PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING
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®
December 2014
lululemon athletica Sweating the BIG PICTURE details 18 Near future of a legacy WMS 28 Steve Berube (left), senior VP of global distribution and EQUIPMENT REPORT logistics, and George Tsogas, Overhead handling: VP of global logistics and international distribution Raise worker safety 34 INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Making MES more efficient 38 SPECIAL REPORT Top 20 warehouses 42
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Linde Material Handling North America Corp. to become KION North America Corp. LINDE MATERIAL HANDLING North America Corp. CEO. The company hosted a commemorative ribbon announced it will change its corporate name to KION cutting ceremony at its North American headquar- North America Corp., effective on or about Jan. 1, 2015. ters located in This change will allow the company to better align Summerville, S.C. itself with its European parent company, The KION Guests included Group, which is the European market leader and the members of the world’s second-largest manufacturer of lift trucks and Linde, STILL and warehouse technology. “We will even further strength- KION boards along en our Linde Brand with additional product offerings with several rep- while at the same time grow the STILL Brand through resentatives from future developments,” said Brian Butler, president and The KION Group.
Schneider Electric to acquire Murata Machinery acquires InStep Software Cimcorp Group SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC WILL ACQUIRE InStep MURATA MACHINERY (Muratec) of Kyoto, Japan, Software, a provider of real-time performance manage- has acquired all of the issued stock of Cimcorp Oy of ment and predictive asset analytics software and solu- Ulvila, Finland, from the existing tions. The transaction is expected to close shareholders, and Cimcorp and its in the fourth quarter of 2014, subject to subsidiaries have become members customary regulatory and other conditions. of the Muratec Group. The announcement follows Schneider’s Muratec is ranked as having the recent acquisition of Invensys, which also complements fourth-highest annual sales in the its software and process automation capabilities. world among solution providers InStep provides two primary real-time per- for materials handling systems, formance management and predictive analytics and Cimcorp is the top supplier for software solutions. Its eDNA historian software col- intralogistics in the tire industry serving a variety of retail lects, analyzes and reports on real-time operational and distribution customers. Both Muratec and Cimcorp and machinery sensor data. Its PRiSM predictive will continue their businesses as independent companies. analytics software monitors the real-time health and “Muratec and Cimcorp have complementary solutions performance of critical assets. The company also and capabilities that will help us strengthen our market offers energy management software. InStep will position,” said Martti Artama, president of Cimcorp Oy. continue to be managed by its existing executive “The acquisition combines Cimcorp’s experience and team, adding about 70 employees to Schneider competence in robotic solutions with Muratec’s ware- Electric’s U.S. operations. house automation technology.”
and international patents issued and Zebra Technologies completes pending. acquisition of Motorola Solutions’ “This transformative acquisition creates one company with unparal- enterprise business leled capabilities and leading global ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES and Motorola Solutions have brands in our industry,” said Anders announced that Zebra has completed the acquisition Gustafsson, Zebra’s chief executive of Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise business for $3.45 officer. “Together, we can provide billion in cash. the building blocks of Internet of Things solutions, as The transaction was funded with $200 million of cash customers worldwide increasingly take advantage of on hand and $3.25 billion in new debt. As part of the sale, data analytics and mobility to improve business perfor- approximately 4,500 Motorola Solutions employees from mance.” locations throughout the world will transfer to Zebra. The Having sold the enterprise unit, Motorola Solutions combined organization has about 20,000 channel partners will continue to focus on mission-critical communications in more than 100 countries, and approximately 4,300 U.S. solutions for its public safety and commercial customers. mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 3 Order Fulfillment Across Multiple Channels Can Be Complex. The Solution Doesn’t Need to Be.
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® PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING
Steve Berube, senior vice president of global distribution and logistics (left) and George Tsogas, vice president of international distribution and logistics at lululemon.
60 seconds with... GETTY IMAGES/KIRK IRWIN Jim Rice COVER STORY SYSTEM REPORT 18 Sweating the details at lululemon’s Ohio DC DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS The yoga wear retailer’s new multichannel DC is speeding up time to 3/ Upfront market, streamlining e-commerce processes and reducing freight costs. 7/ This month in Modern Flexible automation is the key. 14/ Lift Truck Tips: Safety 26 Embracing automation for e-commerce 16/ Packaging Corner: Alternative materials fulfillment 52/ Supplement: Alleviating pain points using automatic data capture FEATURES 59/ Focus On: Pallets BIG PICTURE 64/ Product Showcase 28 The near future of a legacy WMS Complemented by a growing stable of inexpensive execution 66/ 60 seconds with... solutions, aging software monoliths can prove they don’t need to be toppled. NEWS 9/ Manufacturing output positive EQUIPMENT REPORT despite global concerns 34 Overhead handling: Raise worker safety 10/ MHI forecasts growth of 8% to 9% Manufacturers of overhead handling equipment are putting an for 2014 and 2015 emphasis on safety while creating new, automated solutions that help 10/ New Sealed Air survey addresses people work smarter, better and faster. packaging in e-commerce INFORMATION MANAGEMENT 10/ North American robotics market sets 38 Making MES more efficient new records for first nine months of 2014 Troy Design & Manufacturing pairs real-time RFID tracking with MES. 11/ 2014 Pack Expo International attendance tops 2012 by 6.5% SPECIAL REPORT 42 Top 20 warehouses Increasingly resilient to global economic moods, 3PL and public Modern Materials Handling® (ISSN 0026-8038) is published monthly by Peerless Media, LLC, a Division of EH Publishing, Inc., 111 Speen St, Suite refrigerated warehouses persistently achieve modest growth. 200, Framingham, MA 01701. Annual subscription rates for non-qualifi ed subscribers: USA $119, Canada $159, Other International $249. Single copies are available for $20.00. Send all subscription inquiries to Modern PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS Materials Handling, 111 Speen Street, Suite 200, Framingham, MA 01701 USA. Periodicals postage paid at Framingham, MA and additional mail- 48 Flow rack system supports range of pallet types/weights ing offi ces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Modern Materials Handling, PO Box 1496 Framingham MA 01701-1496. 49 New storage system accommodates 50% more SKUs Reproduction of this magazine in whole or part without written permis- 50 High-speed doors help control temperatures sion of the publisher is prohibited. All rights reserved. ©2014 Peerless 51 YMS increases 3PL’s yard velocity Media, LLC.
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 5 At Element Financial, we’re focused on helping businesses put capital assets to work to get the job done.
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Michael Levans Group Editorial dirEctor [email protected] Stretching the limits at Bob Trebilcock ExEcutivE Editor [email protected] lululemon Noël P. Bodenburg ExEcutivE ManaGinG Editor ou’ll quickly see that “flexibility” is automation, we have a system and process- [email protected] the core theme in this month’s System es that allow us to bypass the automation Josh Bond Report. As we’ve been covering the altogether if we get an urgent order for a associatE Editor [email protected] lastY few years, the ability to design and store,” says George Tsogas, vice president implement a dynamic, flexible, automated of international distribution and logistics. Sara Pearson Specter Editor at larGE distribution facility—one able to bend and At the end of the line, the team installed [email protected] respond to demand and cut freight costs—is automatic weighing, labeling and bagging
Roberto Michel a critical element to success in meeting the technology to streamline packing and ship- Editor at larGE multichannel fulfillment challenge brought ping. With this efficiency plus the location in [email protected] on by the evolution of e-commerce. Ohio, lululemon product is now a one-day Jeff Berman However, we may have been overlooking drive from 65% of the U.S. population and Group nEws Editor [email protected] the importance of instilling a “culture of flex- can service 85% of its stores and customers in ibility” inside our facilities in this process, one two days, greatly reducing freight costs. Mike Roach that fosters employee growth both inside “This is a perfect example of a trend we’re crEativE dirEctor [email protected] and outside the four walls—until now, that is. seeing more and more,” says Trebilcock. “This On page 18, executive editor Bob Trebli- is an enlightened retailer implementing distri- Wendy DelCampo art dirEctor cock shares the story behind the development bution solutions driven by the need to be ever [email protected] of lululemon athletica’s 310,000-square-foot more responsive to customers both inside the Daniel Guidera distribution center near Columbus, Ohio, store and direct to the customer’s door.” illustration that went live last summer for e-commerce But the most intriguing part of this story is [email protected] fulfillment. Creating and maintaining industry- how lululemon’s culture makes a tangible dif-
Brian Ceraolo leading, direct-to-consumer business levels ference in its operations. They don’t just talk prEsidEnt and Group publishEr was at the core of the design and location of it, they practice it. “Culture is the epicenter of [email protected] the facility, the company’s third DC and first who we are,” Steve Berube, the company’s pEErlEss MEdia, llc east of the Mississippi—a region were the senior vice president of global distribution www.peerlessmedia.com company is seeing explosive growth. and logistics tells Trebilcock. “And, one of the
Kenneth Moyes The Ohio facility is the yoga wear retailer’s ways we build strong teams in our DCs is to prEsidEnt and cEo most ambitious foray into supply chain soft- sweat together.” Eh publishinG, inc. ware and materials handling automation after Indeed, yoga and exercise classes are practicing more conventional processes in its offered every day at the facility in an effort MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTIONS Start, renew or update your FREE other facilities in the Pacific Northwest. to help employees live happy, healthy, fun magazine subscription at www.mmh.com/subscribe. The team implemented a flexible automa- lives—the core of lululemon’s overall mis- Contact customer service at: Web: www.mmh.com/subscribe tion system that relies on a warehouse man- sion. “A big part of that culture is having fun Email: [email protected] agement system and mobile data collection together as a team,” adds Trebilcock. “Look- Phone: 1-800-598-6067 Mail: Peerless Media technologies with conveyor and sortation to ing at the photos of lululemon associates, I P.O. Box 1496 Framingham, MA 01701 tie together the functional areas. The idea was noticed they were all smiling, even as they to increase efficiency, drive throughput and did mundane tasks like picking and packing. For reprints and licensing please contact Nick Iademarco at Wright’s lean out processes while having the ability to I always wonder why more companies aren’t Media, 877-652-5295, ext. 102 or [email protected]. flex up or down with demand. focused on their culture and not just their
ENEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTIONS “Rather than implement a high level of metrics.” Sign up or manage your FREE eNewsletter subscriptions at www.mmh.com/enewsletters.
Official Publication of Member Member of Winner Jesse H. Neal Certificates of Merit for Journalistic Excellence www.peerlessmedia.com mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 7 MORE THAN A VISION
In the real world, providing an effective solution for automatic identification requires more than just one technology. With SICK you have a choice. Three technologies, one philosophy: customer needs come first. For decades, customers have recognized SICK as a pioneer in vision, a leader in industrial code reading, an RFID specialist, and an expert in connectivity and big data. Our global technology experts are specialists in your industry and are located in your corner of the world. To meet your everyday challenges, it takes more than a vision. We find intelligence is what truly makes the difference. www.sickusa.com Follow Modern Online
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MAPI QUARTERLY BUSINESS OUTLOOK Manufacturing output positive despite global concerns
THE COMPOSITE INDEX SLIPPED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS, BUT STILL growth, albeit at a modest rate.” INDICATES MODEST EXPANSION. The survey results and the index are based on objective order vol- BY JOSH BOND, ASSOCIATE EDITOR umes, but Norman also includes some qualitative questions as a supplement to the survey. This year A NEARLY TWO-YEAR UPWARD “Month to month, we’re still going he asked about global risks, a topic TREND in the manufacturing sector to see stop-and-go activity,” he said. with no shortage of headlines this experienced a hiccup according “It’s just not all that smooth, and that’s year. to the quarterly MAPI Foundation been a characteristic for a while. But The region where respondents re- Business Outlook as the composite the results still point to continued new ported the greatest risk to operations index slipped from 71 to 67 in is Ukraine and Russia. Other the third quarter. issues posing at least a slight risk The survey’s composite index is to companies relate to Israel/ a leading indicator for the manu- Palestine, ISIS in Iraq, Syria, facturing sector and is conducted Ebola and terrorism in Africa, the by the MAPI Foundation, the military coup in Thailand, and research affi liate of the Manufac- the China/Japan island disputes. turers Alliance for Productivity and “I think with all the news Innovation. that’s happened over the last October’s index ended a run few months, we’re in a pe- of six quarters of incremental riod in which lots of risks that improvement. Still, it marked the weren’t apparent before are 20th-consecutive quarter the index making themselves known,” has remained above the threshold Norman said. “About 65% said of 50, the dividing line separating they are working to minimize contraction and expansion. ‘trapped’ cash and half are In a recent interview, Donald concerned with providing Norman, MAPI Foundation direc- enhanced security for employ- tor of economic studies and survey ees throughout the world. The coordinator, said the fi rst quarter of survey response shows that 2014 had not been all that strong, companies are focused on but most indicators showed a those things, which are much particularly strong second quarter. more present in their minds.” mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 9 MANUFACTURING plus imports less exports) grew 8.3% MHI forecasts growth of 8% to 9% in 2013 and are forecasted to grow just over 4.5% to 6% in 2014 and for 2014 and 2015 11% in 2015. Materials handling equipment new 2014 and 2015, according to the Import growth in 2013 was 3.9%, orders grew 8.8% in 2013 and are latest “Material Handling Equipment down from 17.9% in 2012. Export forecasted to grow 8% to 9% for Manufacturing Forecast” (MHEM) growth was fl at in 2013, down from released by MHI. 12.4% in 2012. MHEM imports are “We are optimistic about future forecasted to grow 6% in 2014 and outcomes and expect economic 9% in 2015. Exports are expected to fundamentals to favorably support rebound modestly beginning mid- MHEM expansion through 2014 and 2014 to grow 4% and continue to 2015,” said Hal Vandiver, MHI execu- grow in 2015 around 6%. tive consultant. The MHEM forecast of materials In addition, materials handling handling equipment manufacturing equipment shipments grew 7.8% is released each quarter by MHI and in 2013 and are forecasted to grow looks 12 to 18 months forward to 4.5% to 5% in 2014 and 9% to 11% in anticipate changes in the materials 2015. Domestic demand (shipments handling and logistics marketplace.
