Subscribe

Tag: warehouse management

Enhancements for Warehouse Management

Posted on by David Priestman

The logistics industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace, with growing warehouse management demands and the need for exceptional accuracy becoming critical to success. To empower businesses to navigate these challenges, Dexory, a leader in robotics and data intelligence for warehousing, is therefore reshaping its flagship product, DexoryView. DexoryView will now consist of modules that allow more comprehensive data and enhanced ways of tracking warehouse health and hygiene. The first module will be known as DexoryView Integrity, which will continue to set a new benchmark for warehouse management and operational efficiency.

The logistics industry is facing a number of challenges relating to inventory visibility and inaccuracy. Stock integrity represents the foundation of a well-functioning warehouse, ensuring that inventory is in the right place, in the right quantities and in the right quality and storage conditions. Ensuring availability through an accurate and up-to-date system of record addresses critical issues that impact efficiency and profitability. It is estimated that warehouse operators lose up to 30% of their productivity and experience 15% increases in costs caused by sub-optimal slotting. Therefore, detecting misplacements to verifying quantities and conditions is of paramount importance as operators are looking to maximise their efficiencies and profitability.

The Integrity module brings together existing and new functionality that has already allowed customers such as Maerskto reduce their Warehouse Management System (WMS) errors by 15% and save 6 hours per day by quickly locating stock. It has allowed companies like Yusen Logistics to save 98 hours per month by moving to daily wall-to-wall counts.

Elevating warehouses with cutting edge technology

The DexoryView module is redefining the user experience of DexoryView, ensuring it provides even deeper analysis on the health of the warehouse through groundbreaking use of LiDAR, AI-powered image analysis and advanced object identification. These features deliver an unprecedented level of accuracy and insight into their stock, covering all key storage methods, including, pickface, block and bulk storage.

Key new features included within the DexoryView Integrity module include:

  • DexoryView Integrity includes basic inventory checks – Through the use of fully autonomous robots, DexoryView Integrity will help businesses automate their inventory checks and establish a single source of truth for warehouse tracking and efficiency.
  • Bulk and block stack volume assessment – Provides accurate item counts of non-palletised units in block stack floor locations helping operators promptly address discrepancies and maintain inventory accuracy.
  • Pick volume assessment– Provides count estimates for inventory stored in pick locations, helping operators track remaining cases and detect discrepancies, enabling exception-based pick area management with reduced risk and clear visibility on replenishment needs.
  • Pallet analysis – Identifies and tracks rental pallets, reducing costs associated with lost or misplaced assets.
  • Empty location checks – Allows businesses to determine which locations currently have no inventory, removing the need for manual checks.

These capabilities not only safeguard inventory health but also enhance workflow precision, empowering businesses to eliminate costly inefficiencies and errors. For organizations like vente-unique.com, the DexoryView Integrity has allowed the organisation to move from 92% to 98% accuracy in the matter of days. With businesses like GWC, DexoryView has allowed for an impressive 99% accuracy in tracking and identifying inventory, which has allowed the business to streamline its processes and achieve significant cost savings.

“By driving innovation, we enable warehouses to operate with greater precision and efficiency,” says Andrei Danescu, CEO and Co-founder at Dexory. “This next level of functionality empowers businesses to make smarter, data-driven decisions while reducing disruptions and enhancing operational performance. With the new capability from DexoryView, we are committed to addressing the most pressing challenges our customers encounter. There will be more announcements in the near future about other additional functionality.”

similar news

Drones use RFID for Warehouse Inventory Management

 

Distribution Operations Transformed with Warehouse Management

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Manhattan Associates Inc. (NASDAQ: MANH) today announced that Gémo, a leading French footwear and clothing retailer, has chosen Manhattan Active® Warehouse Management (WM) to support its digital transformation journey in response to increased consumer demand for omnichannel and sustainable shopping. The decision will see Manhattan’s leading warehouse management solution deployed in Gémo’s three logistics centres.

Jean-Louis Borde, logistics director of Gémo, commented: “In the retail sector in particular, you need to be able to react to consumer trends fast. In order to support the long-term growth of our business, we recognised the need to make our warehouse operations more agile and responsive to the omnichannel approach adopted by many of our customers.”

“With Manhattan, we have made a long-term investment to support our vision of the future. Being a cloud-native solution, Manhattan Active WM receives updates every 90 days, transparently and without any interruption, meaning we always have access to the latest innovations,” Borde continued. “Trends such as clothing rental and the circular economy are booming in France, and we are confident that with Manhattan Active WM, we have a solution that will enable us to continuously adapt our logistics operations to meet the changing demands of our customers.”

Distribution Operations Transformed

Sébastien Lefébure, vice president, Continental Europe, at Manhattan Associates, added: “We have been supporting the ERAM Group, which is made up of nine affordable fashion brands, including Gémo, in its logistical and omnichannel transformation since 2013. With Manhattan Active WM, Gémo has a solution with the agility and flexibility of cloud-native, microservices IT architecture, capable of meeting the challenges of tomorrow’s customer expectations.”

Read more:

The Last WMS You’ll Ever Need to Buy, Promises Manhattan

 

 

 

Intralogistics Software Partnership

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Kardex has agreed a strategic partnership with Addverb in the area of intralogistics software. Addverb is a robotics and warehouse automation company based in India. The cooperation combines Kardex’s expertise in the area of compact storage systems with Addverb’s outstanding warehouse management technology. Addverb’s highly innovative warehouse management system is based on a modern microservices architecture and fully operable in the cloud.

The partnership between Kardex and Addverb enables an integrated and efficient solution package with the latest technologies in the area of warehouse management and automation. The overall package of Addverb software and Kardex storage systems offers seamlessly integrated and optimized storage processes for companies of all sizes in all industries.

Addverb’s warehouse management solution is based on a microservices architecture that makes it seamlessly scalable and extremely flexible. In addition to which it features a user-friendly interface that eases the implementation and administration. With its algorithms optimizing the handling of resources and materials, the Addverb system ensures optimized workflows and greater productivity. The cloud-based architecture meanwhile guarantees global access and real-time data for optimal decision-making with the highest possible security standards.

The partnership between Kardex and Addverb is an important step forward in the advancement and innovation of warehouse management technologies. Both companies are convinced that their joint effort will contribute to boosting the efficiency and agility of companies worldwide.

“Thanks to the partnership with Addverb, we are able to offer our clients one of the most advanced warehouse management solutions for highly efficient storage. The combination of our technologies will set new standards in the integration of logistics systems” emphasizes Dr. Volker Jungbluth, Head of Corporate Technology at Kardex.

The strategic partnership enables extensive synergies between the two companies. “Together with Kardex, we will be able to offer our clients first-class solutions that will revolutionize their warehousing processes and make them more competitive”, says Pieter Feenstra, CEO Addverb EMEA.

Delivering WMS Advantages

Posted on by David Priestman

Sainsbury’s wanted to select and install a new WMS, then self-manage it. Learn how the retail giant achieved that goal.

Changing core processes, technology or operations can be disruptive to supply chains but is often a necessary evil. J Sainsbury’s plc, the UK’s number two food supermarket chain with a 15% market share, owns the formerly catalogue-based general merchandise brand Argos, as well as Habitat homewares and the Tu clothing range. With 1400 stores and over 150,000 staff it has grown exponentially from its Victorian foundations.

Simon Frodsham, Sainsbury’s Head of Engineering, and Chris Gaunt, Head of Product, gave an enlightening use-case presentation of the project at Körber’s recent Elevate conference in Prague. Together they explained the rationale for change. Previously the group had several WMS products in use and ageing warehouses. The company wanted to have in-house capability for the new WMS, to have something that was easy to upgrade and that could handle any product anywhere in the supply chain, food or non-food. It had to be brand-agnostic, flexible and help improve the availability of in-store stock.

Selection Process

A broad selection of WMS vendors were invited to tender. Sainsbury’s demanded a new WMS to be functional, to align with other technology in use (e.g. ERP), be able to handle the vast volume of products, provide the best service and support, cloud-based and integrate with the existing supply chain ‘ecosystem’. The business relationship was key, Gaunt and Frodsham explained, as well as the total cost of ownership. Ultimately the company chose Körber’s ‘Warehouse Advantage’ (WA) product for Argos’ Local Fulfilment Centres and depots (LFC) in March 2021.

Sainsbury’s supply chain sees 13,000 deliveries made per week across 200 countrywide postcode locations. In addition, consumer shoppers are able to collect parcels or drop-off returns at supermarkets and Sainsbury’s Local stores. Having bought WA from Körber the retail giant decided to run it themselves. But this required hiring new employees and training large teams, which took time. The decision was taken to partner with a niche integrator, iWMS, for the first implementation.

The project was delivered on time, with new pick, label and sorting features. Processes that were improved included order status, integration to tracking, stock management and the real-time allocation of order fulfilment. Having used Körber’s (formerly Voiteq) voice-directed systems for 20 years it made sense to continue using the ‘One Voice’ platform as a core technology in all the LFCs. “It’s a really successful collaboration,” said Gaunt. “Warehouse Advantage is flexible. It was a complex integration and is an evolving operation. We are iterating ways of working with it.”
The Sainsbury’s team are now predominantly independently running the WMS, with some outside support. Next year will see new and existing LFC sites adopt WA as it rolls out across the logistical network, including at a national depot which is able to deliver nationwide within 5 hours. This national depot handles general merchandise (non-food) for any of the group’s retail outlets. “We wouldn’t have decided to do that if we weren’t satisfied,” Frodsham stated.

Global Network Becoming Carbon Neutral

Posted on by David Priestman

Arvato Supply Chain Solutions has switched the energy supply of five more distribution centres in the USA to green electricity from wind and solar energy, aiming to be carbon neutral. Following the warehouse in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, four distribution centres located in Louisville, Kentucky, and one in Valencia, California, now also obtain electricity from renewable sources. This will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by an average of around 3,100 metric tons of CO2. This is a further step in the sustainability strategy of the supply chain and e-commerce service provider, which, together with its parent company Bertelsmann, aims to be carbon neutral by 2030.

“To enable us to achieve this ambitious goal, all Arvato sites worldwide will be converted to green electricity,” says Mitat Aydindag, President of Arvato North America, explaining the strategy. “It underscores our company’s commitment to environmental protection and the responsible use of natural resources. It’s important to us that our success is measured not only by economic figures, but also by the measures we’ve implemented to build a more sustainable organization.”

In general, however, the supply of “true” green power, i.e. power from renewable sources such as solar and wind, is still very limited in the U.S., and making the switch is sometimes very difficult, depending on the region. That’s why Arvato Supply Chain Solutions in Louisville, Kentucky, is working with two local electric utilities, LG&E and East Kentucky Power Cooperative. Both companies offer a green power program that buys “green” energy to offset the electricity consumed on-site. “Because our distribution centres in Louisville are among the first in the U.S., we are especially proud that these sites are now purchasing green electricity to support the expansion of renewable energy in the region,” says Rachael Miller, Site Director for Arvato’s Louisville campus.

The Valencia, California, site, on the other hand, relies on the Clean Power Alliance. Clean Power Alliance is the locally operated not-for-profit electricity provider for 30 cities across Los Angeles County and Ventura County, as well as the unincorporated areas of both counties. Here, the traditional utility provides transmission and distribution of the electricity, while a third party purchases the green power on behalf of program participants. In 2020, 70 percent of the electricity provided came from solar power and 30 percent from wind power. “It’s very encouraging when businesses make the leadership decision to select 100 percent renewable energy as their preferred power option,” said Matthew Langer, Chief Operating Officer at Clean Power Alliance. “When companies like Arvato choose to use renewable energy in their operations, it can help spur demand for more renewables in the market and contribute to the renewable energy transition.”

This view is shared by Stephan Hackert, Vice President and Industry Lead Healthcare U.S. at Arvato: “All of our employees in the U.S. are very proud of this commitment – after all, we are successively sourcing more and more of our country-wide electricity needs from clean, renewable sources.” These kilowatt hours make an important contribution to the targeted climate neutrality. “Having already made a decisive contribution to achieving our climate protection targets with these measures, we will now look at the remaining emissions and consider which measures we can use to compensate for them,” adds Aydindag.

At the beginning of the year, Arvato’s newest location in Las Vegas was officially opened. Following the ambitious decision to become climate-neutral by 2030, Arvato placed a high value on sustainability while designing the warehouse. The logistics centre, for example, was designed with a reflecting roof that absorbs only a small amount of direct sunlight. It effectively prevents the building from overheating, lowering energy usage for air conditioning. The highly efficient LED lighting with connected occupancy sensors deployed throughout the building also contributes to energy savings. Furthermore, the warehouse has around 250 skylights that allow plenty of daylight into the building, thereby reducing the power consumption.

“Sustainability is a continuous improvement effort,” highlights Aydindag. Arvato Supply Chain Solutions has a total of 87 warehouses on five continents with more than 27 million square feet of storage space. In the US, the warehouse network includes a total of 10 locations in Ontario (CA), Valencia (CA), Las Vegas (NV), Pleasant Prairie (WI), Louisville (KY) and Memphis (TN), where comprehensive logistics services are provided to numerous customers in the consumer tech and healthcare industries.

