Last week I blogged about important role of compliance mandates in warehousing. Here is a quick summary of these standards for which compliance is needed in warehousing operations:

Obviously there are numerous compliance mandates that a warehouse needs to wrestle with. Moreover some of these compliance mandates are ever changing. What does a warehouse need to do to stay on top of these and not get charge backs from customers?

Warehouses clearly need a system that is flexible enough to address the compliance mandates as well as adjust to frequent changes to these compliance standards. I will quickly summarize some of the important compliance mandates and our commitment to  them in Oracle WMS:

• Shipping Label Compliance is one of the most common compliance demand. In Oracle WMS, using simple setup forms one could configure:

• 1.    When to request a label print?

• 2.    What label layout should be selected under what circumstances?

• 3.    Which fields should be printed on the label?

• 4.    Which printer to use for printing?

• SSCC-18 (Serialized Shipping Container Code) is the 18 digit number applied on shipping containers that is unique in global context. Oracle WMS can create license plate numbers (including the Modulo-10 check digit) as per SSCC-18 standards and also send  the container details in outbound ASN. See the following UCC-128 label that was generated for the Vision Operations enterprise.

• GTIN (Global Trade Item Number) data structures such as UPC, EAN-8, EAN-13 and EAN.UCC-14 are codes that are applied on SKUs. You can include these numbers in labels as well as scan these labels if the items are already barcoded using this standard.  If you need to generate GTIN (UPC, EAN-8, EAN-13 and EAN.UCC-14) you can use the Excel  worksheet that is available on this blig by clicking here.
  

• EPC (Electronic Product Code) are unique IDs such as SGTIN-64, SGTIN-96, SSCC-64, etc. that are generated based on EPCGlobal standards and encoded on the RFID tag. Once again its possible for WMS to generate EPCs and include it as a label field. On the other hand if your supplier is sending you tagged item, its possible to receive it based on the RFID read.

• Numerous Barcode Standards like UCC-128, ANSI/FACT (Electronic and Hi Tech), AIAG (Automotive), SPEC 2000 (Aerospace), EIAJ (Japanese Electronic Industry) can be supported using Field Identifiers and Bar Code scanning framework in WMS.

• Shipping Documents like VICS bill of lading and other regulatory documents can be generated during the outbound process.

Yesterday's post was mostly about GS1 or EAN.UCC compliance. I have uploaded an Excel file that allows you to generate common GS1 data structures such as SSCC-18, EAN-8, EAN-13, EAN.UCC-14 and UCC-12 (UPC). You can use this Excel sheet to not only generate GS1 data structures such as SSCC-18, EAN-8, EAN-13, EAN.UCC-14 and UCC-12 (UPC) but also generate an XML file that can be used to print labels.

Inventory inaccuracy is a nightmare for any warehouse. If left unchecked, inventory inaccuracy can lead to a negative feedback cycle of declining productivity and increasing inaccuracies. A downward spiral where warehouse productivity declines and feeds even more inaccuracies in the system. Left to itself, inventory inaccuracy erodes profitability and warehouse efficiency in a big way:

a. Poor customer service when a wrong product is shipped to a customer or a wrong delivery date is promised

b. Increase in Backorders because ATP system thinks there is plenty of stock

c. Lost productivity when operators run around looking for missing products

d. High product obsolescence when the missing products are "found" but too late to be of any use

f. High inventory levels because you need the extra safety stock to hide the inaccuracies

g. Inefficient warehouse usage when you need to stop warehouse operations to carry a physical count in order to satisfy auditing requirements

Here are some steps that you can take in Oracle WMS to improve accuracy:

1. Use RF devices to transact on the spot. This is the easiest way to improve inventory accuracy. When transactions are recorded on the spot in real time, there is less chance of error. This means going paperless and using task management in WMS to convey pick instructions to operators.

2. Train Warehouse Personnel to follow documented procedures when exceptions occur in the warehouse. The warehouse workers should be familiar with the procedure when an exception occurs e.g. if a product is not found as suggested by the system or damaged, the operator should know how to log exception and follow the steps. 

