demand Variable profile

Order Picking & Shipping

Pre-order-pick activities:
1. Yard Control Activity, 2. Unloading Activity, 3. Product Quantity and Quality Verification activity, 4. Receiving activity, 5. Product identification activity, 6. Ticketing Activity, 7. Packaging Activity, 8. Horizontal and Vertical Transportation activity, 9. JIT and Across-the-Dock Activity, 10. Deposit Activity.

Order Pick Activity:

1. Pick ticket generation, 2. Product Identification, 3. Pick.

Post-Order Pick Activity:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Sorting activity, Replenishment activity, Packaging activity, Package Weigh activity, Manifest activity, Loading and Shipping activity, Monitoring delivery, Customer returns.

Shipping Activity:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Checking, Packing, Sealing, Securing, Manifesting, Loading.

Order Picking and shipping Process Design

Key Questions:
Order Batch Size Pick wave planning Pick tour construction

Shipping mode disposition

Required Profile
Customer order profile

Profile Components
Order mix distribution Lines per order distribution Lines and cube per order distribution

Material Handling Equipment

Material Handling Equipment

Classification

Material handling equipment (MHE) is used for the movement of material within a facility or at a site. MHE can be classified into the following four major categories:

Transport Equipment

Positioning Equipment
Unit Load Formation Equipment Identification and Control Equipment

Transport Equipment

Conveyers

Cranes

Trucks

Transport Equipment
Dolly

Manual or Powered Pallet Jacks

Floor Hand Truck

Hand Truck

Narrow Aisle Truck

Trucks

Positioning Equipment
Lift/Tilt/Turn Table:
Used when positioning involves the lifting, tilting, or turning of a load. Can be used to reduce or limit a workers lifting and/or reaching motions Pallet load levellers are lift and turn tables used in manual palletizing to reduce the amount of bending and stooping involved with manually loading a pallet by combining a lifting and turning mechanism with a device that lowers the table as each layer is completed so that loading always takes place at the optimal height of 30 inches.

Dock Leveller Used at loading docks to compensate for height differences between a truck bed and the dock

Contd.
Ball Transfer Table: Used in conveyor systems to permit manual transfer to and from machines and conveyors and between different sections of conveyors. Since loads are pushed on the table, ball friction limits the maximum load weight to 600 lbs. Air Film Device

Used to enable precision positioning of heavy loads. Sometimes referred to as "air pallets. Can be used in place of cranes and hoists. Requires a smooth floor surface against which air streams underneath the device can push. Can be used in warehousing as the mechanism to convert stationary racks into sliding racks.

Unit Load Formation Equipment

Pallets Platform with enough clearance beneath its top surface (or face) to enable the insertion of forks for subsequent lifting purposes Materials: Wood (most common), paper, plastic, rubber, and metal Size of pallet is specified by its depth (i.e., length of its stringers or stringer boards) and its width (i.e., length its deck-boards)pallet height (typically 0.127 m.) is usually not specified; orientation of stringers relative to deck-boards of pallet is specified by always listing its depth first and width last: Depth (stringer length) x Width (deck-board length) 1.2 x 1 m. pallet is most popular in US (27% of all palletsno other size over 5%) because its compatibility with railcar and truck trailer dimensions 1200 x 800 mm "Euro-Pallet" is the standard pallet in Europe.

ULFE contd.

Skids Platform (typically metal) with enough clearance beneath its top surface to enable a platform truck to move underneath for subsequent lifting purposes. Forks can also be used to handle skids since the clearance of a skid is greater than that of a pallet. Compared to a pallet, a skid is usually used for heavier loads and when stacking is not required; a metal skid can lift heavier loads than an equalweight metal pallet because it enables a platform truck to be used for the lifting, with the platform providing a greater lifting surface to support the skid as compared to the forks used to support the pallet

ULFE contd.

Slip sheets Thick piece of paper, corrugated fibre, or plastic upon which a load is placed. Handling method: tabs on the sheet are grabbed by a special push/pull lift truck attachment. Advantages: usually used in place of a pallet for long-distance shipping because their cost is 10 30% of pallet costs and their weight and volume is 15% of a pallet. Disadvantages: slower handling as compared to pallets; greater load damage within the facility; special lift truck attachment reduces the vehicles load capacity.

ULFE contd.
Others

Tote Pans

Pallet Boxes/Skid Boxes

Liquid load containers

Cartons

ULFE contd.
Used for load stabilization

In shrink-wrapping, a film or bag is placed over the load and then heat is applied to shrink the film or bag; allows irregular loads to be stabilized; manual or automatic; most shrink-wrap applications are being replaced by stretch-wrapping. In stretch-wrapping, a film is wound around the load while the film is stretched; allows irregular loads to be stabilized; manual or automatic; as compared to shrinkwrapping, stretch-wrapping has lower material, labour, and energy costs

ULFE contd.
Inter modal Containers

Reusable container used to unitize and protect loose discrete items. Enables a load to be handled as a single unit when it is transferred between road, rail, and sea modes of transport; e.g., the container can be unloaded from a cargo ship and loaded onto a truck as a single unit. It is not as common to use inter-modal containers for airfreight transport because of aircraft shape and weight restrictions. The standard outside dimensions of inter-modal containers are: 20 or 40 ft. in length; 8 ft. in width; and 8, 8.5, or 9.5 ft. in height.

Identification and Control Equipment

Bar Codes Unique bar/space patterns represent various alphanumeric characters. Bar code system consists of bar code label, bar code scanner, and bar code printer. Contact bar code scanners use pen or wand to read labels.

Radio Frequency (RF) Tag

Data encoded on chip encased in a tag. Non-contact: can be read when the tag is within 30 ft. of an antenna. Tags can either be attached to a container, or permanently or temporarily to an item. RF tags have greater data storage capability than bar codes

Identification and Control Equipment

Portable Data Terminal Handheld, arm-mounted, or vehiclemounted data storage and communication device. Communicates with a host computer via a radio frequency or infrared link Variety of input devices available: keyboard, bar code scanner, voice headset EDI
Key ANSI ASC X12 EDI Codes:
810 Invoice 850 Purchase Order 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment 856 Shipment Notice/Manifest 894 Delivery/Return Base Record 997 Functional Acknowledgment