IMPORTANCE WHEN CHOOSING AN ORDER PICKING SYSTEM

The productivity of a logistics center depends to a large extent on the efficiency of the picking process. Therefore, the parameters that I consider most important before selecting this process are the performance, flexibility and ergonomics of the picking system.

As we have already learned in class, there are 3 modes to make the picking, which will not cease to exist even if a picking system is included.

• Goods to Person

The required articles are brought from the warehouse to the selector by means of conveyor technology. The picker collects the products for an order in one or several containers.

Example: Flexible voice-based solutions

• Person to Good

The selector moves within specific zones of the goods, selects the desired number of items and places them in a container of orders.

 Link: Example

• Automatically

In this case no manual action is required.

method that best fits a company depends on the specific application, however, four parameters must be considered before deciding on a specific solution:

• Range of articles

• Average order size
• Frequency of picking
• Weight and dimensions of the articles

Sources:

https://www.intelligrated.com/es/trabajar-en-intelligrated

http://cashtrainers.com/2015/metodo-seleccion-de-pedidos-en-almacen-para-odoo

http://www.logisticaytransporte.es/noticias.php/Lo-que-realmente-importa-al-elegir-un-sistema-de-selección-de-pedidos.-cl.-seleccion,-pedidos/82768

 

The 4 major drawbacks of warehouse design

I believe that warehouses are a critical necessity in the global chain to satisfy customers and therefore a poorly designed warehouse design can be an essential element in having a logistics problem in a Company.

Despite this element, I consider that the supply chain faces two other important barriers, such as the determination of picking techniques and the choice of technology. That is why given my experience, I will mention other extra points to the class, which would be important to keep in mind when designing a store.

Photographic credits: macrovector

I.   Fixed costs. Always contemplate the investment (from the racks to conveyors, from forklifts to picking systems).  

II.     The difficulty of coordination with other functions, such as distribution and transportation. In this point there must be the flexibility and agility to adaccionar to the high peaks both the input and the delivery (output) of the warehouse. 

III.     What was considered optimum can stop being fast, so always take in to account the existence of a percentage of uncertainty in all the steps of the design. Example; (The internal flows of your warehouse may vary as well as the type of unit load. 

 IV.   Take into account that at some time the scope of the warehouse design is exceeded, so you can keep articles, boxes and pallets in the most unexpected places, but do not design to take everything that you do not have.

´´Remember that by introducing changes in warehouse design to achieve greater efficiency and more dynamism, increase supply chain sustainability´´.

Pokayoke and Supply Chain

Pokayoke is a simple technique that was developed from Toyota’s production system (Lean methodology) and usually consists in a simple and low-cost device that prevents errors from occurring or detects them, so that you do not go to the next operation. This way of working increases the effectiveness of control by overcoming the inefficiencies of inspection.

The supply chain benefits from pokayoke. Examples are the following situations:

Detection of human errors, alert for something inevitable in daily operations and giving the opportunity to step back and correct them on time.

Detection of simple errors, such as the existence of duplicates, in shipments or documentation:

Detection of mistakes that would otherwise have been unforeseen, spelling mistakes that affect the direction of a shipment, errors in punctuation marks that vary the amount of an invoice or any other similar type of failure that can negatively influence the reputation. , Customer confidence and its positioning in the market.

Example of Pokayoke:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPmQSzc_L9A

FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN THE PACKAGING OF MERCHANDISE IN NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

The transport of the merchandise can be affected by a bad choice in the packaging of the product. As we have discussed in class, there are many factors to take into account, the most important are:

• The stability of the load.
• The amount of unit load to be carried.
• The change in transport or in the vehicle.
• The type of good of the commercial exchange.
• The unitary load standards across the supply chain.
• Resistance of packaging material to climatic changes.
• The distance that will have to travel in the transport.
• The intensity of the manipulation to which it will be subjected during the journey and until reaching its destination.

Based on these factors will have to determine the most suitable type of packaging, which will help to prevent the breakage of goods, their loss or deterioration.

From my point of view, choosing the packaging is an important decision. Consider commercial and marketing aspects, such as consumer tastes in the destination country or the trend in the local market; But also the practical part should be evaluated. Must be assessed:

• The adequacy of the manipulation.
• The need to contain, isolate or protect depends on the product.
• The applicable regulations: which may require the packaging to include certain information or its translation into the local language.

However, in all the different packaging options, it is necessary to take into account the Price, Risk and Normative.

Backhaul: taking advantage of returning vehicles

In many cases you have been seen, how a vehicle made a full delivery and went back to its point of return with empty hands. It is customary to think that this is what happens when making deals but, would be better to go to deliver a package and return to your starting point with another type of merchandise taking advantage of the trip. (This exists in the world of logistics and it´s called backhaul).

Often, backhaul is used in different types of companies, specially in centralized distribution companies such as beverages, household items and those who use some kind of waste to incorporate back into their process and obtain a benefit.

