Your warehouse is the hub of your supply chain and arguably it’s most important part, but it does not exist in isolation. No strategy to improve your warehouse will succeed without simultaneously looking at how it fits in with other elements of your logistics operation.

A typical warehouse includes dozens of individual processes, each of which is associated with a cost. Planning for warehouse improvement involves exploring the fine details and quantifying each process, then linking it with a KPI. Monitoring the following KPIs gives you accurate insight into your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for change, allowing you to implement an effective improvement strategy.

There are several reasons why you might seek to improve your warehouse operation. Changes may be triggered by external factors, such as new legislation, different products or evolving business objectives. Or they may be prompted by a review of your warehouse and logistics processes, whether in order to diversify your services, accommodate new customers or reduce your operating costs.

Faced with the prospect of continual change, due to external factors or strategic decisions within your business, there are a couple of approaches you can adopt:

A warehouse management system (WMS) is a software application used to monitor and control warehouse operations and materials right from the point they are received into the warehouse, when they are stored, and finally to when they reach the end-customer.

To get the best results from a WMS, successful implementation is vital. Failure to plan effectively for implementation can lead to data loss, reduced efficiency and even system failure. At LPC we help customers adapt and apply WMS solutions to the unique needs of their business. Taking a careful approach to change management reduces the risk of problems occurring, and ultimately increases the ROI you can expect from your new system.

In this week's article, in the series from members of the Automated Material Handling Systems Association (AMHSA), David Hayward-Browne, Director of Logistics Planning Consultants International (LPC), considers one of the key requirements when procuring an automated system: the use of Requirement Specifications within the project process and their benefits. LPC is a consultancy that has extensive experience in helping companies automate and run their operations.

You have just bought your shiny new automated system. It has been installed and commissioned. In some respects, that was the easy part. There are challenges of course in doing so, but you have had a lot of expertise from the supplier and you have your own project team. But the people who delivered the solution will move on. It is vital for the successful operation of the system that knowledge is gained and retained within the operations team, and that processes and team are put in place to run and maintain the system. The easiest way to accomplish this is for key people to be part of the project team or work closely with them.

Let’s start with the easy bit – you don’t have to know what equipment and systems you want………..at the start! Though it should be said that it is a good idea to at the end of the process, when you sign a contract. However you should be clear on your objectives. The objectives should focus on your requirements, such as reducing labour, improving productivity, reduction in costs, managing growth, etc. If you have a vision of a brave new world in your warehouse rather than focusing on your objectives you should probably go and lie down until it goes away.

Operation

The operational objectives for the management of an automated system are to drive throughput and improve productivity and efficiency. In order to do this, information and data are required to inform the decision making. There is a lot of information and generally a range of reports available from the control system managing the automation. Care should be taken to determine the key facts and statistics required and the reports and dashboards designed to present this in a clearly defined manner.