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Journey to Distribution Center Automation TLOAUG June 14th, 2017 Jamie Silverman, Business Development Manager Inyxa
Journey to Distribution Center Automation
TLOAUG June 14th, 2017
Jamie Silverman, Business Development Manager Inyxa
Synopsis
With an increased awareness to Supply Chain Management, and a rapid decline in cost in Distribution Center automation technology, many companies are contemplating increased investment in Warehouse Automation.
In this session we will walk you through the Automation journey at a few E-Business Suite customers, where significant productivity gains were achieved through intelligent integration with warehouse automation technologies.
Attendees will walk away with a better sense of some of the challenges involved, and get to see first hand some of the tools and techniques that were developed to overcome these challenges.
Market Direction – 2017 Supply Chain Management
“Top-tier organizations have recognized that SCM can be the single greatest unifying factor across all (business) functions. It increases revenue, extends asset life, protects brand and reputation, increases productivity, reduces costs, and manages risks.” “Supply
Chain Management: Getting a Seat at the Table” by Stephen C. Rogers and Robert Porter Lynch, 2015
“Many supply chains are simply not set up to respond to broader organizational objectives that often call for speed and convenience in a cost-effective manner.”
“The Amazon Effect”
2017 Automation Study – Landscape
2017 Peerless Research Group Study- 221 Respondents
- Operations in food & beverage, automotive, chemicals, pharma, and industrial machinery
- $872 Million Average Annual Revenue
About iNYXA
• Chicago-based IT Consulting firm, Oracle integration partner & Software Developer, since 2008.
• Focused primarily on E-Business Suite – Supply Chain & Manufacturing functions
• Member of the Oracle Supply Chain Advisory Board
• A decade of complex implementations, pre-built solutions & enhancement products for EBS
• Global Delivery Capability using Development Centers in India, and an experienced Onsite team.
• Industry Expertise: Industrial manufacturing, Distribution, Retail, Fresh Produce, Semiconductor, Medical Devices, Pharma, Hi-Tech
Expertise across Industries
Case Study
A South American Manufacturer and Distributor of Fresh and Frozen Consumer Foods – A Journey to Automation
Automation at a CPG Customer
• Nationally, the #2 producer of fresh and frozen foods in Chilean market
• In business for over 100 years
• 4 Production Plants, 13 distribution centers
• 500 unique items
• 10,000 Sales Orders & 300 Truck Loads per day
• 40,000 unique customers with direct delivery
• Delivery is primarily LTL & TL in nature. 90% mixed pallets.
• E-Business Suite 12.1.3.
Two Phase Solution
• Phase 1 – 2015 Productivity Improvements– Variable weight picking – not in the out-of-the-box WMS solution
– Enhanced rules for bulk picking
– Improvements in shipping efficiencies – truck loading
– All through mobile form extensions – no change to underlying Oracle code base
• Phase 2 Highlights– 2016 New Automated Distribution Center– Integrate picking process with sorter infrastructure and ASRS
– Build wave release based on transportation plan
– Pallet building logic to simplify packing process
Distribution Center Material Movement
Inb
ou
nd
Pal
lets
Forklift Put-away
ASRS Putaway
Case Picking
Full Pallet Picking
ASRS Picking
Packing
Packing
PackingShipping
3. Pick & Pass picking for
Variable Wt. Items
2. Bulk Picking for Standard Wt.
Items
4. Sorter diverts product to Packing Lanes
6. Packing Solution for Pallet
Building
5. Automated Storage
Retrieval (ASRS) Picking for
Frozen Product
7. Truck Load & Ship Confirm
1. Inbound Dock. Full Pallet Replenishment
Distribution Center Material Movement
Integration with Pallet ASRS
• Put-away integration with Pallet ASRS.
• Picking integration, to request pallet from Pallet ASRS.
• In high volume ASRS, order of dispensing may be different from order of request. Picking form that processes warehouse picking task based on pallet that was dispensed by ASRS.
• Pallet Storage / Retrieval
Outbound Wave Release Workbench
• In a single application, allows for:– Users to easily manage pick, pack,
ship
– Visibility into wave, items, staging lanes, and dock doors
– Ability to manage use of available lanes to optimize picks.
– Increased flexibility to external factors
– End to End tracking of material. From release in Oracle, through packing, truck loading & shipping.
Outbound WavesASRS / Sortation Release
Selecting material in WaveStatus of cases dispensedOr sorted
Dock Door Status
Integration with Conveyance & Sortation
Orders may arrive from ASRS & Sortation out of sequence.
Packer takes cases from end of ASRS Line and associates them with a pallet.
Quickly create the pallet entity, based on the pallet number and associate every case by scanning the label.
Multiple mobile scanners and guns tested and used; personal preference
Metrics
New Distribution Center with WMS/Conveyor: – 24 tons per hour
• (vs. 18 tons in old DC)• 33% efficiency increase
– 2 Work shifts with 34 pickers by shift. 68 pickers in total• (vs. 2 ½ shifts with 85 pickers)• Reduced Labor Costs by 20%
Oracle Success Story- Featured at Oracle Open World 2016- Currently showcased as a Case Study on Oracle’s web site
Case Study: Citrus Fruit Producer Using WMS
The largest integrated grower, shipper and packer of fresh citrus in the United States.
