INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN APPAREL WAREHOUSE

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Warehouse???

• A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods.

• Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, customs, etc.

• They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload goods from trucks. Sometimes warehouses load and unload goods directly from railways, airports, or seaport.

Process in Warehouse

Major warehousing processes include:• Receiving• Put away• Order preparation / picking• Shipping• Inventory management (cycle counting,

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Information systems in warehouse

The information systems in a apparel warehouse include WMS-Warehouse management system. WCS-Warehouse control system. ERP- Enterprise resource Planning.

Warehouse Management system(WMS)

• WMS software package is capable of controlling warehouses of all sizes.

• It is fully integrated with EDI and data can be captured by hand held laser scanning devices linked to the database by either fixed docking stations or RF (Radio Frequency) transmissions.

WMS Description

• Warehouse Management System - WMS New Technology - has been developed to improve productivity, accuracy and effectiveness.

• Operating under Win x, Novell and Linux, it is highly configurable and supports a broad range of warehouse operations including receiving, put-away, order management, order picking, replenishment, consolidation and shipping.

• WMS provides full support for bar coding including RF Terminals, Laser Scanning Terminals and picking automation to create a highly productive and traceable environment.

Overall system

Goods Received

Order Processing/Goods Out

Location Of Storage• A fundamental concept in The Warehouse Management System is

the Location - the place items are stored.• As the Apparel Software System is a generic system, it must

provide flexibility to cope with any type of warehouse and any type of stock.

• In order to provide such flexibility, the following conceptual areas within the warehouse are used:

-Zones -Faces -Bays

• A zone is the largest area within a warehouse. In some warehouses, especially small warehouses, there may be only one zone whereas in other, possibly larger warehouses there may be several zones. You can use zones to separate different departments.

• A face represents a picking face: the aisle you walk down when picking goods from a particular bay. Faces generally run parallel to each other.

• A bay is a vertical multi-level collection of locations. One level within a bay represents the smallest area within a warehouse: a single unique location. A location can store any type of item and could be a pallet, a clothes rail, a bin or even simply floor space.

Warehouse-Top view

Functional Component of the System

• Warehouse locations• Product definition• Stock Details• Audit Trails• Customer/Retailer orders• Goods Receipts• Scanner input/output

Benefits of WMS

• Customer service improvements• Cost reduction• Efficient utilization of Warehouse space• Cash flow improvements• Improved efficiency and productivity• Improved quality control

Warehouse Control System

How can Warehouse Control Software help the operation?

• Warehouse Control Software is able to interface with equipment from a variety of vendors, providing flexibility in purchasing decisions.

• Warehouse Control Systems react to feedback from the material handling system and quickly adjust processes to maintain a better product flow.

• Warehouse Control Software, with visibility to both incoming orders and orders already in process, can release orders in quantities to match the system’s current ability to process them : continuous flow.

• Warehouse Control Systems coordinate multiple types of material handling equipment within one system.

What types of automated equipment are managed by a Warehouse Control Software System?

• Conveyors – Belt, Live Roller, Accumulation• Conveyor Sortation systems– Shoe, Cross Belt, Tilt

Tray• Pick-to-Light systems, Pick to Display systems, Put to

Light systems and Put to Display systems• Horizontal Carousels• AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval) system.

Warehouse Control Software System Benefits:

• Proactive monitoring using real time data and statistics

• Open, non proprietary software application• User friendly and intuitive with color coded

graphical interfaces• Built in diagnostic tools, graphics and reports• Remote monitoring –visibility across your

organization through networks/intranet/internet

Dock doors