E-COMMERCE New Sealed Air survey addresses packaging in e-commerce WITH CONTINUED GROWTH in tally friendly packaging has e-commerce, retailers need to take a been in the forefront of Survey respondents agree closer look at their packaging for fi lling many consumers’ minds. that packaging... online orders, according to new data According to the survey • tells customers how much the retailer cares from the Sealed Air “2014 Packaging fi ndings, 94% of respon- about them and their order (66%); for e-Commerce Success” survey. dents believe that there are • refl ects the value of the shipment—the bet- Conducted online by Harris Poll environmentally friendly ter the packaging, the better the product inside (48%) (This viewpoint is more prevalent in younger on behalf of Sealed Air, the survey packaging solutions, and purchasers—those ages 18 to 34 years (59%) are was fi elded in August among more 77% say that a company’s more likely to say this than those age 35+ (44%)); than 2,000 U.S. adults (aged 18+). packaging should refl ect and The survey indicates that still 58% of their environmental values. • refl ects a retailer’s environmental commitment (34%). respondents say that if they receive Consumers have varying a damaged or broken product from views on what constitutes envi- an online order, they would either ronmentally friendly packaging. More reused for other shipments; 55% say consider purchasing from a competi- than three quarters (78%) say it can be it biodegrades or composts; and 31% tor or would not purchase from that easily recycled or made from recycled believe it prevents them from having retailer again. materials (75%); 63% believe it can be to return a damaged product. And 78% of respondents think their orders should be packaged and ROBOTICS processed for shipment within 24 hours after their online purchase. The North American robotics market sets new average amount of time respondents records for first nine months of 2014 think is acceptable for processing an online order for shipment is 23 hours. ROBOT ORDERS and shipments in A total of 21,235 robots valued at Nearly seven in 10 respondents say North America set new records in the $1.2 billion were ordered from North they are more conscious of packaging fi rst nine months of 2014, according American companies in the fi rst nine materials and design today than they to the Robotic Industries Association months of 2014, an increase of 35% were fi ve years ago, and environmen- (RIA), the industry’s trade group. in units and 22% in dollars over the
10 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com Improve your same period in 2013. WorkPFLOW. Robot shipments to North American customers through September totaled 18,490 Find out what a VRC robots valued at $1.1 billion, can do for you. breaking the previous record » Vertical lifting solutions set in 2013 by 5% in units and 2% in dollars. customized to your specific Sales activity continued application to be especially strong in » Less costly to install, the automotive industry, operate and maintain than with orders up 48% year to elevators date over 2013. Non-auto- » Safe, efficient and motive industries, such as electronics, food, consumer convenient means of goods and metals also posted double-digit growth in the moving materials vertically fi rst nine months of the year. » Equipped with advanced “The robotics industry in North America is having its safety features to protect best year ever in 2014,” said Jeff Burnstein, president the materials onboard and of RIA. “Along with record performance, we are seeing lift operators more interest in robotics and related technologies than ever before. It’s also interesting to note that as robot sales boom, U.S. unemployment continues to fall and is currently at its lowest level since July of 2008, further Why go with evidence that robotics helps save and create jobs.” PFLOW? In terms of growth within specifi c applications, spot We pioneered the Vertical welding (76%), arc welding (39%), and assembly (29%) ap- Reciprocating Conveyor plications have recorded the highest year-over-year growth (VRC) product class over 35 through September. RIA estimates that some 230,000 robots are now in use in United States factories, placing years ago and, through the United States second only to Japan in robot use. superior design and Automate 2015, the industry’s leading event, takes service, remain the industry place March 23 to 26, 2015 (co-located with ProMat 2015 leader with 16,000 systems at McCormick Place in Chicago). With four months still to worldwide. We offer go, the exhibit fl oor at Automate 2015 is already more guaranteed code approval than 40% larger than the 2013 event, Burnstein said. in every state and the best PACKAGING warranty in the business. 2014 Pack Expo International attendance tops 2012 by 6.5% PACKAGING AND PROCESSING professionals gathered in Chicago in early November for Pack Expo International and Pharma Expo 2014, the largest packaging and pro- cessing trade show in North America. With preliminary fi gures topping 48,600 attendees, Try our Product Configurator at www.pflow.com show owner and producer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, anticipates recording a 6.5% attendance jump over 2012. The four-day event covered more than 1.2 million net square feet of exhibit space in McCormick Place with 2,352 exhibiting companies—an increase of more than 19% from Pack Expo International 2012. Superior Design. Better Service. mmh.com “Pack Expo International 2014 was ahead of 2012 fi gures and that mo- as many attendees identifying their defi nitely a success,” said Jim Pittas, mentum continued on site. Pharma primary or secondary markets as senior vice president, PMMI, “Exhibi- Expo, which PMMI produced in “pharmaceutical.” tors sold machines right off the show partnership with the International Pittas noted the successes of fl oor and collected high-quality leads Society for Pharmaceutical Engineer- Pharma Expo and Pack Expo 2014 from the steady fl ow of attendees.” ing (ISPE), clearly contributed to strengthened the groundwork for Pre-show registration was well the surge in attendance, with twice excellent results for exhibitors at upcoming Pack Expo trade shows including Pack Expo East in February and Pharma Expo and Pack Expo Las Vegas 2015. “Exhibitors begin planning their strategy for the next Pack Expo almost immediately after the close of the previous year’s show, and they need to know they’ll get a strong return on their investment,” says Pittas. “The success of the inaugural Pharma Expo proves the strength of the Pack Expo brand across all vertical markets and reinforces the industry’s view of Pack Expo as the preeminent North Ameri- can packaging and processing show.” Coming in February, PMMI brings the strength of Pack Expo to the East Coast with Pack Expo East (Feb. 16–18, 2015; Pennsylvania Conven- tion Center, Philadelphia). State of industry released: U.S. packaging machinery shipments in- creased by 6%, to $7.9 billion, in 2013, and a rise in retail-ready packaging (RRP) is changing the role of secondary packaging, according to PMMI. PMMI released the fi ndings of its “2014 State of the Industry: Pack- aging Machinery Shipments Study Fast, accurate order fulfillment (SOTI)” and “2014 Secondary Packag- ing Market Research Study” at Pack Vanderlande offers a full range of picking solutions, including Expo at a press briefi ng. PMMI mem- goods-to-person, zone, batch, as well as automated case, tote ber packaging machinery manufactur- and pallet picking systems to meet the demands and challenges ers provided data for their 2012 and of any fulfillment operation. 2013 shipments for this study. Total U.S. packaging machinery shipment > Increase productivity up to 1,000 lines/manhour estimates also incorporated projected > Improve picking accuracy up to 99.99% non-member shipments. > Optimize space utilization up to 40% compared to “Total U.S. consumption—an overall conventional warehouses > Decrease product damage and storage footprint fi gure that includes imports, exports and domestic shipments—reached $9 billion in 2013,” said Jorge Izquierdo, > vanderlande.com vice president of market development for PMMI. “Foods and beverages together continue to account for more
12 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com than half of the shipments. This is con- Lekulitch. Team members will share challenge, the fi ctional “Ray’s Pre- sistent with what we’ve seen over the $4,000 in scholarship funds. mium Pet Food Company,” requested past 10 years.” The PACK Solutions Challenge proposals for a dedicated line to While SOTI illustrated a consistent is an annual student contest where package and ship its new retail-ready overall market, PMMI’s “2014 Sec- teams from PMMI Partner Schools line of all-beef jerky treats. The stu- ondary Packaging Market Research research and develop a real-world dents began their research online and Study” revealed a dynamic industry packaging solution. For this year’s followed up with exhibitors. Ⅺ segment feeling the strength of con- sumer trends. “In 2008, when we last conducted this survey, every company we spoke to said they were trying to reduce costs and improve their sustainability ratings in secondary packaging, and retailers demanded those changes because of consumer preferences. In contrast, roughly half of the 2014 study participants say they’ve imple- mented those changes and are satis- We’ve fi ed with the results,” Izquierdo said. One of the most visible trends for got you secondary packaging, however, is its role as a retail-ready packaging medium. Izquierdo added, “Retailers covered. are asking for more shelf display con- tainers and as a result, we’re seeing secondary packaging going directly from pallet to store shelf.” Changes in primary packaging are also driving shifts in secondary packaging, the report notes. Food (45%) and beverage (50%) produc- ers noted changes such as switching fl exible packaging and lightweight- ing primary packaging are resulting Increased coverage, better defense. in the need for stronger support from Kick off your fire protection with superior smoke secondary packaging. sensing technology: the FAAST XT aspirating The 2014 study also shows de- smoke detector from System Sensor. crease usage in corrugated fi ber- board materials and an increase in The FAAST XT can protect warehouses by the use of recycled material content, providing very early warning of smoke, so overwrapped trays and shrink- you can respond to potential problems wrapped pads. before disaster strikes. The 4-inlet Rutgers Also in Pack Expo news: technology blankets areas up to 28,800 University took fi rst prize in PACK So- sq. ft. and defends your large volume lutions Challenge presented by the spaces from incipient fires and potential PMMI Foundation and sponsored by damage. To celebrate FAAST XT’s launch, B&R Industrial Automation. Clemson we’re offering a chance to win tickets to University fi nished second and Uni- the 50th Anniversary Big Game in 2016! Assembled in the U.S. versity of Wisconsin, Stout, earned third prize. The team from Rutgers University included Miles Borgeson, Learn more at: An Cierpial, William Kim and Melissa go.systemsensor.com/faastxt-mmh ©2014 System Sensor. All Rights Reserved. mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 13 LIFT TRUCK TIPS
Barriers to entry Generic regulations and misused solutions often undermine effective practices for keeping lift trucks away from people, product and problems.
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor
tandards and regulations are designed to provide a basic level of safety inside industrial facili- Sties. But because many are vaguely worded, proper safeguarding of people and equipment often falls short of the intended goal. Tasked with separating multi-ton equipment from people, structures and drops, lift truck barriers require some of the most extreme performance among indus- trial safety solutions. Yet, they are also among the least understood. “Just because it’s yellow and metal, doesn’t mean it’s providing any pro- tection,” says Brian Hrabec, general manager of A-Safe. “Then again, an OSHA regulation calling for ‘separate areas and paths for people and equip- ment’ could be interpreted as a green painted line, so I suppose a yellow bollard is better than nothing.” The problem is when a bollard expected to stop a lift truck proves about as effective as fastest route from point A to point B.” a strip of paint. It all comes down to physics, Hrabec says. Conversely, traffic also informs barrier design, such as One product might be rated to withstand a 90-degree the use of a steel bollard in a low-traffic area or a flex- impact from a 10,000-pound lift truck at 3 miles per hour. If ible polymer barrier in an environment prone to impacts. the equipment is any larger, or smaller but traveling faster, A new set of considerations emerges in cold storage that’s a problem—and designing a bollard to handle an ex- facilities, where the behavior of polymers and concrete is tra ton or two can be exponentially more expensive. And, again subject to physics. that is assuming a barrier’s rating is even known. Unpainted polymer barriers are often used in food-safe After an impact, aside from damage to the equipment, and cold applications because of their ability to transfer there are more costs as the barrier and, in many cases, only 20% of an impact’s force into the anchor and the the floor need to be replaced or repaired. These costs are more brittle concrete floor. Space is at a premium, espe- preferable to an injury, but a well-designed barrier can cially in cold storage, but whether it’s -40°F or 120°F the provide benefits even when never touched. right barrier can prove a worthwhile investment. “Barriers can be used to help design the traffic flow of lift trucks and employees through a facility,” Hrabec says. Josh Bond is Modern’s associate editor and can be reached “Certain patterns can help save time if they enable the at [email protected]
14 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com
PACKAGING CORNER
Buckle up pallet loads New product with lid eliminates stretchwrap, banding when securing pallet loads.
By Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large
hen an automotive manu- facturer asked Creative Techniques to develop a Wnew way to secure pallet loads of tray-, tote- and dunnage-packed components without stretchwrap or banding, the company saw an opportunity to introduce a new standard product: the enviroLid. Made of structural foam plastic, the heavy-duty, 45 x 48-inch lid sits atop a pallet load of totes or trays. The lid’s recessed, seatbelt- style mechanisms—each with a metal hook to grip the pallet’s edge—incorporate a positive engaging ratchet mechanism. The device creates tension that securely sandwiches the load between the pallet and the lid; when the lid had to be extra removed, the spring-loaded belts retract automatically. robust.” “The hooks can be custom designed to match any Because not every pallet, including injection molded, structural foam, ther- application calls for moformed, metal or wood,” says Rick Parker, Creative such sturdiness, the Techniques’ vice president of business development. company recently Known for designing and manufacturing custom- unveiled an injection- engineered, reusable packaging for closed-loop supply molded plastic envi- chains (typically between manufacturers and components roLid for 2,500-pound suppliers), Parker and his team knew the enviroLid had loads. “It has the same the potential for broader applications. dimension and features, but weighs 22 pounds, so a “Benefits include better sustainability by eliminating single person can handle it,” he says. stretchwrap or banding—plus improved safety for both The company also offers an injection-molded enviroLid personnel and product by eliminating razor knives,” and pallet combination with a 32 x 36-inch footprint. “It’s Parker says. In addition to being watertight, the lid’s a unique size that works well for smaller batch component underside can be outfitted with a custom-molded insert deliveries to assembly lines by tuggers pulling carts,” that perfectly aligns to the parts, totes or trays directly Parker says. “With more operations looking to eliminate beneath it to secure the contents. forklifts, this was the best size to interface with carts and The original lid, introduced four years ago, was en- pallet jacks.” gineered to secure heavy components like transmission and engine parts, says Parker. “Because those pallets Sara Pearson Specter is an editor at large with Modern and can contain 3,000-pound loads stacked up to four-high, can be reached at [email protected].
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MODERN system report
Sweating the details at lululemon’s Ohio DC The yoga wear retailer’s new multichannel DC is speeding up time to market, streamlining e-commerce processes and reducing freight costs. Flexible automation is the key.
By Bob Trebilcock, Executive Editor ou’ve heard the old line “never let ‘em see you sweat,” right? Well, lululemon athletica, a company famous for its techni- cal athletic apparel, including its signature yoga pants, has turned sweat into a business, according to Steve Berube, the company’s senior vice president of global distribution and logistics, and George Tsogas, vice president of international distribution and logistics. The company manifesto, familiar to every employee, is a Ycollection of ever-evolving statements and slogans intended to spark conversation, including: “Sweat Once A Day,” “Breathe
18 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com the details
George Tsogas, vice president of international distribution and logistics (left) and Steve Berube, senior vice president of global Getty Images/Kirk Irwin distribution and logistics.
Deeply,” and “Drink Fresh Water. And, as much water as you and replenishment are scheduled to go live in 2015. Working can.” “The company purpose,” says Berube, “is to elevate the with a systems integrator (SDI, sdigroupusa.com), the facil- world from mediocrity to greatness through a mission to have ity introduced supply chain technologies and materials han- our products create transformational experiences for people to dling automation to a company that had largely relied on con- live happy, healthy, fun lives. As a company, we want to elevate ventional distribution in its other North American facility in the world by helping people set goals from a personal, career the Pacific Northwest. The technologies include: and health standpoint.” And, it starts with their own people. • A warehouse management system (WMS) and ware- Staff goals are posted for all to see in a new 310,000-square- house control system (WCS) create pick waves and orches- foot distribution center near Columbus, Ohio, that went live trate order fulfillment operations; last summer for e-commerce fulfillment. Store fulfillment • RF, voice and put-to-light technologies direct putaway,
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 19 MODERN system report
The yoga wear retailer’s new Ohio DC was designed to speed up the delivery of e-commerce and store replenishment orders, especially in the Northeast and Midwest.
the Kitsilano beach area of Vancouver in 2000. The idea was to create more than just a store, but a community hub where people could learn and discuss the phys- ical aspects of healthy living from yoga and nutrition to running and cycling. Nine years later, lululemon launched the iviva athletica line for young girls. As of the second quarter of 2014, the company was operating 270 stores and continues to be a growth company. Despite its impressive growth, sweat remains at its core. For instance, the new distribution center features a fully equipped 3,000-square-foot gym and a picking and replenishment processes; Exhilarated, Wilson was convinced that 1,500-square-foot yoga space. Personal • Conveyor and sortation route the time had come for yoga. He began trainers offer classes to associates on a orders through the facility; and to design technical and beautiful ath- daily basis. • Automatic weighing, labeling and letic fabrics that people could feel com- “It’s common to see a boot camp work- bagging technologies streamline pack- fortable sweating in. That vision contin- out with 50 or 60 co-workers in the park- ing and shipping. ues today. “One of the technologies we ing lot or on the DC floor,” says Berube. As with yoga, which is at the heart talk about is our anti-stink materials,” “On your first day, you have to get out of the company, flexibility is also an says Tsogas. “You can work out in one in front of your teammates to introduce important component of the design. of our shirts today, and feel great wear- yourself, share a one-year goal and show “Rather than implement a high level of ing it again the next day.” off your favorite dance move. Our goal automation, we have a system and pro- The first lululemon store opened in is to elevate the world by creating lead- cesses that allow us to bypass the auto- mation all together if we get an urgent order for a store,” says Tsogas. He adds that the facility was designed to grow with the business, including the ability to expand from the current 7,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) to 20,000 SKUs.
A culture of sweating together It’s difficult to write about lululemon without writing about a unique culture that values letting ‘em see you sweat. “Culture is the epicenter of who we are,” Berube explains. “And, one of the ways we build strong teams in our DCs is to sweat together.” The company was founded in 1998 after Chip Wilson, a 20-year veteran of the surf, skate and snowboard business, “We sweat together as a team,” says Steve Berube, senior vice president of took the first commercial yoga class global distribution and logistics. Yoga and exercise classes are offered every offered in Vancouver, British Columbia. day at the DC.
20 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com EFFICIENCY IN THE DC: USING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO DO MORE
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JOHN TALBOTT STAN RUTSTEIN SPEAKERS Director of Research Retail Expert Kelley School of Business Indiana University MARCELO VILLIN PRADO STACY SHOUN Expert in Marketing Strategies Director of Distribution GREGORY BANNISTER BCBGMAXAZRIA COO STEVE WIERSMA Sport Obermeyer Director of International Development BRIAN GIBSON Bleckman Fashion Professor of Supply BOB TREBILCOCK & Lifestyle Logistics Chain Management Executive Editor Auburn University Modern Materials Handling PANEL DISCUSSIONS ON… Emerging Technologies
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ers and building authentic relationships inside and outside our business.” That sense of mission extends to distribution and logistics. “We’re a global engine reinventing our industry by putting people first, having fun and delivering exceptional service,” Tsogas explains. “If we do that while elevating lives and setting up an inspirational cul- ture, we will deliver the best service in our industry.”