New WMS solution growing up fast

Posted on by David Priestman

Leading natural and organic baby product retailer, The Green Sheep Group, has reported immediate stock accuracy and productivity improvements since implementing the flexible cloud based SnapFulfil WMS.

The Stratford-upon-Avon based company, which was established in 2007 and recently won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, is additionally enjoying consistent control of inventory and outbound processes, which help deliver a first-class customer experience.

SnapFulfil also integrates seamlessly with Green Sheep’s existing Retail Operating System (ROS), Brightpearl, but has advanced functionality that will optimise their rapid expansion across an increasingly global retail support network, plus expanding D2C and B2B channels.
Green Sheep’s head of operations, Rob Galbraith, says: “We already have much better visibility and a vast improvement with shipping accuracy. Being able to separately track our Little Green Sheep and Snüz brand orders through the whole warehouse process is huge for us going forward.”

SnapFulfil’s ability to remotely implement their software – but while still delivering industry leading deployment speed – has also saved Green Sheep valuable time, money and resource.

Their agile approach means giving clients select parts of the system (e.g. goods in first) bit by bit, so they can practice and familiarise themselves in advance, undertake user acceptance testing, and not go into their digital training cold. Microsoft Teams demos can also be recorded and referred back to, in close up, for extra reassurance and guidance.

Rob Galbraith adds: “SnapFulfil met all our needs, they listened and improvised, while all the online training delivered was spot on, so that go-live was just what we expected. The remote agile medium definitely makes it more manageable for staff and is a lot more practical and cost effective for us as a business than the traditional on-site approach.

“The SnapFulfil system is also very user friendly and even someone with no warehousing experience can be up and running and picking with the RF guns within 30 minutes, which is really useful during peak periods with temporary staff.”

Green Sheep Group has also purchased a SnapData Creator license for real time data analysis and this live data interrogation facility will help maximise performance and cost savings, plus have a tangible impact on strategic direction. SnapFulfil’s multi-site capabilities is also playing a big part in Green Sheep’s expansion plans as the retailer is looking for additional DCs in Europe and the US to meet increasing demand and maximise growth.

CEVA Logistics wins Contract with Pernod Ricard in Thailand

Posted on by David Priestman

CEVA Logistics has won a major, five year contract with Pernod Ricard to provide the drinks manufacturer with warehousing and distribution support in South East Asia. Pernod Ricard is one of the world’s leading alcoholic beverages producers and within this new contract, CEVA Logistics’ extensive scope of work in Thailand will include Customs Brokerage and import haulage, a combination of standard duty paid and bonded warehouse management and domestic transportation alongside a range of value-added services including tax stamping, warning label, gift box and repacking. The operation will manage an annual throughput of 19 million bottles of liquor and spirit across 26 different brands of liquor, champagne and wines.

Pernod Ricard has been operating in Thailand for over 20 years. In January 2020, Pernod Ricard Thailand issued a competitive tender with the objective of uplifting the storage quality and service standard, in which CEVA Logistics was the successful bidder. This win further extends CEVA Logistics’ existing contract with the company in the Philippines and paves the way for future collaboration in other SEAPAC countries.

CEVA Logistics’s winning offer is based on the conversion of an existing CEVA Logistics multi-user site at Bangna-Bangkok, into a 7,600 m2 facility completely dedicated to Pernod Ricard. This high quality, Good manufacturing practices (GMP) compliant site featuring air conditioning will gather both a duty paid, and a bonded warehouse “under one roof”. Pernod Ricard trusted CEVA Logistics to deliver a seamless solution as a leading logistics provider part of the CMA CGM Group, and because of its existing collaboration with the company for Custom Brokerage and last mile delivery.

The go live was seamless, largely credited to a strong team and disciplined execution of CEVA Logistics’ well-respected zero defect start-up (ZDS) methodology. ZDS is a process that relies both on best practices and accurate planning for error-free contract start-up, with clear pre-agreed targets between the customer and CEVA Logistics.

Elaine Low, CEVA Logistics’ Regional Managing Director South East Asia & Pacific Region,says : “We are delighted to be working with Pernod Ricard and providing them with our warehousing, distribution and delivery services across Thailand as they expand their global business. Our experienced team has created a robust solution which is both compliant and scalable and will ensure reliable, value-added services and delivery across their range of famous brands”.

Subscribe

Get notified about New Episodes of our Podcast, New Magazine Issues and stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter.