Real-time solutions

This wholesaler and manufacturer of plywood-related products improved customer service by implementing an integrated WMS system

by Rich Vurva

When Robert Weed Plywood Corp. (RWP) selected the VAI S2K Enterprise software package in the late 1990s to serve as its enterprise resource planning system, the company opted to continue using a proprietary bar coded bin locator system in the warehouse. Developed by RWP, the system’s ease-of-use made it especially popular with warehouse employees.

As forklift handlers at the Bristol, Ind., facility unload railroad cars filled with pallet loads of plywood, they assign a unique “license plate” number to each pallet. Handlers can easily track each license plate as material moves into the warehouse or into manufacturing, and ultimately onto trucks for delivery to customers.

In the past, the handler decided what, where and when to move based on paper instructions and knowledge of the warehouse. There were no hard-and-fast system rules that could prevent human error. Another major disadvantage with the bin locator system was that it provided real-time inventory visibility in the warehouse, but did not automatically integrate with the VAI system. A customer service representative speaking with a customer had to check two separate databases to find if an item was in stock.

“We knew at anytime where any bundle was located in our bin locator system. But it was outside of VAI. So when a transaction was generated through VAI saying we need to load this truck with this material, the handler would take that piece of paper to the warehouse and do these moves onto the truck,” explains IT director Roelf Kuitse.

About once a week, a team of people would meet to compare notes and rectify variances in the two databases. For example, if the bin locator system said there were 900 items in stock and the ERP system said there should be 1,000, what happened to the 100 missing items? Often, the product was already loaded on a delivery truck, but the paperwork didn’t yet reflect the change.

Making the move
In order to provide real-time data visibility throughout the company, Robert Weed Plywood recently migrated to VAI’s Warehouse Pro warehouse management software (WMS).

“Our bottom-line goal was to service our customers better. The integrated system allows everyone from accounting, customer service, manufacturing, and handlers to have a real-time view as to what is happening with any material in the warehouse from the VAI system,” says Kuitse.

Handlers scan the license plate using an LXE MX3 portable radio frequency terminal with an easy-to-read screen mounted to the forklift. Using the device’s external, long-range scanner, operators can scan most items without leaving the forklift. The terminal receives power from the forklift when attached to the bracket, and is powered by a rechargeable battery when removed from the forklift. Handlers also have access to a secondary internal short-range scanner to scan smaller items or pallets they can’t reach from the forklift, or if the primary scanner fails.

The integrated WMS system knows exactly where inventory is located and can track all warehouse activity by handler, date, time, task, item and more. When the shipping department determines which orders go onto a specific load, the system generates a pick order. Instructions that appear on the forklift-mounted terminal tell handlers the next step in the process and where they can locate material in the warehouse. The system recommends which bin to pull material from based on a formula specified by RWP.

“When the handler starts to pick, he can only pick what was assigned to that order. If he tries to pick an item that’s not on that batch, the system won’t allow it,” Kuitse says. As a result of the built-in fail-safe procedure, RWP noticed an immediate reduction in warehouse returns after implementing the WMS system.

“There wasn’t any real control in the past. They could ship anything out the door without verifying it. Now they have to verify all the merchandise before it goes onto the truck,” says Lawrence Murphy, vice president of research and development for VAI.

There’s never a problem matching warehouse data with back-office data, so it eliminated the need to hold weekly team meetings to handle variances.

The learning curve
Handlers initially were slow to embrace the new system because they were comfortable with the old bin locator process. It takes longer for a new handler to learn the WMS system because it not only tracks pallets as they’re moved within the warehouse, it allows them to record data that back-office personnel used to enter into the ERP system manually.

“The WMS has receiving transactions, shipping transactions, cycle count transactions, move transactions and more,” says Kuitse. “While this requires additional training initially, in the long run, everyone does these transactions in the same way.”

VAI personnel worked closely with RWP to train employees and also to customize the software. For instance, using input from handlers, VAI reduced the number of scans required to move a pallet from one bin location to another.

“VAI has been very responsive to our ideas,” says Kuitse. “I’m a member of their user council, so I can tell they’re building some of those ideas into their software.”

The two companies also collaborated to improve the cycle counting process. When a handler takes material from a bin, the system checks to see if the bin should be empty and prompts the handler to verify this information. If true, the system records the bin as empty. If there’s material in the bin, the handler can complete a cycle count on the fly, or mark it as a priority for someone else to handle.

In addition to being a wholesale distributor, RWP also manufactures wall paneling and custom wood products used in manufactured housing, recreational vehicles, kitchen cabinets, store fixtures and furniture manufacturers. In some cases, orders received in the afternoon are manufactured overnight and ready to ship the next day. That creates unique challenges.

In a typical WMS system, the system would assume if something isn’t in stock when the order was picked, it would be put on back order. RWP worked with VAI to create a process that tells the handler the material is still being manufactured and will be done in time for the load to leave.

Kuitse is pleased with VAI’s willingness to work with RWP to modify the WMS system to fit the wholesaler’s specific needs. “At RWP, we have developed an improvement culture that allows employees to participate in the design of processes and process improvements. This has been invaluable to the development of improvements to the WMS system,” he says. “It allows VAI to work with us to develop improvements and give users a sense of ownership.”

This article originally appeared in the September/October 2007 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2007.

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