3. Find and fix root cause when exceptions occur in the warehouse. Task execution using RF is a great way to record exceptions in real time as they occur. Analyze exception data in warehouse control board to see where and why exceptions are occurring? Are more exceptions being recorded for certain items or certain employees? Why? If a shipment of wrong product was detected, where did that pick come from and was the inventory corrected for the original item? Was wrong putaway the cause for a pick exception?

4. Storage Policy of items in your warehouse also impacts accuracy. To avoid picking the wrong items, make sure that items similar in appearance are stored apart from each other. Commingling items in the same locator is also a recipe for shipping inaccuracy. You also need to make sure that locators properly marked and physically distinguishable. When slotting items in the locator make sure that the locator corresponds to the item velocity and has enough space to store the maximum quantity of item specified. If a locator stock is overflowing into warehouse aisle, its usually not a good sign. If you have negative inventory allowed flag enabled in your warehouse, you need to question really hard as to why is it needed?

5. A counting policy is a must for every warehouse. Cycle counting a great way to gradually improve inventory accuracy. While eliminating yearly physical count is a noble goal, it can only be achieved when the warehouse has reached a certain threshold of accuracy level.

6. Bar codes or RFID are great auto-ID technologies to improve accuracy. Barcodes have an error rate that is significantly lower than human data entry. Additionally DFI feature in WMS can further improve accurate data entry.

7. Checks in warehouse processes to ensure accuracy. Example of such checks could be an additional packing step to scan items prior to putaway or shipment, a weighing scale linked to a divertor to weigh and compare standard and actual weight of LPNs bound for storage or staging, etc.

8. Check Digits is another way to improve data entry accuracy. When you dispatch an operator to a suggested locator how do you make sure that the picks are coming from the suggested locator and not from any warehouse locator? Locator check digit is a great way of ensuring that operators perform picks and putaway at the same physical locator as the data entered in WMS.

In my previous posting on inventory accuracy in the warehouse, I referred to locator check digit feature in R12. In this blog entry I want to provide more details about this small but powerful feature to improve inventory accuracy in the warehouse. The biggest benefit of locator check digit is that it ensures that warehouse operator physically travels to the locator and performs transaction. Consider this example:

Sounds familiar? How does check digits help? The way check digits work is that each locator is associated with a check digit and transactions can be confirmed only using check digit. This check digit is printed on the locator label physically but it is not suggested to the operator on the mobile device. Meaning that operator can use the locator suggested on the mobile device to travel to the locator but must go to the locator to record its check digit. Besides check digits also helps in faster data entry especially if you have to enter long locator values manually.

Here is a small utility that I have developed in Excel that could be useful for initial locator or warehouse bin definition in your warehouse. To summarize the Excel file does the following:

1. Auto generates locators using range for 3 segments such as Row, Rack and Bin or X, Y and Z coordinates.

2. Generate check digits for each locator using algorithms such as Modulo-10, Alphanumeric, or Unique 4 digit check digit

3. Create locator labels with check digit. You need to have an XML enabled printer such as Zebra 110XiIII, Intermec PM4i, Sato CL412e, Toshiba B-SX6T, Cognitive Advantage LX, Datamax I-4308 or Printronix T5206. Alternatively you need an XML enabled print server such as Loftware, Niceware, Optio or Unibar.

The excel sheet can run a macro to generate the label XML. If you wish to randomize the check digits, there is a macro for it as well.

The locator generation parameters includes a range for each segment. Each segment in turn is split into two sections and you could provide a range for each section using the "From" and "To" parameter. You could for example create locators from EA1-A1-A11 to EA2-D3-Z14 by entering the "From" and "To" parameters as follows:

Are you planning to attend COLLABORATE 07? The event takes place in Las Vegas from April 15th to19th, 2007 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Convention Center. COLLABORATE 07 is the most comprehensive Oracle education event of the year organized by the Oracle Applications Users Group
(OAUG). There are lot of good reasons to attend such as:

Recent issue of Modern Material Handling has a list of top 20 materials handling systems suppliers. Among this list you will find suppliers of warehouse automation equipments, storage solutions, shelving and other allied accessories. