Realcold Distribution Centre goes wireless!
Customer Profile
Realcold Components (www.realcold.co.nz) is New Zealand’s largest refrigeration component wholesaler with over fifty years’ heritage. They have a network of ten branches in New Zealand and their main Distribution Centre is situated in Penrose, Auckland.
Business Situation
Realcold have been using Dynamics NAV for a number of years and were looking for operational efficiencies in respect to stock handling and in particular cyclical stock counts in their main distribution centre.
Solution
The Warehouse Manager, Ken Graham and Dynamics NAV Consultant/Developer, Michael van Breugel worked closely together to develop and implement a wireless network solution.
The major steps of the project were:
· Moving to a Bin Tracking system where quantities of stock are maintained at a bin level. This involved establishing Areas and Bins within the Distribution Centre.
· Labeling bins with barcodes utilising the latest in 2D barcode format. These 2D barcode formats allow labels to be read from greater distances and allow more information to be recorded.
· Recording supplier’s barcodes within Dynamics NAV (cross reference table) and producing barcodes for items that do not have a supplier barcode.
· Implementation of a wireless network with the Distribution Centre.
· Purchase and setup of wireless scanners.
· Development of mini-forms with Dynamics NAV covering the warehouse functions.
Mini-forms were developed covering the following warehouse functions:
· Stocktake by Bin(s)
· Stocktake by Item(s)
· Item Enquiry
· Moving stock from one bin to another (reclassification journal)
· Picking and confirmation of transfer orders (stock movements to other branches)
· Picking and confirmation of sales orders (to customers)
· Picking and confirmation of stock to manufacturing area (jobs)
These Mini-Forms guide the warehouse staff through a logical picking order and have built in checks ensuring the correct items/bins and quantities are picked and/or counted.
As items are picked/moved with the wireless scanners the following information is recorded in Dynamics NAV:
· Quantity Picked
· Warehouse staff details
· Date and Time Picked
Benefits
The main benefits the wireless warehouse produced were
· Real-time cyclical counts can be performed that take into account items that have been picked. This has completely overcome the issues of stock take cut-offs as stock is recorded as it is physically picked/moved.
· Significant improvements in stock recording resulting in accurate stock control. This has virtually eliminated stock take variances.
· Ability to get temporary/new staff up and running very quickly with minimal training.
· Utilisation of supplier barcodes on a lot of items saving in need to label items.
· Ability to segregate warehouse into different areas where specialist equipment is needed ie. Forkhoists / High Reach Trucks
· Ability to utilise advanced warehouse functionality of Zone Picking and Cross Docking
· Ability to develop detailed Warehouse KPIs utilizing the date/time/staff information being recorded.
Customer feedback
What does Ken Graham think of the process and the solution that was developed?
“Take your warehouse to a new level. I have been involved in Warehousing and Operations for a number of years. My main focus has always been on efficient systems and procedures, as I see these being the key to delivering the optimum performance in efficiency and service levels. I have worked on a number of systems; including SAP and JD Edwards, and for me this has been an exciting project for three main reasons:
1. One of Dynamics NAV’s strengths is the ease in which modifications can be undertaken and in a very cost effective manner.
2. Working with Michael, the programmer, was also effortless and his attitude that nothing was impossible made this project very easy and successful.
3. This project has added value and simplicity to our warehouse operation.
We found Dynamics NAV to be a very cost effective means of migrating to a wireless solution and we are now enjoying the gains we have made with this new system. Over the last three months of using our wireless solution our stock accuracy has vastly improved. We have gone from 75% to 98% accuracy, with zero mistakes in wrong product being sent to customers and we all know for every one wrong product sent, it effects two SKU’s, so it doesn’t take long for your inventory to turn into a problem you don’t need . Our productivity and accuracy has also improved in cyclical counting. The RF (radio frequency) gun automatically establishes the cutoff as each item is counted. This in turn produces accurate stock records with a minimal amount of effort and because the stock is correct this flows onto better customer service along with minimal stock losses. Our stock is now always in the correct bin location with the RF gun validating each part number and bin location as the stock is put away or taken for an order.
When picking either a transfer or sales order, it is a simple case of scanning the order number from the pick slip into the RF gun. The gun will then display in bin location order, the first bin location to pick from. The operator then proceeds to that location and scans the barcode label on the racking this being the bin location. If the location is correct, the gun will then display the item number to be picked. The operator then scans the label on the item. If this is the correct item, it then displays the quantity to be picked. The operator then confirms the quantity on the gun and continues with this method until all the lines on the sales order have been fulfilled. The order is then ready for dispatch.
To conclude, if you have a mid to large size warehouse and are looking for a cost effective way to increase your stock accuracy and warehouse efficiency this is well worth a look at - you won’t be disappointed.” Ken Graham, Warehouse Manager – Realcold
Software and Services provided
- Microsoft Dynamics NAV
- System implementation consulting services
- Business process re-engineering consulting services