Examples :

The idea is simple; Once the merchandise is delivered, on the way back the vehicle is stopping to those companies that have to return merchandise, products or packaging to the point of return. This type of reverse logistics that is characterized by the return of travels with useful merchandise, brings many benefits for companies that opt for it:

• Increased workload.
• Save time in deliveries.
• Supply more customers.
• Higher priority to customers.
• It can be seen as a new way of business.
• Cost optimization. Cost reduction in the company that supply the material and the company that collect the merchandise.

When the company do the normal route and the return, prevents that other suppliers have to go to the distribution company with the load. With this measure is less contaminated because less CO2 is emitted to the atmosphere by the reduction of trips of the trucks.

When designing a backhaul strategy you have to take into account mainly the planning of delivery routes and collection.

                                                                                                                                    Willy M. De Leon

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FACILITIES DISTRIBUTION

The general focus for the effect of  the distribution of work centers is to order workplace with similar processes in order to optimize their relative location. In many facilities optimum location often means that large volume work centers between departments are placed side by side.

In my years of experience, I have been able to know the different basic formats of distribution can be: Distribution by functions, assembly line and distribution by project.

Distribution by functions, occur when a group of functions or similar equipment, are located in the same are of work in the company. The parts in production advance with a preset sequence of each operation. This type of distribution is common in Hospitals (maternity rooms, intensive care unit).

A good example of this distribution, was the one known through the visit to FORD company, where the work areas are divided by specific functions, (Painting, welding, molding, mechanics). But also they have a assembly lines at the end of the production chain.

The assembly lines, are present when the route of the product or the parts that compose it are in straight line while the transformation or assambly occurs, such as car washes. This is very used in large volumes of production, specially in textile factories or production of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

The distribution by project, in this case the product stays fixed in a place during its manufacture and the production equipment goes to the product. This is common in products with a high weight, as a boat manufacturing amd plane manufacturing.

Cells (Celdas)

This is a hybrid between assanble lines and work centers (distribution by functions). It is widely applied because of its flexibility to work and maximum utilization of human labor. The image shows some of the ways that improvements to assembly lines can take.

My purpose with this topic is, recommend to all the class group the use of U-cells to facilitate human relations, improve the experience of each participant, have less material on the study table and prepare faster assignments made in class.

Reference: Operations management (Production and supply chain) Chase, Richard ; 2009

 

What is Logistics Management? Distribution network

In simple terms “logistics” means having the right amount of a good at the right time, getting it to the appropriate location in proper condition and delivering it to the correct customer. Logistics is a web that links to businesses in every industry sector. The goal is to manage the fulfillment of each customer.

To meet every need of the customer it is necessary to have at least one of the different distribution networks. At the same time, the distribution network will adapt to the corporate strategy of the company and the type of good it offers to the market.

While customer service consists of many components, we will focus on those measures that are influenced by the structure of the distribution network. These include:

• Response time
• Product variety
• Product availability
• Customer experience
• Order visibility
• Returnability

There are six different types of distribution network. Each one has advantages and disadvantages, to design a good network of distrubucion we invite you to know more about this subject in the link below.

There are two key decisions when designing a Distribution network:

1. Will the product be delivered to the customer location or picked up from a preordained site?
2.  Will product flow through an intermediary (or intermediate location)?

International Commerce Terms

Incoterms are a set of international rules for the interpretation of the most commonly used trade terms. Applying Incoterms to sale and purchase contracts makes global trade easier and helps partners in different countries understand one another.

They’re used to make sure buyer and seller know:

• Who is responsible for the cost of transporting the goods, including insurance, taxes and duties.
• Where the goods should be picked up from and transported to.
• Who is responsible for the goods at each step during transportation.

Every international contract also contains what is referred to as an Incoterm, or international commercial term. There are 13 main terms and several secondary terms that denote the points at which shipper, carrier, and consignee risk and responsibility start and end.

The parties to the transaction select the Incoterms, which determine who pays the cost of each transportation segment, who is responsible for loading and unloading of goods, and who bears the risk of loss at any given point during an international shipment.

I invite you to visit this link to know the responsibilities of the parties in the different types of incoterms. http://bit.ly/2mVkbPZ

Coca Cola Distribution Network

In order to understand how hundreds of brands are present in different countries it is necessary to know the distribution model use in the supply chain.

Most companies that have products with high demand prefer to have the product close to the customer. That is one of the different reasons why a company needs warehouses that can help with quick and easy distribution of the product.

If we analyze the case of two large global companies like Coca Cola Company and AB InBev, we will realize that it has a distribution model (Retail store with customer pick up) very similar. This model contains stores and retailers as needed to meet the demand also the transportation cost is much lower than other solutions.

The following video clearly shows how the product flow from the factory to the final customer.

In the case of  Cocal Cola that is focused on being efficient and manage its costs until the lowest balance, we will see that the type of transport to be used will depend on the need and urgency with which it is necessary to place the product in the market.