Mapping Material Flow
1. Receiving Raw Fruit2. Putaway to Stock3. FIFO Pick for Wash Sort Batch4. Issue to Wash/Sort Batch5. Completion from Wash/Sort Batch6. Directed Putaway to WIP rooms7. FIFO Pick for Packing Batch8. Issue to Packing Batch9. Completion of Finished Goods from Packing Batch10. Putaway to Finished Goods Storage11. Picking for Supermarket Orders, Reserved Orders
or Reserved Order Groups.12. Receiving / Putaway & Issue of Dry Goods13. Other Misc. Processes & Material Movements
Conveyors and Sortation Automation
• WMS in a Process Manufacturing environment
• Needed capacity to process 450 million pounds of fruit/season
• Fruit sorted, washed, packed into bags/cartons, built into pallets for shipping
• Fruit from tree to truck never touched by hand
• Enhanced truck receipt forms: Process 1 truck every 2 minutes
Understanding the Process – Wash>Sort > Pack
• Start with an End-to-End material flow map
• With software automation, a screen that does not fit on day one, will not fit on go-live.
• Remember the transaction volume. How much time will that extra scan cost you in a month or a year.
• Adapt EBS best practices, but not blindly.
• More than you think can be extended, without affecting you at upgrades.
Results & Conclusions
Automation Example: EBS WMS Automation Integration for Retail
• High volume catalog & internet retailer
• 5 million packages a year and growing fast
• Significant investment in automated conveyers
• A legacy WMS that was custom built and fit like a glove
• Over 1 Million SKU’s
EBS WMS Process Improvements
EBS WMS – Not a Match
Not one of these transactions below in 12.1.3, even with personalization/configuration or minor code changes
• Receiving - Putaway
• Pick Release / Wave Creation
• Picking, Packing & Shipping
EBS WMS – still the best Match
• Other systems like Red Prairie, Manhattan would all also require customization.
• EBS provided the most open & integrated platform with availability of a large number of Public APIs for every task.
• EBS was already chosen as the primary Financial, Order to Cash & Procure to Pay system.
Examples –Receiving
Out of the Box vs. Custom Screen
Cross dock indicator for full PO If more than x% of items on PO need to be cross docked
Ability to see last 3 items scanned. REDO / UNDO capability if receiver loses their place
Continuous loop to scan items. Scanning *DONE* or entering a Key combination exits loop.
1
2 3
1. High Speed Zone Picking
2. Single item to delivery, placed directly on conveyer
3. Multiple items per delivery, gets a routing label then placed on delivery.
Picking & Consolidating Parcels
Labeling, Packaging & Parcel Manifesting
• Rate Shopping with:
–Print & Apply & Box Closing
–Print & Apply with Automated Packaging Equipment
Labeling Vendors Rate shopping Manifesting vendors
Results
• Shipped nearly 40K units within 24 hours of Go-Live
• 6 months later:
– Completed busiest shopping season in company history
– Shipped over 2 million packages
– Increased efficiency of general merchandise picking
– Cut down on shipping costs
– Set up for future growth with fully integrated system
“This is probably the smoothest transition of a major IT system that I have ever seen.”
President/CEO of Retailer
Extended forms work Seamlessly across clients
Client is Windows 10 Tablet
Client is Forklift Mounted Legacy Device
Hand held device
iOS / Android Clients
Labe
ling
Device
Man
agemen
tD
evices
3rd Party Partners
A Range of Solutions for Oracle WMS Faster & More Accurate
Functional
Area
Business Problem Implementation
Type
Shipping Sorter assisted picking Mobile MSCA / WMS
Shipping System Directed Pallet Building & Inner box
selection.
Mobile + EBS Extension
Shipping System Directed Packing, Pack Verification &
Labeling integration
Mobile MSCA / WMS
Receiving Visibility into trucks in Yard & tracking of
truck unload / load times.
ADF Workbench
Receiving High volume small parts receiving Mobile MSCA / WMS
Receiving Remote Supplier Labeling Standalone Application
Returns High Volume Returns Processing ADF Workbench
Purchasing Purchasing for Style Color SKU ADF Workbench
Inventory
Control
Retail Cycle Count & rapid inventory pack /
move
Mobile MSCA / WMS
Manufacturing Production Data Capture for Oracle Quality Standalone Application
Business
Intelligence
Real Time Signage Standalone Application
Warehouse Automation
• Integration of Sortation Equipment with Wave & Pick Process
• Mobile Extensions for efficient pick / pack & ship with sorter and/or conveyer infrastructure.
• Integration expertise with ASRS, Carousel, Scale and other Warehouse Control equipment.
• Enhanced Bulk Picking solutions for full pallet picks across orders.
• Worked with various systems & hardware partners
“Pick to Sorter” & “Pack from Sorter” forms
Sortation Control between WMS & Intelligrated
Focus Areas
• User Adoption and Acceptance• “The User solution” vs. an Oracle Solution• Keep what works, make it better
• Smooth Go-Live• Configuration Time vs. Testing, Debugging, Tweaking, Training, and User Acceptance Time• Flexible schedule model vs. full-time onsite consultants
• SCM adoption takes time, take cost out of equation
• Empower Your Team to Support the Day-To-Day• Consultants Leave – What Happens Next?• Collaboration Throughout• Ticket-Based Support Model
Conclusions
• When looking to add automation to your SCM strategy, architecting a comprehensive end-to-end Supply Chain Solution is critical.
• It is important to prevent Oracle WMS from getting in the way of Automation equipment.
• With software automation, a screen that does not fit on day one, will not fit on go-live.
• Intelligent integrations with external systems are key to a successful project• If you already have EBS, integrating external automation into EBS, can
produce a system that has the same or better efficiencies, is more cost effective, and is more integrated to your business when compared to anything on the market