Designing for service and growth Industry-leading service was one of the tenants behind the design and location of lululemon’s Ohio facility, the com- pany’s third DC in North America; the network already counted a facility in Vancouver that services Canada and a In the e-commerce fulfillment area, associates are voice directed to pick orders facility in Washington that previously to totes on mobile carts. Pick-to-light is being installed in other areas. served the United States. The project was initiated in 2012 square feet. along with conveyor and sortation to with a network analysis performed 3. Freight costs: Locating a distri- tie together functional areas. The idea by FedEx. In recent years, the com- bution center in the Midwest reduces is to increase efficiency, drive through- pany had seen a significant growth freight costs to stores and guests on the put and lean out processes while main- in its e-commerce business as well East Coast, Southeast and Midwest. taining the ability to flex up or down as a growth of its customer base east 4. Laboratory for innovation: to meet demand, which can vary from of the Mississippi. In addition to the The Columbus DC serves as a lab, 5,000 to more than 12,000 orders a day, increased transportation costs associ- where innovation can be tested and or to fill a hot order for a store. ated with growth on the East Coast, then rolled out to other facilities, “In the future, guests may want pre- service times were suboptimal, with including third-party logistics (3PLs) mium packaging or something unique an average transit time to stores and providers in Hong Kong and Europe, with a garment during seasonal periods,” guests, as lululemon refers to its cus- and a DC in Australia. says Berube. “We may need to isolate tomers, of 3.72 days. a store that is having exceptional sales, “By opening a second United States Flexible automation or rework a SKU with new pricing and DC in Ohio, we’re a one-day drive from When it came to designing the mate- hang tags. Those couldn’t be done as 65% of the U.S. population, and we can rials handling systems and processes, easily if we were using an AS/RS.” service 85% of our stores and guests the final design was chosen from about The key technology is the WMS, within two days,” says Tsogas, who adds 12 different layouts and configurations which determines the most efficient that stores are replenished five days a suggested by the system integrator. way to batch single line orders—now week. In fact, the new facility has reduced For every potential solution, the whole 50% of order volume—to an autobag- average transit times to 1.92 days. distribution team was involved in the ger, multi-line orders to manual pack In addition to service, at least four evaluation. The project’s steering com- stations, and store replenishment activ- other factors came into play, including: mittee included the chief information ities that are scheduled to come online 1. Business continuity and risk officer, the head of e-commerce and soon to create a true multichannel envi- management: If the DC in Washington representatives from planning, alloca- ronment. The WMS is complemented went down, the network would have been tions and finance. by three data collection technologies challenged to service U.S. stores and cus- In the end, lululemon opted for flex- that are deployed to optimize various tomers. Now, there is an alternative. ible automation. Instead of an auto- processes: 2. Capacity constraints: A two- mated storage and retrieval system • RF, mobile computing and bar facility model provides capacity for the (AS/RS) and goods-to-person picking code scanning direct inbound receiv- next five years and the Columbus prop- station, the facility relies on its WMS ing, putaway, full carton picks and erty has room to expand by 150,000 and mobile data collection technologies replenishment of pick faces.
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• Voice technology is used to direct on software, systems and equipment e-commerce picking processes and the that hadn’t been used before while replenishment of existing SKUs at the gaining the benefit of lower transporta- stores. E-commerce orders are picked tion costs by being closer to the market. to totes that are conveyed to an auto- The company also committed to tak- bagger or a manual pack station. Items ing whatever time was required to get for store replenishment are picked to it right. carts that can manage up to 12 cartons/ For instance, a team of 20 super orders per pass through a pick zone. users trained on the WMS system for Those cartons are then inducted onto a five months, followed by three months conveyor and sorted to shipping. of testing. When it came time to turn • Put-to-light technology is used to the switch, the team knew the system Associates prepare to replenish pick pick and pack mixed cartons during the inside and out. faces in the carton picking area. allocation of new SKUs to the stores. A Although the whole facility won’t shipping carton is automatically scanned be operational until 2015, Tsogas and right at the new facility. In large part, when it enters a pick zone, and lights Berube are already seeing results, with that’s because 50% of the manage- direct the order selector to the right bins a 20% to 30% improvement in the num- ment team in Columbus came from to pick the right quantity of items to the ber of e-commerce orders processed the Washington facility; they under- carton. Once an order is complete, the per hour. “We will realize the real ben- stood and taught the values, and they carton is conveyed to shipping. efit when we put in retail replenish- recruited local talent that perfectly Since stores are receiving daily deliv- ment, and have the ability to shift peo- complements the team. eries, all orders are relatively small and ple back and forth between processes,” “We’re proud of the team we have in shipped with parcel carriers. Tsogas says, adding that lululemon place. How we coach and mentor our also expects to realize carbon emission people is ingrained in who we are and Sweating together reductions that are important to its sus- what makes us unique,” says Berube. The new lululemon facility went live tainability plan. “We authentically care about the lives last August with e-commerce fulfill- Most importantly, both say that our people, and it’s paid back many ment. The idea was to train employees lululemon was able to get the culture times. That’s just who we are.” M
Embracing automation for lululemon athletica e-commerce fulfillment Groveport, Ohio WMS, lights, voice and conveyors bring SIZE: 310,000 square feet PRODUCTS: Yoga and athletic wear a new level of efficiency to lululemon SKUS: 7,000 with capacity of up to 20,000 SKUs athletica’s Ohio distribution center. THROUGHPUT: 4,000 orders per day EMPLOYEES: 50 employees expanding to 200 when fully he yoga wear retailer’s new conveyor and delivered to functional 310,000-square-foot distribu- the receiving area (1). When SHIFTS PER DAY/DAYS PER WEEK: 2 shifts per day, Ttion center near Columbus, the cartons are scanned, the 5 days per week Ohio, is a testing ground for auto- WMS directs the receiver mation. The system features a com- to sort the merchandise by bination of conveyor, sortation, put- the next task and distribution chan- is ready for putaway, the WMS directs to-light and voice technology, all nel. Next task, for example, includes a wire-guided lift truck operator to the directed by a warehouse management merchandise that might require dimen- right storage location. The operator system (WMS). sional scanning, quality assurance or scans a location to confirm putaway. Receiving: Receiving is initiated a value-added service before putaway. Replenishment: Wire-guided lift when advanced ship notifications are Similarly, the product may be staged truck operators are directed by the fed into the WMS. Newly received for storage in a pallet racking area (2) WMS to pull merchandise from reserve product is unloaded to an extendable or a carton rack area (3). Once product stock locations (2,3). Those items are
24 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com Critical Industry News at Your Fingertips!
Modern Materials Logistics Management Supply Chain Management Critical Topic areas help you develop strategies and expand your knowledge. CRITICAL TOPICS Each topic provides you with the news, information, and resources you need — each day. • Automation
Modern Materials Logistics Management Supply Chain Management • Conveyors & Sorters • Inventory & Picking • Lo ading Dock Equipment • Mobile & Wireless • Shipping Pallets • Storage Systems • Containers & Totes • Energy & Sustainability • Lift Truck & Fork Lift • Handling & Warehouse Ergonomics • Packaging • Software & Technology
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then delivered to a pick location in the (8) for that order. Once the truck is tion, which is confirmed by scanning. active carton (4) and active pallet pick- picked up by FedEx, the order is closed Full pallets are delivered to the ship- ing areas (5). Pick locations are con- out in the WMS. That information is ping area (8). firmed by a bar code scan. then fed to the order management sys- Mixed cartons orders are picked in E-commerce picking, packing tem, which triggers payment confirma- a put-to-light area (9). The WMS sends and shipping: The WMS creates pick- tion and sends a shipment notification carton information to an associate who ing waves for single line and multi-line to the customer. inducts the right carton for an order orders. Voice technology directs order Store picking, packing and ship- onto the carton sortation conveyor. The selectors in the active pick shelving ping: Stores receive two types of deliv- WCS diverts the carton to the corre- area (4). Single line orders are picked eries: new styles that are allocated to sponding put-to-light lane. When the into a large tote that consolidates up the stores and replenishment orders of carton arrives in the zone, the carton to 35 orders per tote; multi-line orders existing styles. Each delivery type has label is automatically scanned. The bins are picked to a cart that holds up to 16 its own picking, packing and shipping with items for that carton are illumi- smaller totes in a single pass through a process. It’s important to note that over nated, along with the number of items picking area. Once a tote is complete, 99% of orders are re-packs and new to be picked. Once the associate packs the order selector inducts the tote onto styles are delivered to the stores weekly. the carton, it is inducted back onto the the e-commerce packing induction con- New SKUs: Orders for new styles carton sortation conveyor. Following veyor (6). Following an automatic scan, are fed into the WMS, which creates another automatic scan, the carton the WCS diverts totes to the appropri- a picking wave. These can include full is conveyed to an inline scale where ate lane in the packing area (7) for that cartons and mixed cartons. the weight is recorded and sent to the order: Single line orders are packed Full cartons are picked in the carton WMS. The WMS determines the best using an autobagger; multi-line orders rack storage area (3). There, associates way to ship the carton and creates a are packed manually. operating wire-guided lift trucks are shipping label, which is automatically Once packing is complete, an opera- directed by the WMS to a pick loca- applied. The sorter then diverts the car- tor inducts a package onto the carton sortation conveyor. The sorter diverts the package to the right shipping lane
Packing induction conveyor 6 Carton rack Pallet 3 racking Active carton 2 picking 4 5 7 Active Packing area pallet picking 1 Receiving
Put-to-light 9
8 Shipping
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ton to a shipping lane (8). Existing SKUs: Before System suppliers picking for existing styles SYSTEM DESIGN, INTEGRATION, WAREHOUSE CASE SCANNERS: SICK, sickusa.com CONTROL SYSTEM, CARTON SORTATION, PUT-TO- is initiated, merchandise is MEZZANINE: Steele Solutions, steelesolutions. LIGHT SYSTEM & PACK STATIONS: SDI, sdigroupusa. pulled from the carton rack com com storage (3) and moved to car- VOICE RECOGNITION: Vocollect, vocollect.com CARTON CONVEYOR: Intelligrated, intelligrated.com ton flow racking located in CARTON AND PALLET RACK AND SHELVING: MDR CONVEYOR: Hilmot, hilmot.com the active carton picking area Steel King Industries, steelking.com BELTED CURVES: Transnorm, transnorm.com (4). Associates are directed INLINE SCALE: OCS Technologies, ocscal.com EXTENDABLE CONVEYORS: Best Conveyors, by the WMS to pick replen- DIMENSIONAL CUBING: CubiScan, cubiscan.com bestconv.com ishment stock to a wire- E-COMMERCE AUTOBAGGER: Sharp Packaging WMS: Manhattan Associates, manh.com guided lift. That inventory is Systems, sharppackaging.com MOBILE COMPUTING AND SCANNING: then delivered to a pick loca- LIFT TRUCKS AND ORDER PICKERS: Motorola Solutions, motorolasolutions.com tion in the carton flow rack Raymond Corp., raymondcorp.com LABEL PRINTING: Zebra Technologies, NETWORK DESIGN STUDY: FedEx, fedex.com and confirmed by scanning a zebra.com location label. Once the carton flow rack area is stocked, pick waves are created ate inducts the cartons onto the carton In both instances, the load is closed in the WMS. Associates are directed by sortation conveyor. As new items, car- in the WMS when the carrier picks up voice to pick to carts. Each associate can tons are automatically weighed and a an order. The information is fed to the pick up to 12 cartons/orders in a single shipping label is created and automati- enterprise resource planning (ERP) pass through the pick zone. Once all of cally applied before cartons are sorted to system, which triggers a store shipment the items have been picked, the associ- the right shipping lane (8). notification. M
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BULK BOXES | HAND-HELD CONTAINERS | IBCs | PALLETS | SPECIALTY BOXES mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 27 THE BIG PICTURE Where Business Meets Materials Handling
The near future of a legacy WMS Complemented by a growing stable of inexpensive execution solutions, aging software monoliths can prove they don’t need to be toppled.
he legacy warehouse management sys- shortcoming amid the e-commerce By Josh Bond, tem (WMS) is powerful and essential, boom and the demand for rapid execu- Associate Editor but it has its strengths and limitations. tion of increasingly complicated orders. A traditional WMS offers strengths in A growing trend suggests operations Tplanning and inventory management, looking for an intermediate or alter- but its weaknesses—a focus on daily, native approach to a new or upgraded sequential, waterfall-style task assign- WMS have some options, including ment—have proven to be a crippling warehouse control systems (WCS) and voice solutions. “A lot of companies we run into Reasons companies avoid replacing/upgrading WMS every day have a legacy WMS that is (% of respondents) not as functional as it needs to be,” says Ian Hobkirk, founder and manag- Fear of a “bad” implementation 44% ing director of Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors. “It’s extremely com- mon, with probably 40% to 50% of cus- Minimal perceived benefit 28% tomers in this situation to some extent.” Hobkirk emphasizes that voice sys- tems and WCS have their own sets of Cost 28% strengths and weaknesses, and are not a WMS replacement, but a comple- Source: Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors, 2014 ment. “If you have one or two needs
28 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com E-commerce demands real-time responsiveness to single-line orders, challenging legacy systems geared toward daily cycles and case quantities. that play to strengths of WCS and voice, great,” he says. “If you have half a Functionality drivers by WMS maturity level dozen needs across the operation, look Class A Class B at a new WMS.” If done right, the addition of voice Companies that already Companies that have little have a moderately robust WMS or no WMS capabilities and/or WCS can make a later WMS upgrade much less disruptive. “If you 1 Voice directed warehousing 1 Real-time transaction deploy voice right now in a legacy WMS confirmation and keep it doing what it’s good at, 2 Slotting you can keep voice when you update,” 2 More sophisticated Hobkirk says. “But if you stretch voice 3 Labor management pick processes or WCS to things not in its wheel house, 4 More sophisticated pick process 3 Directed put-away you might throw away a lot of that devel- opment.” 5 Pick wave planning 4 Receiving improvements For many, the pace of change in the software market is shocking and certainly 6 Lot control issues 5 Slotting bears no resemblance to the historical 10- to 25-year lifespan of monolithic software 7 Task interleaving 6 Improvement integration to MHE systems. “In all my years, I’ve never seen 8 Cartonization so rapid a change,” says 30-year industry veteran Greg Cronin, executive vice pres- Source: Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors, 2014 ident at Intelligrated. “Software used to
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 29 THE BIG PICTURE Where Business Meets Materials Handling be on a five- or eight-year cycle. Now it’s Sardeson, managing principal at Open as an old system’s inability to recognize closer to three. Everything is speed and Sky Group. “If you’re operating one more than a single forward pick loca- satisfying consumer demand.” facility with two WMS solutions, you tion for a given SKU.” probably have a problem.” Historically, a WMS assigns a single The legacy of WMS Even if there are not yet functional pick location per SKU. This can cre- Ten to 20 years ago, systems were problems, Hobkirk says there are some ate significant congestion as pickers designed around cases and pallets. If telltale signs they’re not far away. “If a try to access fast-moving SKUs. The the WMS did not have the data needed system is not supported by the original seemingly simple act of distributing to support less-than-case quantities, it developer, if it’s entirely homegrown, or A-movers to several areas can chal- might be too difficult an engineering if it’s in an outdated code base that will lenge legacy systems. And, then there’s effort to add that capability. “It leads make it hard to find support with that the complexity of integrating a legacy to dysfunctions, and some end up cre- expertise, you will have difficulties,” he WMS with one or more automation ating separate businesses,” says Curt says. “Then again, it can be as simple subsystems. As automation has migrated into the fulfillment space—Cronin says it has almost become a requisite for compa- nies starting at 15,000 orders per day— WCS evolved as a real-time intermediary between the WMS or system of record and the dynamic needs of the facility. The hope when investing in a carousel, automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), pick-to-light system, auto- matic guided vehicle (AGV) or A-frame is that speed and efficiency will follow. But a legacy WMS geared toward daily cycles will struggle to keep up with the real-time capabilities of automation. Lance Anderson, vice president of sales for Invata Intralogistics, explains the importance of effective communication between the two. “The WMS sends the carousel all the orders it wants to process for the day. Now, say the WMS didn’t know a sale was coming, and had populated the day’s replenishment based on his- toric algorithms. When orders come in, items are not in the carousel and you have to scrap the whole order and start over,” Anderson says. “Once the WMS batched at night and moved inventory to the forward pick area, you need to execute the order however it’s laid out.” If a WCS has the authority to move inventory around, reroute orders, and
Voice can isolate associates from changes in software systems by preserving a familiar interface during upgrades.
30 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com algorithms are based on the lowest cost,” he says. “With e-commerce, if I tell my boss 80% got out efficiently but 20% didn’t get out at all, do you think he cares about the 80%?” Instead, every time a WCS assigns the next work task to replenishment, picking or packing, it will run the algo- rithm again. What is the state of the operation right now? Is the pack line down? Is a print head down? What is the state of labor? Who didn’t come back from lunch? At that moment it makes the best decision on what to do next, and updates the WMS accordingly.
Mission: control But suppliers emphasize that WCS is A legacy WMS should focus on what it does best: planning. Voice and warehouse control systems can handle the execution. more than “middleware” (which has almost become a dirty word) or some- make changes in the middle of the accordingly. At that point, Anderson thing only intended to orchestrate auto- batching process, it can work to get suggests an operation is less concerned mation. By taking control of fulfillment orders out the door. It might also have with cost per piece than with filling the and working toward optimum produc- access to the labor pool to reallocate order. “Batch- and wave-based WMS tivity, WCS has become proficient in
Distributor of education supplies passes inventory exam ASSET STEM Education is a distribu- to make a trip to the store, and we’ve for specific totes, each representing tor of professional development to missed that goal.” a module or portion thereof. One educators, specializing in the kitting, Previously, the system assumed person can now pick to six totes at delivery and management of hands-on that if a kit came back it did so with the same time, instead of six people curricula and leased supplies. Reverse all components intact. Because that picking to one module each. Last year logistics and quality control are was rarely the case, an accurate inven- the company shipped about 10,000 essential to the company, which often tory count was impossible. Associates totes containing a total of 3.6 million receives returned kits with missing, often borrowed from one module to eaches. damaged or extraneous items. After complete another. The project reduced space deploying a series of custom software “It created a nightmare,” says needed for materials, so last year the applications, the company was able to Frank Arzenti, director of materials company was able to give 10,000 manage inventory on an item-level— support center. “It was frustrating square feet back to the landlord rather than kit-level—basis. because we considered continuing to while also bringing materials back The company operates a use our existing WMS or look at a new in-house from off-site storage. After 20,000-square-foot warehouse on one, which probably would be too reconfiguring the warehouse to store the south side of Pittsburgh. Its 3,000 costly and big for what we need.” components instead of pallets of SKUs include equipment and con- A custom-engineered assort- totes, it went from 1,000 linear feet sumables for science, technology, ment of functional “apps” (DMLogic, of storage to 4,000 linear feet with- engineering and math (STEM) lessons. dmlogicllc.com) now works with the out breaking a wall. SKUs are assembled into at least 100 existing system to provide item-level “Item level has been tremendous different modules, with 12 lessons in tracking and management of work- improvement to inventory,” Pulkowski each unit. flows in returns, picking and packing. says. “One of the most important “We don’t want teachers to have The company executed the change- things was that the supplier always to shop for supplies, so we provide over to the new apps without any listened to the staff as they were everything they need,” says Cynthia shutdown, while working to add all developing. They never just gave us Pulkowski, executive director of inventory to the system. something and said, ‘use this.’ It was ASSET STEM Education. “But if one When orders are released to the what we asked for and they checked item is missing or damaged, they have floor, it creates a unique license plate at every step of the way.”
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 31 THE BIG PICTURE Where Business Meets Materials Handling
time execution system.” Voice is among the many solutions for the increased amount of each pick- ing, and enjoyed a warm welcome in the execution software environment. “The software foundation in the WCS was already there,” says Ken Ruehrdanz, manager, distribution systems market for Dematic. “WCS systems had been directing warehouse activities using pick-to-light and put-to-light technology for perhaps 20 years prior to the arrival of voice. Many legacy WMS do not accommodate voice, while many legacy WCS software modules do. Because of this early start, WCS software has expanded the functionality and perfor- mance that voice technology can provide in warehousing applications.” Still, there is no hard and fast rule about which solution should be With access to both inventory and labor, voice and WCS systems can help deployed in which order. Conventional redirect resources in real time. wisdom held that a WMS was needed to drive the workflow, that planning had to fulfillment execution, or the real-time times percent utilization. “A lot of peo- come before execution. “You can think direction of automation and labor in sync ple use the words ‘productivity’ and ‘effi- of planning, execution and reporting with incoming orders. That said, some ciency’ interchangeably, but they’re not as linear, but it’s more of a cycle,” says call the WCS market a “Wild West” the same,” he says. “If a voice-enabled Jennifer Lachenman, vice president of characterized by proliferating acronyms, picker has to wait a few seconds for a product strategy and business alliances customer confusion and a growing num- tote to arrive, that’s zero utilization. He’s for Lucas Systems. “Some customers ber of solutions to problems they only efficient, but not necessarily productive. have chosen to upgrade planning or recently learned they had. The only way to improve is with a real- WMS prior to implementing execution To simplify things, Jerry List, vice president of QC Software, describes three basic tiers of WCS. The Tier 3 WCS involves a more traditional inter- face with materials handling equip- ment. Tier 2 gets into order fulfillment, not necessarily using automation, and might coordinate picking and packing functions. A Tier 1 WCS is one that begins to overlap into the WMS space, offering more dynamic inventory con- trol and management. The goal at any tier, List says, is a good understanding of an important formula: productivity equals efficiency
WCS solutions began as middleware between automation and the WMS, but their functionality has expanded much further.
32 D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com Instead of replacing a WMS outright, a variety of targeted execution solutions might extend its longevity by several years. including voice. Some start with execu- plug-and-play functionality. Whether they can migrate these workers from tion knowing they will upgrade the it’s one of the many variants of voice the introductory stream to standard, planning system later. Some have done and WCS systems or tasks traditionally or can build new streams very quickly. both simultaneously.” handled by WMS, Bob Kennedy, vice To build, test, deploy and confirm that As businesses change, Lachenman president at DM Logic, notes a pro- in the past would have taken days and says a central benefit to voice and WCS liferation of targeted, small-scale soft- help from the supplier.” is their ability to insulate employees ware solutions. They all reside under Taking it one step further, Kennedy from changes in interface and pro- the umbrella of “adaptive software,” says if the customer and supplier are cesses. Even as a legacy WMS is entirely which he says is analogous to the “app” building apps they might make them all replaced with a new one, the interface approach, with an emphasis on ease of available to the community on an “app on the execution side can remain iden- deployment, interface and change. store.” Before creating a new app, the tical to pickers and operators, reducing “It’s a radically different paradigm customer could look at the app exchange the disruptive impact of such a project. shift in how software is developed and to see what already exists. “Maybe they delivered,” Kennedy says. “And it’s not pay a fee, maybe they make a couple There’s an app for that unique to our solutions. The concept is tweaks, but you’ll develop a community A shiny new WMS is likely to be trans- to allow less tech-savvy people to cre- to foster an exchange of best practices,” formative to an operation, but the ate software so the customer can take adds Kennedy. Ⅺ smallest of software point solutions can control of the direction, evolution and be just as impactful. maintenance of their WMS system.” “Voice and WCS are better than Kennedy offers the example of a just a Band-Aid for a struggling sys- customer who used a lot of seasonal Companies mentioned tem,” Sardeson says. “I’m a big fan, employees. “When they picked using in this article and they can be a good investment for RF, sure enough they made a lot of COMMONWEALTH SUPPLY CHAIN an old or new system. I hope the days mistakes,” he recalls. In a matter of ADVISORS, commonwealth-sca.com DEMATIC, dematic.com of ‘screenscrapers’ are over, and in the hours, the customer built a new mes- DMLOGIC, dmlogicllc.com future we’ll see a more open ability sage stream for temporary worksers INTELLIGRATED, intelligrated.com to pass data around to software and with a picture of the target pick and INVATA INTRALOGISTICS, invata.com hardware.” a couple extra scans for verification. LUCAS SYSTEMS, lucasware.com The à la carte approach is already Seasoned pickers continued to use the OPEN SKY GROUP, openskygroup.com QC SOFTWARE, qcsoftware.com gaining steam, with systems offering standard message stream. “Over time,
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 33 MODERN equipment report
Overhead handling: Raise worker safety
Manufacturers of overhead handling equipment are putting an emphasis on safety while creating new, automated solutions that help people work smarter, better and faster.
By Bridget McCrea, Contributing Editor
ith warehousing, distribution and manufacturing innovation has garnered the attention of major com- professionals focused on doing more with less, panies like Airbus, which in 2014 ordered 10 Demag speeding up processes and maximizing existing process cranes in its new assembly facility in Mobile, space, overhead handling equipment’s role in the Ala. “This project includes several levels of automation distribution center has become more important and sophistication and also has a lot of safety built into than ever. Add automation it,” he adds. W and other technological inno- The issue of safety has grown in importance vations to the mix and crane, for managers looking to put “safety first” within hoist and overhead handling their own corporate cultures. To accommodate this equipment manufacturers are demand, overhead handling equipment manufactur- making sure to keep a watch- ers are emphasizing safety. “Every meeting we have ful eye on worker safety as starts off with a safety-related topic,” says Marincic. well ergonomics. “We not only make sure that we adhere to all safety “Overhead handling is a standards, but we also offer training at our facilities mature market, but we’re always on how to safely inspect and repair our products.” coming up with new innova- Konecranes is also putting a bigger emphasis tions and new twists on things,” on safety, according to Chuck Snook, sales man- says Martin Marincic, product ager for Region Americas, WLS. “We’re starting to manager of cranes for Demag see a growing shift toward safety as a culture— Cranes & Components. “We and basically part of our DNA in the day-to-day either look for product improve- manufacturing environment,” says Snook, who ment or innovative product sees the push for better productivity and the need leaps whenever possible.” That for ergonomic products (to alleviate repetitive strain injuries, for example) as the other forces currently driving innovation in the overhead han- dling sector. Overhead handling “When we design equipment or add new prod- equipment manufacturers ucts to a facility, we’re actually suiting the job to the are emphasizing safety. person as opposed to finding the right person for a
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A workstation lifting system takes the load off workers at a water distribution products supplier.
specific role,” says Snook. “Because of matic powered device aids the opera- tify trends, future applications and this, the equipment we’re making has tor by allowing him or her to maintain unmet needs.” to cover a very broad spectrum.” That’s a natural lifting motion. “It almost In the distribution space, specifi- where both safety and ergonomics makes the operator super human,” cally, Pechuekonis says his team’s field come into play, says Snook, and it’s why says Snook, “without slowing him or research has turned up a need to move both play critical roles in the produc- her down.” products as quickly and safely as pos- tion, installation and use of overhead sible without damage. This, he adds, is handling equipment. The need for speed how companies become as productive “It’s about being more proac- Cleve Pechuekonis, Ingersoll Rand’s and profitable as possible. To accom- tive with materials handling needs global product leader for industrial modate those needs, Pechuekonis says and solving problems in advance, equipment, says manufacturers have Ingersoll Rand has developed over- as opposed to just reacting to those been adding new features and benefits head hoists that are extremely fast and issues,” Snook adds. For example, he to powered hoist offerings (air and elec- precision-controlled to ensure accu- says many companies have policies tric hoist) as well as to human-powered racy and safety. “We currently offer prohibiting employees from manu- manual hoists. Before making those hoists that move product at 110 feet ally lifting anything that weighs more improvements, Pechuekonis says he per minute,” Pechuekonis says. “We’re than 30 pounds—despite the fact that and his group’s product managers spend talking about being able to get a prod- many adults can feasibly lift an item a time in the field, working closely with uct 10 stories high up in the air within of this weight. To satisfy this require- end users. “We’re interested in what 60 seconds, and our customers are still ment, overhead handling companies they’re doing, what they’re lifting, and telling us to ‘go faster.’” are making workstation cranes like what products they’re currently using,” Up until now, Pechuekonis says Konecranes’ AirBalancer. This pneu- says Pechuekonis. “This helps us iden- overhead materials handling as a whole
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Workers building lift trucks rely on overhead cranes to do the heavy lifting. hasn’t always been as quick to accom- their equipment is ineffective or anti- strategy and product development. modate users’ demands. Because of this, quated. “You don’t think much about When that diagnostic data is easily manufacturers are putting more focus the crane until you don’t have access to accessible, machine users can keep bet- on the overhead lifts, the trolley move- it, and then you realize just how vital ter tabs on how their equipment is per- ments, and the actual movement of the it is,” Marincic says. “This piece of forming on a day-to-day basis. “Having equipment on the warehouse’s beams. equipment can create a real production the data that predicts when a machine With conveyors swiftly transporting bottleneck. To avoid that, managers are needs to be fixed, or when something items throughout the warehouse, for looking for reliable, trouble-free cranes has to be done, is pretty important,” example, Pechuekonis says the point that meet their ergonomic applications says Armfield, “so we’re focusing some where the overhead crane or hoist and safety requirements.” efforts in that general direction.” interacts with the pallet (on its way out According to Armfield, the focus on the door of the warehouse, for example) Preventative maintenance providing better diagnostics will help is a “hot button” area. With more and more attention being users make more intelligent decisions “That’s the point where we’ve paid to analytics and tracking within the around equipment usage and mainte- seen some speed limitations,” says warehouse, overhead equipment manu- nance. Through this data and related Pechuekonis, who points to pneu- facturers are jumping into the fray and reports, those users will gain a clear matic air hoists as the speediest inno- coming up with ways to incorporate picture of just how their materials vations developed to date. “Electric such capabilities into their cranes, hoists handling equipment performs during hoists are still lagging in this [area]; and workstations. With a continual eye the course of a day, shift or even a that’s where we’re seeing some poten- on productivity and safety, for example, single hour. “It’s all right there in front tial opportunities.” Columbus McKinnon is adding more of them,” says Armfield, “and it gives In many cases, the “need for speed” diagnostic capabilities to its products. operators a very clear understanding of doesn’t come into play until it comes “We’re trying to provide preventative how their product is operating.” time to actually hoist items up into the maintenance data,” says Jeff Armfield, For now, Armfield says the larger air. Only then do companies realize executive director of global product companies are most interested in
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by Ridg-U-Rak
“We currently offer hoists that move product at 110 feet per minute. We’re talking about being able to get a product 10 stories high up in the air within 60 seconds, and our customers are still telling us to ‘go faster.’” —Cleve Pechuekonis, Ingersoll Rand’s global product leader for industrial equipment accessing sophisticated data related to very expensive.” their materials handling equipment, With wireless technology continu- although he expects smaller firms to ing to infiltrate today’s warehouses, follow suit in the near future. “The big the overhead handling sector will Available in users in our market are definitely doing incorporate even more of it over the 12-inch heights, RAM Guard more of this,” says Armfield, “with the next few years. “Wireless technol- snaps onto goal of understanding how well their ogy is really taking off right now and rolled or equipment is running and whether or we’re having a lot of cool conversations structural steel columns not their investment is providing a pay- about it,” says Pechuekonis, who has 3-inches wide back at the end of the day.” been asked questions like, “Is there an and up to application that I can put on my phone 3-inches deep. On the horizon and use to direct an overhead hoist’s Over the next one to three years, activities?” The answer may be “no,” Pechuekonis expects the time it takes right now, but Pechuekonis expects for overhead handling products to travel that to change within the next three to RAM GUARD™ throughout the warehouse be whit- five years. Column Protector tled down even further based on user As the technology that drives over- Molded of energy absorbing rubber demand. Concurrently, manufacturers head handling equipment continues with a “U-shaped” steel insert and force will maintain a focus on safety and on to advance, the key user demands— distributing rubber voids, RAM Guard™ absorbs significantly more energy during getting products to their destinations safety, speed and ergonomics—will impact than most column protection in one piece. Looking out even further, likely remain in place. “When we have devices offered today. Pechuekonis expects more automation conversations with plant managers or • Protects rack structures from frontal, to be folded into the overhead handling engineers, the discussion always starts angled and side impacts • Significantly lowers impact damage product offering. with speed,” says Pechuekonis. “There’s to pallet rack columns “Users want to be able to hit a but- product coming in and product going • Requires no hardware or straps ton and have a load taken overhead to out, and it has to be moved within the • Significantly outperforms most a loading dock, where it can then be facility as quickly as possible. Plain and plastic guards put on a pallet, wrapped and placed simple.” M onto a truck,” says Pechuekonis. “With Molded of Energy one more press of a button, that crane Absorbing Rubber will return to its original location.” And U-Shaped throughout that process, he says com- Companies mentioned Steel Insert panies will be able to track the loads in this article and know exactly where the products COLUMBUS MCKINNON, cmworks.com See it online! are at any given time. TM “The technology that will make DEMAG CRANES & COMPONENTS (A TEREX BRAND), demagcranes.us this scenario a reality is out there,” Patent Pending INGERSOLL RAND, ingersollrand.com says Pechuekonis. “It’s just a mat- KONECRANES, konecranesusa.com TheRAMGuard.com ter of adopting it at a reasonable cost BOOTH #1816 because some of that capability can be www.TheRAMGuard.com 814.347.1174 mmh.com MODERN information management Making MES more efficient Troy Design & Manufacturing pairs real-time RFID tracking with MES, saving time and allowing operators to focus on value-added production activities.
By Roberto Michel, Editor at Large
ot every company with a manufacturing and recording exactly when it entered execution system (MES) can cite spe- the location. “We wanted to remove cifics of how MES has helped them, as much non-value-added work from but that’s not the case at Troy Design our production process as possible, & Manufacturing Co. (TDM). The and let’s face it, anytime anyone has company—whose operations include a to hand scan something, that is not Nfacility in Chicago that modifies Ford directly contributing positive value to motor vehicles for police use—counts the end product,” says Murray. 7 seconds as the building block for MES solutions have been around time savings from data capture into its for decades, spanning functional- MES solution. ity such as work-in-progress tracking, That 7 seconds of savings comes electronic work instructions, quality from using radio frequency identifica- management functions, and produc- tion (RFID) technology to track each tion performance metrics. Not all vehicle as it progresses through the MES solutions are alike, but work-in- plant, as opposed to hand-scanning bar progress tracking is considered a core codes to track work in process. With MES function and is an advancement four production lines and 10 work cen- over the days of paper-based methods ters per line outfitted with RFID data of shop floor control. capture, that means there are 40 loca- Bar code data collection is com- tions in the process where informa- monly used to support MES deploy- tion is automatically gathered without ments, but in recent years, some plants human intervention, says Lee Murray, have chosen to affix RFID to vehicles, director of technology for TDM. major assemblies or totes to track work By affixing an RFID tag to each in progress in a hands off way. When vehicle as it enters the facility, the data captured by RFID is fed into an RFID technology acts as a trigger to MES and pushed out to a Web dash- the MES, telling it which specific vehi- board, the MES deployment takes on cle entered a particular work center, an Internet of Things (IoT)-like aspect
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Troy Design & Manufacturing (TDM) uses RFID technology to automatically capture work-in-process data at its Chicago facility. The plant modifies Ford vehicles for police use.
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 39 MODERN information management
because a near real-time insight into work in progress can be gleaned from a browser. In fact, at TDM, a browser- Acquisitions bring design software based dashboard into production status and MES closer is displayed on several oversized flat he software that some manufac- to really catch on, says Fraser, digital screens on the plant floor, and manag- turers use to simulate and plan the manufacturing needs to break through ers also can access it with their devices. way they are going to make new to a broader market beyond the big Tproducts, and the software they use to automotive and aerospace manufac- Hands off data capture manage manufacturing operations, are turers who pioneered its use, and the TDM is a Detroit-based Ford metal drawing closer together. That’s because PLM suppliers who have acquired some suppliers of product lifecycle MES solutions will need to continue to stamping subsidiary that had expanded management (PLM) software used in invest in the MES offerings. into the vehicle conversion business the design phase are buying up provid- Tomasz Pexzek, DELMIA Apriso with its Chicago modification center for ers of manufacturing execution system product manager with Dassault police vehicles. Located about a mile (MES) software. Systèmes, says integration between from Ford’s Chicago assembly plant, the Some of the major PLM vendors MES and digital manufacturing has offer digital manufacturing software, become a standard part of the Apriso facility modifies Ford’s Explorer SUV also known as manufacturing process product offering with the release of model and Taurus sedans for police use. management solutions, which are Version 9.7 of the MES, which was The center adds options such as ballistic used to establish the most efficient announced in November 2014. Under door panels, storage consoles and flash- processes for making new products. the integration, process engineer- ing safety lights to the vehicles. This fall, Siemens PLM, which has ing details and workflow for a new a digital manufacturing solution, product can be passed to the MES, The center has four production lines announced it was acquiring Camstar, and the MES can feed back data with 10 work centers per line, modi- an MES vendor. This follows other on performance once production is fying in total about 150 vehicles per similar acquisitions, such as the pur- underway, such as insights on defec- day. To support the plant’s production chase of MES vendor Apriso by PLM tive parts. management needs, TDM realized that supplier Dassault Systèmes in 2013. “By means of this integration, Dassault also offers digital manufac- users can design a process, execute paper-based methods of work-in-prog- turing software under its DELMIA a process, and get feedback on how ress tracking and reliance on paper- brand. the execution went,” says Pexzek. based work instructions would be too Because of acquisitions such as “Then users can plan improvements inefficient, so the company deployed these, one of the latest MES trends is and changes, redesign the process a work-in-progress tracking focused integration to digital manufacturing. “I to make it better, and execute the do think this coming together of digital improved process.” MES (Lowry Solutions). manufacturing and MES is important,” Pexzek does not see a major bar- While TDM could have opted to says Julie Fraser, an analyst and princi- rier to a closer tie between MES feed the system with data captured from pal with Iyno Advisors. “Having these and digital manufacturing, but does bar code scans, the decision was made solutions as part of the same vendor believe the companies best posi- to go with RFID because of the way it company should help bring about tioned to benefit from it are those a closed-loop feedback capability who have deployed MES enterprise automatically captures data about when between design and production. But wide, which allows for consistent each vehicle enters and exits a worksta- I also think it’s an area that has a long systems on either half of the closed tion. Additionally, says Murray, because way to go.” loop between digital manufacturing the RFID tag holds the unique vehicle For the joining of the two worlds and MES. identification number (VIN), it also prompts the MES to display what needs one antennae capturing data for one automatic, near real-time visibility into to be done with that vehicle at each workstation. There are a couple of when work or inventory enters and exits work center, calling up the appropri- places where the columns in the build- a particular location,” says Wheeler. ate work instructions on a touchscreen ing only make it possible for one reader While some factories in apparel, foot- computer. With some procedures, the to cover two locations, but for the most wear and vehicle assembly use RFID MES prompts the operator to record part, one reader tracks four locations. tags on end products to enable tracking, data using the touchscreen, or to swipe Mark Wheeler, director of indus- in many other cases, says Wheeler, it’s a his or her employee badge to the associ- try solutions for North America with container like a cart, tote or pallet that ate who installed a safety critical part. Motorola Solutions, says RFID is a is tagged, acting as a proxy for whatever Most of the RFID readers at the good fit with MES because it’s an materials are being moved on it. “We TDM facility are outfitted with four accurate, efficient way to capture data often see a reuseable asset being tagged antennae (Motorola Solutions, recently that is essential to MES’s core track- and tracked passively by the RFID infra- acquired by Zebra Technologies), with ing function. “With RFID, you have structure,” Wheeler says. “You can tag
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that asset once and track it for life.” Data captured with One benefit of pairing RFID with RFID feeds into an MES is time savings. TDM calculates MES solution, which that automated work-in-progress time has Web-based stamping saves 7 seconds per read ver- production status sus an operator-driven bar code scan. function viewable “That might not seem like an enor- on large flat screen mous amount of time, but when you panels positioned start adding up the 40 different work on the production centers we have on the production lines. Managers can lines, and the quantity of vehicles we access the same status are producing, it becomes a significant function on their time savings over the course of a day or devices. a week,” says Murray. The RFID data capture also means operators don’t have to remember to scan a vehicle as soon as it enters a see if the pace of work is on track. The ing at the system, I can also tell you if it workstation. Operators still have to system also links to a Ford database, so was required for the part, which opera- interact with the MES and its work TDM is able report vehicle receipt, pro- tor installed an item.” instructions, but the data collection duction progress and shipping updates The combination of RFID and MES related to work-in-progress tracking is back to Ford in a timely manner. results in accurate data for cycle time taken out of their hands. According to Murray, the plant analysis because there is no human error “We know that as soon as a vehicle floor dashboard isn’t a true real-time involved. “It’s not that we don’t trust our gets moved into a station, the time and system—there is a 15-second lag time operators to carry out data collection date stamp for cycle time is automatically between actual RFID time stamps and steps, but there’s no need to bother them captured,” says Murray. “Overall with this status update on the Web user inter- with it when you can automate the time solution, we wanted to make it as easy as face—but that’s effective enough for stamping and take out effort and risk in possible for operators to focus on add- work-in-progress tracking. managing throughput,” says Murray. ing value to each vehicle. They should The combination of the automated The system also fits in with TDM’s be focused on outfitting the vehicle in a RFID reads at each location and fur- methods for plant and quality manage- high quality manner to the specs that are ther inputs into the MES also create ment, which include lean manufacturing in the system, rather than performing bar a detailed process history of what was and Six Sigma analysis. Specifically, says code scans, or digging through pieces of done to each vehicle. There is some Murray, using MES and RFID fits in with paper,” says Murray. semi-automated data collection involved the lean philosophy of eliminating waste. in using the plant floor system, says “We’re trying to eradicate waste, Process history benefits Murray. For example, serial number which can come in the form of opera- Another benefit of detailed data on the information on ballistic door panels is tors having to perform excess bar code manufacturing process is the ability to scanned into the system. scans, or the handling of a lot of paper,” quickly see what was done to a vehicle, Certain pieces of safety equipment says Murray. “I think most plant manag- as well as to see where it is located in that are installed as options call for the ers would agree, they want their people the process. These benefits stem from operator to perform a badge swipe to turning wrenches or otherwise directly both effective data capture and a soft- record who installed the equipment. adding value, rather than clicking but- ware system such as MES that can dis- Or, an operation may require that some tons on a scan device, or shuffling play status and metrics. assembly procedures be confirmed, such through paper.” M At TDM, the work-in-progress track- as torqueing a bolt to a specific setting. ing function in the plant floor system The end result for TDM is an online feeds a Web dashboard application that repository of information on how each Companies mentioned gives personnel on the plant floor as vehicle was built. “I can go look up a in this article well as authorized users logging in from VIN from the middle of last summer LOWRY SOLUTIONS, lowrysolutions.com a browser a view of the current state and can quickly tell you when it came MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS, RECENTLY of vehicles in process, where they are in the plant and was commissioned, ACQUIRED BY ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES, located, and what’s being done to them. what line it went down, and what it was motorolasolutions.com Through the dashboard, everyone can outfitted with,” says Murray. “By look-
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 41 MODERN special report
To p 20 warehouses Increasingly resilient to global economic moods, 3PL and public refrigerated warehouses persistently achieve modest growth.
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor
ach issue, Modern explores life inside Cold Chain Alliance and partnership ing. Armstrong forecasts continued the nation’s warehouses as we cover association IARW, shares his insight on modest growth in 2014. trends and solutions inside the four the public refrigerated warehouse side. Last year, for the second time in a walls. To give us some perspective, each row, Armstrong predicted global 3PL Eyear we take a look at the square foot- Third-party logistics providers warehousing gross revenues for 2013 age of top third-party logistics (3PL) The biggest global 3PL warehouses would grow by about 6%, following sim- warehouses and the cubic footage of have again posted modest growth amid ilar growth in 2012 and stronger growth public refrigerated warehouses. unparalleled pressures to operate more of 8.2% in 2011. Instead, 2013 actual For this year’s report, we contacted two efficiently. These are among the find- growth was just 3.2%, a rate expected industry insiders. Dick Armstrong, chair ings of an annual ranking of the Top 20 to hold into 2014. of Armstrong & Associates, weighs in on 3PL warehouses supplied to Modern by In the meantime, Armstrong says the 3PL side; and Corey Rosenbusch, Armstrong & Associates, a consulting global trade, not GDP, will tend to president and CEO of both the Global firm specializing in logistics outsourc- inform 3PL revenue growth. His pre-
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Top 20 3PL warehouses, 2014 Warehouse Warehouse Third-party No. of No. of 2014 2013 space 2014 space 2013 logistics provider Headquarters warehouses warehouses Web site Rank Rank (millions of (millions of (3PL) (2014) (2013) square feet) square feet) Exel (DHL Supply Westerville, 1 1 109.0 109.0 534 468 exel.com Chain - Americas) Ohio
2 2 GENCO ATC Pittsburgh, Pa. 36.5 35.0 140 140 gencoatc.com
Ryder Supply Chain 3 7 Miami, Fla. 35.0 31.0 233 233 ryderscs.com Solutions
4 3 Americold Atlanta, Ga. 34.5 34.5 177 182 americold.com
CEVA Logistics 5 4 Houston, Texas 33.0 33.0 164 164 cevalogistics.com Americas
Jacobson Des Moines, 6 5 32.0 32.0 141 141 jacobsonco.com Companies Iowa
Brentwood, 6 6 OHL 32.0 32.0 130 130 ohl.com Tenn.
Kenco Logistic Chattanooga, 8 8 31.0 30.0 90 105 kencogroup.com Services (KLS) Tenn.
UPS Supply Chain 9 13 Alpharetta, Ga. 28.0 20.0 599 100 ups-scs.com Solutions
DB Schenker 10 10 Freeport, N.Y. 27.0 25.0 82 79 dbschenkerusa.com Logistics Americas
Long Beach, 11 9 UTi Worldwide 26.0 26.0 230 245 go2uti.com Calif.
Neovia Logistics Downers 12 11 24.0 24.0 100 100 neovialogistics.com Services Grove, Ill.
Cherry Hill, 13 12 NFI Logistics 22.0 22.0 74 80 nfiindustries.com N.J.
13 14 DSC Logistics Des Plaines, Ill. 22.0 19.5 49 40 dsclogistics.com
Menlo Worldwide San Mateo, 15 15 20.0 18.0 138 138 menloworldwide.com Logistics Calif.
16 16 Penske Logistics Reading, Pa. 19.1 16.4 105 98 penskelogistics.com
Saddle Creek 17 17 Lakeland, Fla. 16.0 16.0 37 37 sclogistics.com Logistics Services
Kuehne + Nagel Jersey City, 18 18 15.1 15.1 75 75 kuehne-nagel.com (The Americas) N.J.
Auburn Hills, 19 syncreon 15.0 95 syncreon.com Mich.
Appleton, 20 19 WSI 14.0 14.0 52 52 wsinc.com Wisc.
Source: Armstrong & Associates diction for 2014 3PL market revenue million square feet is within the mar- “That growth rate makes sense, since growth of 3.5% could see the total 3PL gin of error given minor variations in we’re seeing a long-term trend toward market break the $150 billion mark. “If reports submitted by companies from larger boxes,” Armstrong says. “So, with global trade goes up 3%,” he says, “you year to year. The total square footage the same basic number of facilities, the can expect 3PLs to post two and a half for the Top 10, which again account average will continue to grow.” to three times that.” for 67% of the Top 20’s total with 398 Dramatic changes in the number of In terms of overall square footage, a million square feet, is up 4.3% over last warehouses are often due to variations 4.4% increase from 566 million to 591 year’s figures. in the reports each company submits.
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 43 MODERN special report
Top 20 global public refrigerated warehousing companies, 2014
Rank Organization Country Volume (cubic feet) Volume (cubic meter) 1 Americold Logistics and China Merchants Americold Argentina, Australia, China, 950,051,004 26,902,404 New Zealand, United States 2 Lineage Logistics* United States 544,413,930 15,416,060
3 Swire Cold Chain Logistics (Langfang), Swire Cold Chain Australia, China, Sri Lanka, 304,577,596 8,624,663 Logistics (Shanghai), Swire Cold Storage, Finlay Cold United States, Vietnam Storage (Pvt.), Swire Cold Storage Vietnam, Swire Pacific Cold Storage, United States Cold Storage 4 Preferred Freezer Services China, United States, 235,100,269 6,657,287 Vietnam 5 Nichirei Logistics Group, Eurofrigo, Frigo Logistics, HIWA Japan, Netherlands, Poland 152,406,799 4,315,673 Rotterdam Port Cold Stores 6 Kloosterboer Netherlands 124,403,435 3,522,707
7 VersaCold Logistics Services Canada 115,092,447 3,259,050
8 Partner Logistics Netherlands 101,021,075 2,860,594
9 Interstate Warehousing United States 90,285,937 2,556,609
10 Cloverleaf Cold Storage United States 64,983,705 1,840,131
11 Burris Logistics United States 62,329,576 1,764,974
12 MUK Logistik Germany 60,758,989 1,720,500
13 Nordic Logistics and Warehousing United States 59,529,000 1,685,671
14 Gruppo Marconi Logistica Integrata Italy 55,090,931 1,559,999
15 Columbia Colstor United States 52,800,000 1,495,127
16 Frialsa Frigorificos S.A. De C.V. Mexico 51,463,989 1,457,295
17 Henningsen Cold Storage United States 50,713,890 1,436,055
18 Congebec Logistics Canada 49,660,000 1,406,212
19 Bring Frigoscandia Sweden 42,847,343 1,213,300
20 Hanson Logistics United States 39,498,539 1,118,472
Source: IARW *Lineage Logistics acquired Millard Refrigerated Services in March 2014 and Loop Cold Storage and Oneida Cold Storage in May 2014. The companies’ capacities are combined in the list.
Reports sometimes include forward- list, with three times the square foot- Following years of relative stability ing locations, transportation logistics age of longtime second-place GENCO with regard to the ranking of each Top or 20,000-square-foot warehouses. ATC. GENCO now holds second place 10 company, Armstrong says the recent Armstrong says he works to ensure the with just 1.5 million square feet more scramble at the top is not surprising list focuses specifically on warehous- than Ryder. After two years in third given the fact that clients and contracts ing facilities of 100,000 square feet or place, Jacobson was bumped down to come and go. That said, averages do not more. With that in mind, Armstrong No. 5 in 2012 before landing at No. 6 reveal the shifting landscape of facility says the number of facilities is essen- for 2013. They still manage about the design. Armstrong notes that alongside tially unchanged since last year. same amount of space, as does compet- the trend toward larger boxes is a prolif- itor Ryder, which added just a few mil- eration of smaller regional facilities. The Top 10 lion square feet to leapfrog into third Still, more than 75% of 3PL con- Exel retains its place at the top of the place after a stint at No. 7. tract warehouse locations are single-
44 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com MODERN special report Find customer,Financial Armstrong says, with the solve,Services he says. “Of course West Africa everything remaining locations averaging 1.7 cus- is a mess because of Ebola, the East tomers each.The Somefollowing of the iscompanies a representative because of periodicsample; disruptions it is from you’re on thenot list haveintended successfully to be navigated an exhaustive jihadists, butlisting there of is all a thebright spot the multi-customer space, he says, not- in Scandinavia north of the Alps,” he looking ing Kenco (No. 8), Menlocompanies (No. 15) and in thisadds. category. Saddle Creek (No. 17). But Armstrong’s interest is in pend- for... American“If it’s the Express kind of warehousingEuler Hermescom- ing developmentsMeridian in NorthFinancial America pany212-640-2000 that is really a fulfillment877-883-3224 center, between theGroup United States and thenWeb: obviously it will tend toWeb: have www.eulerhermes.us mul- Canada. At least310-260-2130 15 Mexican trucking News tiplewww.americanexpress.com clients to smooth things Gateway out and Commercial companies areWeb: now authorized to carry better utilize the workforce,”Finance Armstrong LLC in the Unitedwww.meridianfinancial.com States, including STI, Blogs says.Bank “Butof America at the other extreme,340 SE where 1st Street which also operatesPrimeRevenue in Canada. “I find 704-386-5681 you have a warehouse that Delrayis actually Beach, FLit 33483 fascinating, 678-904-7100he says. “There will be a Web: 561-734-2706 Web: primerevenue.com Reports forwww.bankofamerica.com manufacturing support, Toll it’s Free: more 855-424-2955 big change in the next few years with likely to stay tied to that oneFax: client.” 561-734-2708regard to cross-borderRBS traffic and how CitiGroup Email: gateway@that happens. 203-897-2700And it’s way overdue. The Case Studies Trends212-559-1000 to watch for 2014gatewaycfs.comcapability is there,Web: www.rbs.comand it’s time to let “TheWeb: politicalwww.citigroup.com climate at homeWeb: gives gatewaycfs.com you North American trade blend together a Services: Gateway heartburn,” Armstrong asserts. “But the little better.” TradeCard Inc. White Papers CT Logistics Commercial Finance U.S. economy should continue to grow Armstrong 212-405-1800says owner-operators 12487 Plaza Drive USA offers accessible cash Web: www.tradecard.com modestly,Location so on this side of theflow Atlantic, solutions toand pre- teamsters have been “fight- Webcasts bankable, established, or thingsCleveland, are OH in 44130good shape. The Top 20 ing like crazy,”U.S. Bankbut he emphasizes will216-267-2000 not have extmuch 2190 of a problemfast growing in businessesthat he’s been watching the quality, through receivable 866-280-3751 NorthEmail: America, but outside of here it’s safety and generalWeb: www.usbank.com level of Mexican Research [email protected] factoring services. We a mess.”info.ctlogistics.com fund companies operationsproviding for some time. He says, Web: UPS Capital Services:Italy is Celebrating in recession, 92 Germanyproducts and or services to other and more! Englandyears, CT isare the just preeminent keeping theircompanies heads operating in the 877-263-8772 Web: www.upscapital.com aboveprovider water, of global and freight Spain has US.a Whether your business seeks to enhance cash flow, messaudit and that’s payment hard to Visit services for all modes of shed credit risk or seize Visa Inc. transportation. All size new sales opportunities, 650-432-3200 firms, including Fortune 100, Gateway Commercial Web: www.visa.com partner with CT to design Finance has the experience and deliver supply chain to make your objectives a Wells Fargo supplychain247.com solutions. CT’s FreitRater™ reality. 866-867-5568 software, the industry’s Web: www.wellsfargo.com first choice for professional HSBC Corporate freight analysis and TMS Services Zurich North America solutions, calculates 847-564-5000 800-382-2150 freight in all modes and Web: www.us.hsbc.com Web: www.zurichna.com currencies to support your international metrics. JP Morgan Chase & Co. CT provides complete 212-270-3928 supply chain visibility using Web: The most comprehensive Business Intelligence for www.jpmorganchase.com benchmarking and trending resource for logistics, with dashboards for reports. transportation, warehousing, CT has SOCII and ISO MasterCard Worldwide 9001:2008 certifications. 914-249-2000 distribution, and supply chain CT’s professionals are skilled Web: www.mastercard.us professionals. in leveraging expertise and technology to maximize your ROI.
70 LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2014 WWW.LOGISTICSMGMT.COM mmh.com MODERN special report
“most are as good as anything I’ve seen Top 20 North American several kinds of operations within the in the United States.” warehouses total facility.” Whatever the market, Armstrong square footage doubts labor availability in warehous- Public refrigerated warehouses Year Millions of % change ing is a very big issue—unlike the truck square feet This year’s ranking of public refrigerated driver supply. “It’s at an apex point, and warehouses (PRW) reflects positive you have a teeter-totter effect,” he says. 2014 591.2 +4.4% growth, as well as increasing consolida- “The labor supply is level, but it could 2013 566.5 +3.6% tion in the PRW industry. International easily tilt because of a hot economy Association of Refrigerated Warehouses and a demand for capacity. Any short- 2012 547 +0.7% (IARW) has released its annual Global age of capacity would happen primarily 2011 543 +5.6% Top 25 list of the PRWs with the great- because of a shortage of truck drivers. est warehouse capacity, accompanied 2010 514 -2.6% The economy is recovering gradually, so by the North American Top 25 List. right now it’s not a problem. If it hits a 2009 528 +4.6% The Global Top 25 currently oper- real uptick, say economic growth of 7% Source: Armstrong & Associates and ates 3.36 billion cubic feet—a 4% or 8% in a year, we would be short of Modern Materials Handling increase from 2013. The Top 25 North truck drivers in a hurry.” American companies now manage 2.7 In terms of the wider economy, production using leaner practices. billion cubic feet, holding level with Armstrong cites a report that suggests Changing practices and the ongoing last year. new building in prime areas, although it concentration of multichannel ware- Rosenbusch says the growth in hasn’t taken off yet, will include a slow houses is likely to see 3PLs serving a space accompanies a shift in capabili- increase in construction of new boxes. combination of channels from a single ties. “I’m almost hesitant to call them He expects inventories will diminish warehouse. “As it gets bigger,” he sug- refrigerated warehouses, because that as evolving supply chains achieve more gests, “they will probably encompass suggests these companies only do freez- P SERIES 1/4 PAGE 2013_MMH - Advance Lifts 5/19/14 1:42 PM Page 1
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46 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com MODERN special report
ers and cold storage,” he says. “But they Last year’s transactions include “You always hear about a crunch on encompass the entire temperature-con- Lineage’s acquisition of Millard, which human capital and talent development, trolled supply chain.” Rosenbusch says should put the com- about the pressure to always do the job Although 70% of the product pany well north of 600 million cubic cheaper, better and faster in an econ- IARW’s members store is frozen, a shift feet under management on next year’s omy where labor and energy are not in consumer preferences toward fresh list. Lineage also now consists of more getting any cheaper,” Rosenbusch says. foods are prompting many to expand than 12 previously independent, fam- “Automation and software are help- their capabilities. “Whereas some tradi- ily-owned businesses that have come ing, but with the large acquisitions and tionally are only invested in assets and together to be one of largest players in rapid pace of change, integration is the offer a service as a third party, a number the space. No. 1 issue I hear from the big firms. of companies are getting into the man- As the big companies and their facil- One is trying to consolidate between agement of customers’ existing facili- ities get bigger, Rosenbusch suggests it seven and nine warehouse manage- ties,” Rosenbusch says. “The lines are could benefit smaller niche players as ment systems under one umbrella.” blurring.” well, who will find relatively less com- Going forward, Rosenbusch will Rosenbusch adds that a number of petition in that space. Whatever the be paying close attention to regula- acquisitions is also changing the land- size, top refrigerated warehouses are tory developments relating to the Food scape of the temperature-controlled handling the ever-increasing complex- Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) warehousing industry. ity of serving clients. Rosenbusch cites and its provisions for food transporta- “The amount of consolidation is a benchmark study conducted across tion. “It’s fortunate that a lot of the some of the highest we’ve ever seen,” the industry illustrating that, until regulations in preliminary processes are Rosenbusch says. “There were some recently, about 40% of revenue came things our members have been doing late summer transactions, and the from value-added services. Now these for years,” he says. “But the rules for speed of acquisition is not going to slow services account for more than 60% of third-party transportation carriers could down any time soon.” revenues. become even more onerous.” Ⅺ
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By Josh Bond, Associate Editor Flow rack system supports range of pallet types and weights
Parts now located closer to production lines are picked on first-in, first-out basis.
etrag Ford Transmissions is the world’s larg- The new system (Interroll, interroll.com) con- est independent supplier of transmissions and sists of 228 pallet positions in the rack structure, Gdrive systems for passenger cars and light commer- four pallets deep, three tiers high with 19 lanes. cial vehicles with around 13,250 employees spread Supporting FIFO (first-in, first-out) storage, the across 24 sites. The company, located in Liverpool, system handles a mix of pallets including Euro pal- England, sought to centralize storage of incoming lets (800 mm x 1,200 mm), UK pallets (1,000 mm palletized parts, but the concept presented a num- x 1,200 mm), plastic pallets with bases featuring ber of challenges with the many variations in pal- three runners, and those designed with nine raised let construction, size, materials and weights. A new plastic feet—all carrying weights from 600 kg to dynamic pallet flow storage system now accommo- 1,000 kg. dates a variety of pallet types. Following extensive testing in the supplier’s facil- Neil Hodgkinson, contract manufacturing engi- ity, each lane was designed with 60-mm diameter neer at Getrag, says the project was part of a wider rollers at a 78-mm pitch and a safety mechanism lean logistics project to centralize logistics opera- to ensure the safety of operators. When an operator tions within the plant. “The new pallet flow system removes a pallet from the order picking face, there has been located closer to our production area and is a time delay before the device releases the next has provided compact, space-saving cubic storage, pallet in line. Speed controllers move pallets at 0.3 enabling identical products to be grouped in the meters per second regardless of weight. All of the same lane and bays,” he says. “This, in turn, simpli- FIFO lanes were fitted with rollers 1,250 mm wide fies location and order picking of parts to support to future-proof the system in the event 1,200 mm x production of some 1,600 to 2,000 gearboxes daily.” 1,200 mm wooden pallets are introduced. M
48 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com MODERN productivity solution
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor New storage system accommodates 50% more SKUs Forward pick area uses hanging textile compartments to improve picker efficiency.
arice, a leading distributor of craft supplies, in one of its warehouses. This installation provided faced the common problem of needing to almost 12,000 individual SKU locations or “cells,” Dnearly double the number of SKU pick-faces in its and houses 50% more SKUs in the same space. warehouse. Rather than find or build a new ware- These space utilization improvements con- house or install a rack-supported pick module, the tinue to pay dividends, according to a manager at company used a textile storage system (SpeedCell, Darice, who notes improved overall order picking speedcell.net) to streamline picking. efficiency of almost 30%. “The increase in pick- Darice was landlocked in Strongsville, Ohio, out face density means pickers don’t have to walk as of warehouse space and considering a major ware- far to access the same number of SKUs,” he says. house redesign. The company installed 88 bays of “Our pickers simply spend less time walking and the new storage system in a 20,000-square-foot area more time picking.” M
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 49 MODERN productivity solution
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor High-speed doors help control temperatures
Grocery distributor sees energy and maintenance savings with fully automatic insulated doors.
uperValu is the third-largest food Sretailer in the United States, operating 2,500 stores and serving as primary distributor to a 2,200 more. To separate grocery products from refrigerated and freezer areas, The new doors (Rite-Hite, ritehite.com) are used to the company installed fully automatic high-speed separate groceries from dairy and meat, while a more doors that are approaching their five millionth cycle. robustly insulated version enables quick access to the Prior to installing the new door in 2001, the freezer. The doors operate at up to 100 inches per sec- company’s 324,000-square-foot distribution cen- ond, contributing to energy savings. Safety features ter in Fargo, N.D., had been using flap doors include a soft edge technology, thru-beam photo eyes and quick doors with pull ropes to separate the and motion detection. Since installing the doors, Heuer 60,000-square-feet freezer space and 130,000 says maintenance costs and time have been reduced. square feet of coolers containing perishables from “Compared to our previous doors, they run pretty the rest of the facility. maintenance free,” says Heuer, who adds that per- “With our old system, we were doing so much sonnel keep a close eye on cycle counts and perform maintenance,” says Dwight Heuer, facilities manag- the necessary maintenance at regular intervals. “We er. “Now, it’s a lot less hassle and a better seal. The did some before-and-after testing with an infrared other products would cut down on air flow, but they gun. The temperature loss was a lot less with the wouldn’t seal it very well, whereas the new doors can doors. Our freezer temperature is not only controlled, maintain the temperature.” it also doesn’t have frost problems.” M
50 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com MODERN productivity solution
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor YMS increases 3PL’s yard velocity
Real-time view into massive yard boosts efficiency while reducing the number of yard tenders.
niversal operates one of the largest crossdocks in the yard trucks enable drivers to interact with in the United States, supporting leading auto- the YMS. Using RFID and GPS, drivers, managers Umotive manufacturers and component suppliers. and yard truck operators now have real-time vis- To coordinate daily visits of more than 800 trailers to ibility into the locations of trailers and equipment. 350 doors and 500 trailer parking spaces, the compa- These yard trucks scan temporary RFID tags ny deployed a yard management system (YMS) com- that are assigned to inbound trailers when they bining RFID and GPS technologies. The system’s check in and are removed at check out. Guards at real-time functionality has significantly improved the gate can now direct drivers to a drop location yard efficiency. or dock door and provide move requests to the Before the new system, a massive queue of trail- yard truck drivers. ers often built up at the facility’s entrance. Once “The previous approach limited the volume of inside, drivers would then have difficulty locating trailers we could process,” says Paul Adams, general trailers. Daily manual yard checks performed by six manager. “We’ve been able to scale to more than yard trucks per shift were a time-consuming and 800 trailer visits per day, and reduced the number unmonitored activity. of yard trucks by one per shift.” The project (PINC Solutions, pincsolutions. Adams also notes improved service times for com) included the creation of a facility map and Universal’s automotive customers and improved the installation of RFID readers at the gate and yard safety as a result of tracking the speeds and on the yard trucks. Rugged touchscreen displays travel histories of yard trucks. M
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 51 A SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO
Alleviating pain points using automatic data capture Four companies share how they successfully connected the data points to streamline their operations.
By Josh Bond, Associate Editor
s the supply chain targets the efficient movement of both data and materi- als, myriad solutions must work in concert to capture and collate informa- tion at each step. The digital chains of custody are only as strong as their weakest links, which had long undermined operations for these companies. Here, we take a look inside four facilities: Wesco Aircraft, Slingshot ASports, Allied Glass and Grove Medical. After identifying pain points, each facility strengthened the quality of data transmission while dramatically increasing productivity.
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Inventory management helps manufacturer bring operations stateside New platform supports rapid growth and scales with expansions.
lingshot Sports is a Hood River, Ore. -based manufacturer of kiteboards, wakeboards, standup paddleboards and longboard Sskateboards. The company produces more than 15,000 water boards a year at a plant in North Bonneville, Wash. Using an integrated suite of inventory, manufacturing and customer relation- ship software, the company was able to bring manufacturing from China to the states, launch a subsidiary and minimize inventory costs. When it abandoned contract manufacturing overseas, the company also stopped using stan- dard foam cores in favor of locally sourced wood in Washington. Faced with a need to closely tailor inventory to demand, managers sought to coordi- nate the sourcing of components from 30 suppliers in Asia and Washington state. New work order and assemblies modules enable streamlined production with bills rate expected by 2015. of material, work orders, bin management and other func- Slingshot executives say the new integrated platform has tionality to support lean operations. given them flexibility and efficiency in managing the supply The company has more than doubled its revenue since chain and the business at large. “It gives us one system as a implementing the new cloud-based software (NetSuite, net- single source of the truth, and it can be easily customized suite.com) in 2007, while expanding its network of retail to our needs,” says Greg Kish, Slingshot sales and market- partners in the United States to more than 450. In early ing director. “We have real-time inventory, better reporting, 2014, the company enabled online ordering and self-service better information on sales orders and shipping, and that’s account management for B2B customers. An alternative to a huge advantage over competitors that are still using anti- e-mail and phone orders, B2B e-commerce has grown to han- quated systems. The biggest benefit is scalability and how we dle 25% of all orders in just four months, with a 50% to 75% can grow so quickly with it.”
Forklift-mounted printer stands up to strenuous application More reliable portable printer boosts picker efficiency.
ince its founding in 1953, Wesco Aircraft of Valencia, repair and operations (MRO) markets. After mounting rug- Calif., has grown into a leading distributor and pro- ged portable printers to lift trucks, the company improved vider of supply chain management solutions for more picking accuracy, efficiency and reliability. Sthan 8,500 businesses in the commercial aerospace, defense “The main challenge is finding printers that will take the aerospace and ground vehicle, industrial, and maintenance, beating of being on a forklift all day without having to send
54 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com Let Dehnco Help You Evaluate and Integrate Workstations, Supply Storage and Equipment Needs with Your Automation, Technology and Material Handling Systems . . . AT A PRICE YOU CAN AFFORD
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them out for service constantly,” says Sid Schreiber, ware- house operations manager for Wesco Aircraft. “We also have to find a printer that will print labels that meet all of our customers’ requirements. We have had many issues with the printers we have used.” The company has a global inventory of more than 575,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) requiring a variety of labels to be printed on-demand. After partnering with an integrator (ADC Technologies, adctech.com), the company selected new printers (Datamax-O’Neil, datamax-oneil.com) that were rugged and compact, taking up less than half the space of a traditional desktop label printer. An anti-vibration quick- lock mounting plate preserves label integrity while printing from a forklift mount. Schreiber says the printers can be operated with one hand while wearing a leather or latex glove, and because the paper path is accessible through the side of the printer, change outs Schreiber says. “All we’ve heard is good things about the are quick and easy. reliability, ease of use and capacity of the labels they feed “I have found these printers to be easy to work with,” through it. They have really been successful in a lot of ways.” On-board terminals ensure swift and accurate data transmission Manufacturer improves connectivity, lift truck cabin ergonomics and speed with PC-based computers.
llied Glass, a supplier of luxury glass packaging, stores most of its stock in a warehouse where products are moved by lift truck. After replac- ingA tablet-based terminals with new mounted comput- ers, the company improved efficiency and productivity. The company’s previous on-board tablet computers had very poor Wi-Fi performance, resulting in frequent network dropouts as the lift trucks moved around the warehouse. This caused delays in goods reaching their intended destination and negatively impacted the site’s productivity. The new PC-based computers (In-CarPC, in-carpc. co.uk) run an internally developed program that pro- cesses the data and transmits it to the company’s back- office servers, in real time, over Wi-Fi. Dual high-gain Wi-Fi antennas mounted on the forklift’s roof ensure a consistent connection. As each product is loaded onto a lift truck, the move is recorded by the driver, who scans the product’s bar code using a wireless bar code scan- ner connected to a 10.4-inch, touch-sensitive display mounted in the cab. “We are very pleased with the solution, which has
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significantly improved our Wi-Fi con- vious solution even when the same able to free up a bit of room in the cab, nectivity,” says Russell Bavester, infor- antennas are used, and our existing bar as the previous tablet was very bulky. mation technologist at Allied Glass. code scanners work seamlessly.” Further, lead times for new units are a “The computers outperform our pre- Bavester says they have also been fraction of what they were in the past. Integrated data capture tools support same-day shipping goals New hands-free system improves productivity and customer experience. ounded in 1988, Grove Medical distributes a complete hands free. His team chose new multi-carrier shipping technol- line of medical services, supplies, equipment and tech- ogy (ADSI adsionline.com), integrated with finger scanners nology solutions for nursing homes, home care services, (Motorola Solutions, recently acquired by Zebra Technologies, Fdurable medical equipment dealers and other long-term care motorolasolutions.com) and printers (Zebra, zebra.com). operators. E-commerce has played a big role in building the “Our goal was to increase shipment processing speed by a company’s B2B business. Recognizing that more than 70% ratio of 10:1 compared to our legacy system,” he says, noting of its orders come in the company’s e-commerce sites, the that the company strives to ensure that all orders received by company deployed new hands-free picking technologies to 6 p.m. each day are shipped the same day. They have suc- increase processing speed by 1,200%. cessfully met that deadline for 320 days. Michael Laico, Grove’s vice president of operations, was The new solution exceeded goals by improving process- charged with implementing a next-generation technology ing speed by 12:1 and helped reduce labor by 1.5 full-time platform. He began with a fully integrated wholesale dis- employees. For each packed order, the system applies a bar tribution software solution for distributors (Epicor, epicor. coded license plate with embedded order and shipping data. com). His next step was to identify a shipping system that It then auto-generates invoices, e-mails and reports. would provide sophisticated freight cost management tools “Our customers absolutely love the customized packing for small parcel and LTL shipments, increase warehouse list that we’re able to create for them,” Laico says. “It’s a shipment processing productivity, and directly interface with huge feature in closing new business.” The system also pro- the new software. duces customized dock labels, which have further stream- Laico also wanted to accelerate shipment processing by going lined processing. M
58 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com FOCUS ON Pallets
Design wood pallets, unit mized deck deflection. The pallet’s light- loads with latest version weight structure extends its usable life of software while reducing cost. Constructed with Version 2.1 of Best Load and Best Pallet 100% recycled material, the 48 x 45-inch software has been enhanced to include pallet features four ergonomic hand a structural analysis procedure for block holds, four-way pallet jack and forklift entry, a smooth deck with four-sided retaining lip and can be equipped with optional seat belts. When empty, the halogen-free, there are no bromines in it. pallets are nestable for efficient storage. The material meets environmental, safety Schaefer Systems International, 888- and health regulations without compro- 774-8683, www.ssi-schaefer.us. mising pallet performance. Among the pallets offered in the FM-approved mate- Composite pallet meets rial is the 40 x 48-inch HF RackoCell that UL2335 standards for is edge-rackable up to 2,200 pounds (in fire retardance the 40-inch direction) in ambient tem- Manufactured from Baydur PUL 2500 peratures. ORBIS, 800-890-7292, www. pallets. Best Pallet software enables two-component polyurethane resin orbiscorporation.com. the design of almost any wood pallet, from Bayer MaterialScience, the and now includes revised stringer pallet BLOCKPal composite pallet will not Transport loads on input interfaces. Best Load models the splinter, warp or absorb moisture. It has 48 x 40-inch and mechanical interactions between pack- been tested to meet UL2335 standards 48 x 45-inch light-duty aging systems, pallets and storage and pallets handling equipment. By analyzing com- A line of light-duty pallets is cost- pression stress distributions imposed effective and ideal for a variety of ship- on packaging, the software can yield up ping applications—from automotive to 18% cost reductions. User friendly, and general manufacturing to food and both software packages may be leased retail product distribution. Offerings annually, and are ideal for pallet and include solid or ventilated deck styles in packaging professionals, buyers and for fire retardance. The resin is specially 48 x 40-inch and 48 x 45-inch footprints. end users. White and Co., 855-552- engineered for pultrusion processes, Injection-molded, lightweight and made 1158, www.whiteandcompany.net. yielding greater shear strength and of 100% recyclable high-density polyeth- higher impact resistance that, in test- ylene (HDPE), the pallets come in a range ing, make the pallets 20 times more of options, including nestable versions Structural foam pallet durable than wood pallets. The pallet with nine feet and stackable models engineered for enhanced is offered in custom sizes or in four with three or five rails. The nine feet and impact resistance standard footprints: 1,200 x 1,000 mil- three-rail models support dynamic loads Made of structural foam, the Krypto-Lite limeters; 1,200 x 800 millimeters; 1,165 up to 1,200 pounds, while the five-rail (SFK) pallet is engineered to withstand x 1,165 millimeters; and 48 x 40 inches. model holds dynamic loads up to 2,500 extreme handling conditions through To support track-and-trace programs, pounds. Because the pallets are reusable, enhanced impact resistance and mini- the pallets can be equipped with an they can transport loads through hun- RFID tag. RM2 International, 844-779- dreds of round trips for a lower overall 9858, www.rm2.com. cost per trip. Buckhorn, 800-543-4454, www.buckhorninc.com.
FM-approved pallet made from halogen-free material More than 18 different pallets are now offered in a new, non-halogenated, fire- retardant plastic material that has been FM approved. Because the material is
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 59 FOCUS ON Pallets
requirements to a data file, and e-mail the file to their pallet manufacturer. FastenerSync provides insight into how the fastener influences the strength of a pallet connection. Ideal for use by fastener manufacturers, the software aids in the design of a fastener, then Nestable pallet can be allows its specifications to be saved and static load capacity of 12,000 pounds shipped in quantities of sent as a file to the pallet manufacturer. and dynamic load capacity of 2,700 2,340 per load National Wooden Pallet & Container pounds. For enhanced strength and With 2,340 nested pallets (78 pallets per Association (NWPCA), 703-519-6104, four-way fork entry, peripheral bottom stack) filling a 53-foot trailer load, the www.palletcentral.com. stringers are incorporated. Lightweight, CPP 100 maximizes shipping capacities. maintenance-free and sanitary, the pal- Engineered to be extremely lightweight lets will not rot, warp, splinter or harbor for use as a one-way export pallet—par- infestations. Because they are safe and ticularly with air cargo—the maintenance- sterile for cleanroom environments, they free unit resists insect, bacterial and can be used in any facility and come in fungal infestations. Competitive in price FDA-approved and fire retardant materi- to heat-treated wood, the pallets feature als. Flexcon Container, 908-871-7000, nine feet, a 48 x 40 x 5.2-inch dimension www.flexcontainer.com. with a 0.2-inch safety rim, and are made from recycled material (either ACM or Easy shipping with eco- PE). The pallets hold static loads up to friendly, single-use pallets Protect 48 x 40-inch wood 3,500 pounds and dynamic loads to 2,200 Offered as economical solution that pallet deck boards, stringers pounds. CABKA North America, 314- reduces costs and simplifies shipping, a with attachment 731-0302, www.cabka.com. line of open loop export pallets is con- Engineered to attach to a wooden pallet structed from 100% composite recycled with three stringers (runners) measuring plastic. This makes them resistant to 1.5 x 3.5 inches and with 0.5- to 0.75-inch Association offers insects, bacteria, fungi, acids, fats and thick deckboards, the 39.5-inch wide two free pallet design solvents. The nestable, one-way pallets pointGUARD SP40S pallet protector is software systems minimize load weight while withstanding offered for use with 48 x 40-inch pallets. Two free software tools, LoadSync and dynamic capacities from 1,200 to 3,000 Sold as a set of two, the attachments FastenerSync, enhance collaboration pounds. Optional snap on bottom skid provide protection for the top lead board for pallet engineers and pallet users. runners may be specified for certain mod- and the end of the stringers from impact The programs work with the industry- els. The pallets are tested in accordance damage by lift trucks or pallet jacks. standard Pallet Design System software with elements of the ISO 8611 standard The units are made of virgin polypropyl- package widely used for pallet creation. and conform to ISPM 15 regulation. ene plastic and securely attach to the With LoadSync, users can easily and Beacon Industries, 314-487-7600, pallet with six 2-inch #8 wood screws. completely define all pallet and unit www.beacontechnology.com. Measuring just 0.25 inches thick and load handling requirements, save the manufactured in orange for high visibility, the units are ideal for pallets used in cap- Stackable pallet made of tive and closed-loop applications, as well 100% recycled plastic as automated and standard warehouses. Newly released, a 45 x 48-inch, cost- United Pallet Services, 209-538-5844, effective stackable pallet is made www.palletprotector.com. of 100% recycled plastic material. Recyclable itself at the end of its useful life, the pallet is offered as a replace- ment for wood. The pallet may be speci- fied with or without a lip. It features
60 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com FOCUS ON Pallets
Double-leg construction to-weight ratio for 2,800-pound edge stands up to forklift damage rack capacity (the pallet weighs less With 70% of pallet damage occurring in than 50 pounds), SnapLock construc- the leg and caused by forklifts, the 40 x tion minimizes pallet jack damage and 48-inch line of DLR pallets is engineered allows for easy repairs, a non-cruciform with patented, double-leg construction. bottom to enhance handling efficiencies This provides twice the damage protec- and enhanced trailer cubing due to the Flame-retardant plastic pallet’s height. In addition to full-color pallets in six different sizes branding options allowing for corporate A full line of JIFRAM recycled plastic identification, the pallet also meets cur- pallets is offered in six sizes, ranging rent FSMA and e-pedigree traceability from 32 x 36 x 4.5 inches to 48 x 96 standards, providing the ability to track x 5 inches. The pallets are ideal for and trace product movement throughout international shipments and feature a the supply chain using RFID and GPS. slip-resistant surface. Flame-retardant tion compared to single-leg pallets, Made from high-density polyethylene and impervious to bug infestations and and extends its usable life. The pallet (HDPE) resin using high-pressure injec- extreme climates, the two- and four-way is manufactured from 100% recyclable, tion molding that prevents moisture and fork entry pallets handle dynamic load FDA-approved materials. Features bacteria absorption, the pallet is 100% capacities from 1,500 to 3,000 pounds. include a ratchet fastening system recyclable. Rehrig Pacific, 800-421- C&H Distributors, 888-316-2223, (instead of welded or snap construction) 6244, www.rehrigpacific.com. www.chdist.com. and a choice of two easy-to-clean deck designs: open or solid top. Ideal for hygienic applications, the pallet can be used in food, pharmaceutical and retail industries. It may also be specified in fire- retardant, FM-approved plastic materials. Polymer Solutions International, 610- 325-7500, www.prostack.com. MOVE MORE WITH CREFORM AGV SYSTEMS.
Creform engineers can help you move more. We analyze, plan, and install point-to-point or plant-wide AGV systems that meet your material handling needs while keeping lean and continuous improvement goals in mind. With a wide selection of bolt-on or BST undercarriage AGVs, and extensive custom or existing Rackable GMA pallet cart configurations, our sales engineers can resolve your most challenging material offers high strength-to- handling needs. And coupled with our reliable control systems for vehicle weight ratio management, we can be up and running fast. The new GMA-228 rackable pallet has Make the right move and let us show how you can move more. been re-engineered to achieve lower costs per trip and improve sustainabil- ity. Features include a high strength- www.creform.com • 800-839-8823
mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 61 CRE-394 4.5x4.625.indd 1 11/5/12 9:21 AM FOCUS ON Pallets
Lightweight distribution trapped water and cross-contamination. float inventory pallets reduce For better protection against impacts, and increases transportation, fuel costs the pallet features thick legs and robust plant safety The Packpal line of lightweight distribu- ribs. Options include an intermittent by interfacing tion pallets reduces fuel costs in multiple- perimeter lip, rubber grommets, custom with both cart trip logistics operations. Compatible with logo molded into or hot-stamped on and tug equip- both automated and manual materials the side for identification, and a choice ment—eliminat- handling equip- of standard colors: blue, black or gray. ing forklift use. ment, the series Pallets made from fire-retardant, deca- Lightweight, includes eight bromide free material (FM approved) the pallet is different mod- may be specified in blue, black, gray, red constructed from structural foam and els, including or green. TMF, 866-713-9446, www. works with most pallet jacks. Multiple nestable ver- protechpallet.com. top deck options are offered to address sions with nine specific payload and robotic interface feet, open- and Specify strength-enhancing requirements. Engineered for use with solid-deck mod- features on custom pallets totes, trays, bins and sleeves, the system els, recycled materials, three snap-on run- A line of custom-engineered pallets, man- eliminates stretch wrap and banding while ners and perimeter runners. The pallets ufactured from recycled plastic, can now improving product retention and load sta- are suitable for freezer applications to be enhanced with a variety of new fea- bility. Creative Techniques, 800-473-0284, –22°F (-30°C) thanks to high-density poly- tures. Among www.creativetechniques. ethylene (HDPE) construction. They come them is a heavy- in two sizes: 47.2 x 31.5 inches (1,200 x duty, 1-inch non- Configure steel pallets 800 millimeters) and 47.2 x 39.4 inches slip deck board with removable pins to (1,200 x 1,000 millimeters). Capable of that supports handle blanks holding static loads up to 3,300 pounds loads weighing A line of steel pin pallets for handling (1,500 kilograms), the pallets transport more than 1,500 metal blanks eliminates the need for dynamic loads up to 1,433 pounds (650 pounds. Sturdy banding, while simultaneously providing a kilograms). Schoeller Allibert, 44-0-121- endcaps protect stringers from damage robust frame that increases pallet longev- 506-0100, www.schoellerallibert.com. or splitting caused by forklifts. For opera- ity and product security. The pallets incor- tions with high levels of humidity or mois- porate perforated holes that allow steel Structural foam pallet ture that could cause corrosion, optional pins to drop through. The pins hold blanks features one-piece stainless steel screws may be specified in a secure posi- construction and for use in the pallet’s construction. All tion to reduce flow-through deck pallets are made to order, allowing for transit dam- Featuring one-piece construction and unique specification of size, number of age. Custom- made from high-density polyethylene stringers, number and thickness of deck engineered to (HDPE) structural foam, the Protech 4048 boards, static weight capacities, use of unique specifica- pallet measures 40 x 48 x 5.12 inches and casters and other accessories. Custom tions, the pallets Built Plastic Pallets, 920-467-2477, are returnable, www.custombuiltpallets.com. reusable and recyclable. For Paired with a lid, pallet maximum return shipping density, the system ideal for line-side steel pins can be removed, allowing the component deliveries pallets to be stacked for convenient weighs 42 pounds. It is capable of han- Supplied with the ratchet locking enviro- storage and transport. Pins can also dling a maximum dynamic load of 4,000 Lid, the enviroPack pallet system for unit be configured to achieve accurate and pounds (maximum static load capacity load shipments supports lean line-side repeatable blank placement in conven- is 30,000 pounds), and can be easily processes, including just-in-time (JIT) tional or robotic destacking applications. cleaned and sanitized between uses. and Kanban. With a footprint measuring Worthington Industries, 614-438-3210, The pallet’s flow-through deck minimizes 32 x 36 inches, the system reduces in- www.worthingtonindustries.com.
62 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com FOCUS ON Pallets
Combination pallet, trays and lid system thermoformed to hold parts securely A line of pigeon-hole packs are manufactured of recycled/recy- clable high molecular weight high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in a single-sheet and twin-sheet thermoforming process—for tight dimensional specs and intricate detail on the outer part surface. The packs are optimized for weight and structural per- Heavy-duty spill containment decks formance and supplied as a complete system including a pallet, The PIG Poly Deck with pallet jack pockets has been added trays and a cover. Features to the supplier’s line of heavy-duty spill containment decks. include the ability to load and Designed for tight areas where lift trucks can’t reach or facili- unload the trays from the ties without powered industrial trucks, the deck’s fork pocket sides, as well as hardware to channels are sized and spaced to fit most pallet jacks, allowing secure each piece together decks to be moved quickly and easily with a pallet jack, even for maximum stability and when fully loaded. The low-density polyethylene construction product protection. Options resists UV rays, rust, corrosion and most chemicals. A low-pro- include custom striping, file 6.5-inch design allows for quick access to pumps and fun- labels and molded-in letter- nels and makes loading and unloading easy. The 2,000-pound ing. Vinyl curtains can also UDL capacity will support two fully loaded steel or poly drums. be applied to the sides of Textured grating adds traction and lifts out for easy sump the pack to keep out dirt and debris. Because they are stack- access. New Pig, 800-493-4647, www.newpig.com. able, the packs maximize warehouse space and efficiency while reducing transportation costs. PendaForm, 800-837-2574, www.pendaform.com. Are your wooden pallet prices through the roof? TRY LITCO’S Supplement dimensionally inconsistent INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING PALLETS pallets with aluminum pallet board •Mold and Pest Free– Clean and dry Ideal for use in automated facili- •Small Sizes–24”x40” and Half Euro as low as $3.95 48”×40” ties, the ALX SP-95 pallet board •Large Sizes–Domestic and Euro as low as $6.75 AS LOW AS supports dimensionally incon- $6.75 EACH sistent (or damaged) wood or plastic pallets, allow- ing them to be used Meets in automated storage IPPC-ISPM 15 and retrieval systems “Heat Treated” to eliminate operation Requirements interruptions. Constructed from non-toxic, high-performance, thin-walled aluminum extrusions that are robotically welded for high strength, the unit includes ergonomic handhold openings to prevent employee injury. The pallet board resists extreme temperatures, moisture, bacterial growth, corrosion, creep and damage from ultraviolet light exposure. It measures 50 x 42 x 1 inches and weighs 23 pounds. Due to its inherent structural integrity, products can also be loaded directly onto the pallet board. The entire fleet of pallet boards can be tracked and man- aged with data streaming from bar code, RFID or other tracking technologies sources. ALX Material Handling Solutions, 888- Visit Litco.com for “Buy it Now”, 424-4901, www.alxpallet.com. Bulk Buy RFQ and a Free Sample
48 x 40 Buy Now 855.296.2891 All Litco products are designed to Carry your products safely on through the most demanding supply chains mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 63 PRODUCT Showcase
AGC tows up to 4,000 load, eliminating the need for drivers pounds; carries up to to consult charts or rely on memory. 2,400 pounds During the load type and configuration The newest model of the SmartCart selection process, the system tracks and automatic guided cart, the 300TT tun- records the information for later review nel/tugger is a flexible and affordable if needed. Easy to understand, drivers way to move products on an assembly can learn the system’s basics in 10 min- line or to transport goods throughout a dant may be detached, enabling the utes; training on the entire system takes plant or warehouse. Capable of towing operator to roam up to 15 feet from the less than an hour. Cascade, 800-227- up to 4,000 pounds and carrying up to controller while remaining in control of 2233, www.cascorp.com. the system. For easier maintenance and inspections, the air skate now incorpo- Android-OS touch computer rates an air inlet block, allowing both engineered for rugged use the air bearing and bearing tray to be Running the Android KitKat operating removed in seconds without detach- system, the Symbol TC70 touch comput- ing any external hoses or clamps. The er combines the ease of a smart phone system comes in seven sizes, with air with the durability, reliability and perfor- bearing diameters ranging from 12 to 2,400 pounds, the vehicle incorporates a 48 inches and individual skid capacities 1.25-inch diameter pop-up pin that allows from 3,000 to 52,500 pounds. Align trailers to be towed from underneath, Production Systems, 217-423-6001, referred to as tunneling. This allows for www.airfloat.com. the automatic coupling and decoupling of trailers, increasing flexibility within an Touchscreen helps operators assembly or warehouse operation. Easy consistently apply perfect to deploy and reconfigure, the vehicles clamp force travel along a magnetic path that can be Offered as a means to improve load quickly installed, modified or expanded handling and reduce the chance of to meet changing production needs. product damage, the TFC Touch Force mance required by manufacturing and Jervis B. Webb Co., a subsidiary of Control touchscreen system provides a distribution operations. The device is Daifuku Webb Holding Co., 248-553- supported by more than 50 applications, 1000, www.daifukuwebb.com. including price and inventory checks, line busting, assisted selling, workforce and inventory management. Features Improved air skid system include a 4.7-inch, high-resolution dis- easier to operate, service play that can be used with wet fingers, The Airfloat workhorse air skid system gloves or a stylus; voice-over-IP-ready has been re-engineered, making it easier configuration; the ability to capture to operate and service. The device’s con- data including 1D and 2D bar codes at troller can now be carried by the opera- extended range, signatures, images, tor during equipment moves or placed lift truck driver the ability to consistent- videos and for payment processing; on the ground in an upright or horizontal ly apply the perfect clamp force. The and integrated security to protect busi- position. The controller has individual customizable pressure control device ness data and network access with URL flow controls and quick disconnects for is ideal for use with the supplier’s line filters, communication management each skid, in addition to an air pressure of carton clamps as well as with paper and sensor lock down. Using Wi-Fi, a indicator. An optional dead man safety roll clamps and layer pickers. To use the push-to-talk feature allows the device to pendant mounts to the controller han- system, the operator visually identifies serve as a two-way radio. For durability, dle, allowing the operator to energize/ the load to be handled and selects the the fully submersible computer is IP67 de-energize the air skid system with the load configuration. After just one to sealed and can withstand high drops to touch of a button. When the controller three touches, the system automatically concrete. Motorola Solutions, 847-576- is placed on the floor, the safety pen- selects the proper clamp force for that 5000, www.motorolasolutions.com.
64 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com WRAP UP ® Buckhorn The Intrepid 48” x 40” specialty classifi ed bulk box from Buckhorn Inc. was a highlight at this year’s Pack For classified advertising, or for more Expo. Intrepid is reusable and is information, contact: Jennifer Drevline, designed for a variety of applica- tions including liquid, powder and 847-223-5225, Ext. 11, [email protected] food products. It is constructed of FDA approved material, and it offers smooth surfaces for easy cleaning. It handles loads up to HEAVY-DUTY INDUSTRIAL CARTS 2,500 pounds, and it assembles Easy to move & dump and collapses in seconds. Up to 240 containers fit in a 53’ trailer. Quality & durability Assorted models Buckhorn Inc. U.S.: 800-543-4454 Canada: 800-461-7579 www.buckhorninc.com 800.356.9042 cecor.net Packsize International Rethink Packaging with Packsize’s On Demand Packaging® Packsize On Demand Packaging® includes an opti- mized mix of equipment, software, and services to give businesses with complex corrugated packaging requirements everything they need to make the right sized box for every product, on demand. Reduce dimensional charges, improve shipping, minimize the use of air pillows, eliminate product damages, decrease environmental impact, and increase customer satisfaction. Newly available, learn how PackNet™ optimizes order size, material requirements, and packaging throughput for a variety of distribution packaging environments.
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mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D ECEMBER 2 0 1 4 65 MODERN 60 Seconds with...
innovation—very distinct from product innovation—is the combining Jim Rice and application of a mix of inventions, existing processes and technologies Massachusetts in a new way to create improvements in cost, quality, cash and/or service. Institute of Technology Modern: Are there different kinds of supply chain innovation? TITLE/COMPANY: Deputy Director, Center for Transportation and Rice: Adapting from Clay Logistics (CTL), Massachusetts Christensen’s work, I say there Institute of Technology are two. First, there’s sustaining innovation, or all the things we in LOCATION: Cambridge, Mass. the supply chain have been doing EXPERIENCE: More than 30 years for decades. We’ve called it many working in the supply chain, things, including kaizen and business including 20 years at MIT process re-engineering. These are PRIMARY FOCUS: MIT’s CTL methods for doing things better, not easy to identify a process that is develops supply chain innovation faster, cheaper and at a higher contrary to the dominant design that with its business partners and then quality. Then, there is disruptive also is dramatically lower in cost or drives it into practice in the supply innovation, which significantly cycle time. Dominant designs enable chain domain. changes the economics of a particular various production economies, and so process. We say it changes the new approaches have to dramatically dominant design, which is a term change the economics of the most coined by Jim Utterback at MIT. In economic approach. It’s not easy. Modern: Jim, innovation is in the the product space, the mobile phone Most companies need the continuous air. TV commercials tout innovative changed the dominant design of the improvement from sustaining supply new products and opinion makers telephone and the DVD challenged chain innovation, but are unwilling to say innovation will lead the the dominant design of recorded risk their existing market position to economy out of its funk. How did media from VHS as standard. In the attract to the appeal of a disruptive you get interested in researching supply chain, think about computers supply chain innovation. innovation? before Dell. The dominant design Rice: The thing that motivated was to make a computer to stock that Modern: Is innovation a necessary me was how frequently I heard consumers would buy off the shelf. ingredient to success, profitability people talking about innovation, Dell changed the dominant design or market leadership? by making computers to order and including our business partners. Most Rice: I think that companies have selling directly to the consumer. companies wanted to have it, but to innovate to improve, but not all There are other examples, but there there wasn’t a clear understanding companies need to pursue disruptive aren’t as many examples of disruptive of what it is they wanted. I wanted to supply chain innovation. In the supply innovation in the supply chain as understand what constitutes supply chain, we are slaves to the needs of there are of disruptive product chain innovation, so I talked to a lot the go-to-market approach, which innovations. of people, read a lot and tried to means that the supply chain has to synthesize it into a simple approach. serve the business strategy. Supply Modern : Why is that? chain innovation can help serve that Modern : How do you define Rice: In the Innovator’s Dilemma, need in different ways. If your go-to- innovation? What is it? Christensen argues that disruptive market approach is to be responsive, Rice: Most people think in terms innovation doesn’t typically come then your supply chain has to be of product innovation, like the from the market leaders because responsive. If you compete on low iPhone, but the concept can apply they risk alienating existing customers. cost, the supply chain has to figure to processes as well, such as a So if you want to upset the apple out a way to be low cost. It’s OK to supply chain process. Supply chain cart, you have to be prepared to disrupt the design as long as you can risk your market position. Plus, it’s serve that business need. M
66 D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com supplychain247.com
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