Thinking about a warehouse automation project? An essential step in planning for a warehouse automation project is doing the upfront analysis and preparation to ensure the project runs smoothly and is as successful as possible. So, before you get into the specifics regarding your project, I wanted to remind you of three important “assignments” that you must complete first (I sound like my 1st grade teacher – Mrs. Wilcox).... Read more »
There is a common occurrence in the warehouse environment which adds time and money. Follow me for a moment… In 1768, the British Government noticed that westbound mail ships took weeks longer to reach the colonies than it took eastbound mail ships to reach London. Their complaint reached the US Deputy Postmaster General at the time, Benjamin Franklin, who began to gather data on wind, current water temperatures, etc., to investigate what the real problem was. He spoke with whalers, captains, navigators, and scientists and he interpreted the data to develop a map of the Gulf Stream. In sum, he used a defined process to gather facts and then developed it into solid information. He published his map in 1770 and he is still given credit today for properly defining the Gulf Stream.
How is this story relevant today? We have seen many organizations struggle to successfully solve their problems because they make the big mistake of...Read more »
I was putting gas in my truck and grumbling about the price of a gallon of gas this past Earth Day and this painfully reminded about the importance of conserving our resources. We know there are many benefits of warehouse automation with maximizing storage space, increasing throughput and efficiency, but there are many environmental benefits as well.
Here are just a few ways automated systems can help: Read more »
Lately one of the biggest hazards I’ve seen in warehouses is the false sense of security about safety. Some managers have fallen into the trap of thinking that just because they haven’t had an “incident” they are okay. But in reality, if you're not making safety a priority in your operations, you're setting the stage for potential costly disaster.
One of the best ways to ensure that safety is a main concern in your facility is to have a safety team. Our team includes four members and meets monthly to review policies, update training procedures, review issues and gather feedback.
The mission of the team is to encourage employee involvement in the safety program, examine worksites to determine potential hazards, develop procedures that ensure that all current and potential hazards are corrected in a timely manner, safe work practices are understood and followed by all workers, provide training to make sure that all employees understand the hazards to which they may be exposed and how to prevent harm to themselves and others.
I spoke with Jim Schreiner who is the Manufacturing & Field Installation Supervisor here....Read more »
To meet increasing customer demand a top 3PL (Third Party Logistics) refrigerated-service company needed to transfer processed chicken, through a blast freezer, 24-hours a day.
The product material flow system needed to input over 140 pallets in a two-hour period, as well as move the pallets from zone to zone within 15 minutes, to ensure a proper freeze cycle.
The customer needed to increase storage capacity, but was restricted to the cubic space allotted to the operation.
Employee turnover and related training costs were increasing due to the difficult environmental conditions in the freezer and the customer wanted to keep labor requirements low.
Full control over temperature, time, product and lot integrity must be maintained while moving from zone to zone.
1) Make sure you list all items that will be moving within the
plant. Everything from packaging, raw materials, finished goods, and
people must be considered. Define everything that you
want to move automatically. Even the smallest of items, as they can
cause problems if they don't get to where they need to be when they need
to be there.
2) Define the volumes of each item that will be flowing through the
factory. This is a critical issue when it comes to designing automated
material handling systems. Timing is everything. One needs to consider
average and peak flows as you design paths for items to travel along
whether it's by conveyor, AGV or forklift.
3) Define the desired the number of inventory positions for each item
going into storage / retrieval. This will be used to determine the size
of the building required to store all that stuff. Remember, Inventory
is the enemy in Lean operations. A high level of inventory will mask a
multitude of errors but it is an expensive cover up. Read more »
One of the questions we hear a lot from potential or brand new clients
is "What's so different about Retrotech, how will you assure us that
all potential benefits have been explored, and the business results on
which this investment is based will be achieved?
At Retrotech we employ a multi-step process developed by the International Council on System Engineering (INCOSE - http://www.incose.org/practice/fellowsconsensus.aspx)
with the acronym SIMILAR. This process was developed to guide the
execution of complex, multi-discipline projects specifically by focusing
on a thorough examination of the problem and potential solutions before
committing to construction. Read more »
Warehouse automation is a complex and vast topic. There is no one
technology or process that will guarantee success. As you now
understand, the decision to automate a warehouse should be made only
after a careful and comprehensive business process review and evaluation
is completed. This process can take a long time. But it’s worth it. The
optimization of warehousing activities can lead to drastic reductions
in structural costs that can propel your firm’s distribution center
front and center as a potential key to organizational success. Read more »
Now that you have defined the problem, it’s time to develop a solution
By
now you should have explored the following: a universal problem
statement, a corporate strategy, any new strategic challenges,
operational pressures and distribution- specific challenges. You now
have a great perspective of the macro goals and issues facing the
company, as well as department- specific issues. You
have defined the issues that pertain to distribution and you can view
everything in the context of the company’s strategic initiatives. It’s
now time to innovate solutions – solutions that bridge the gap between
operational reality and strategic intent.
Your goal here is to
get as close as possible to solving all the problems you’ve identified.
Gather a team of content experts.This option is often overlooked or
skipped because the assumption is it’s your job to figure this out on
your own. But, the truth is, it’s your job to manage the process of
figuring this out. Read more »
The next step is to outline issues specific to distribution. These are things that you are regularly trying to deal with that present challenges beyond the daily routine of loading trucks and shipping goods. It’s likely that one or all of the following five issues pushed you to consider automation
Rising Costs
All distribution center managers dealwith rising costs. These costs come from a number of places, such as labor, insurance,power, maintenance, breakage, errors and downtime, to list a few. These costs are not static and often are not controllable by you, yet they always trend upwards.
Environmental Impact
Another area of operational pressure is the impact your distribution
center has on the environment. Companies all over the world are
increasingly being held more accountable for how they impact the
environment. This pressure can come from inside and outside your
organization. Read more »
You
have defined the issues that pertain to distribution and you can view
everything in the context of the company’s strategic initiatives. It’s
now time to innovate solutions – solutions that bridge the gap between
operational reality and strategic intent. 
