Knowledge Conference Highlights Increasingly Sophisticated Levels of Warehouse Technology
Michael D. Cole, Apparel Magazine, August 2008
In an increasingly demanding marketplace and a sluggish economy largely seen as unfavorable to retailers (the recent bankruptcy filing of Steve and Barry's on July 9 only verified the difficult climate), companies have set their sights on ways to heighten their efficiencies in moving product from the distribution centers to the storefronts.
The pursuit to attain more highly sophisticated process improvements with order fulfillment was in evidence at a June 19 forum in Atlanta hosted by AL Systems, Manhattan Associates and consultant DCB & Co., companies that all offer supply chain technology and services.
Held in a think-tank type setting at the Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, the three companies, which frequently collaborate on warehouse management related projects, presented a knowledge conference devoted to integrating emerging warehouse control systems (WCS) technology with warehouse management systems. The seminar - just the latest in a series of conferences offered by the firms over the past several years - was attended by supply chain and distribution professionals representing about 30 companies in retail and other industries.
In particular, the knowledge conference brought to light the considerable challenges of maintaining warehouse management systems that were installed to provide visibility into order, inventory and task statuses within the warehouse but now must strive to keep up in a fast-changing world. "Many of these [WMS] systems are outdated," said Paul Lightfoot, CEO of AL Systems, a provider of solutions designed to increase the flow of merchandise through distribution centers. "They must go through multiple customizations in order to support sales growth, channel expansion or tailored fulfillment services for customers. And supporting these customizations requires costly rounds of testing, support, tweaking, retesting and maintenance."
As reiterated throughout the conference by Lightfoot and others, the installation of warehouse control systems can effectively "close the gaps" that need filling given today's complexities and limited capabilities of the WMS. As Lightfoot noted, a WCS adds front-end automation to the WMS; as middleware it is situated between the WMS or the materials handling equipment, which guides and directs conveyors and other activities within the DC. It can serve as an information bridge between the WMS and control systems, optimize the flow of goods into and out of various conveyor systems, and manage real-time decisions that impact overall productivity. Depending on the system, a WCS can provide real-time tracking of items on the conveyor.
"Next generation WCS [systems] are focused on optimizing total product flow in the DC and increased utilization of the automation systems," said Jeff Allen, AL Systems' vice president of sales. "They provide integration support for the automation equipment in the DC and other order picking subsystems, such as pick-to-light and voice, in a single application."
Allen noted that WCS often takes on some roles of the WMS especially if the latter is older or homegrown. Increasingly he said, WCS has offered analytics that mine databases of warehouse conveyor system history to achieve better performance. Some more sophisticated WCS have the capability to manage all automation systems within a DC, including sorters and carousels.
The conference offered best practices for attendees, including the latest strategies in chute assignment and inventory allocation. It advised attendees to consider bringing WMS, WCS and MHE vendors together before project implementation, and keeping those systems standard, if possible, to avoid mass customization.
Manhattan Associates, which specializes in WMS solutions, and AL Systems, which provides WCS expertise, often work together on client distribution projects with consultant DCB & Company, which was recently acquired by idhasoft.
Manhattan Associates and AL Systems recently implemented WMS and WCS, respectively, for Urban Outfitters' retail store fulfillment operations. According to Urban Outfitters, the technologies have helped it achieve as many as 1,200 picks per man hour. (Other joint customers of the two include Under Armour, Burlington Coat Factory, Mervyns, J. Jill, Kohl's Department Stores and Pacific Sunwear).
AL Systems also implemented a WCS within Gymboree's direct fulfillment center; the vendor reports that the system has helped Gymboree achieve 99.7 percent accuracy of store orders for its more than 600 retail locations.
"The idea is to keep products consistently on shelves so that customers can continue to buy," Allen said. "Keeping inventory levels of the right products at the right time in the right location is really an art."
- Michael D. Cole
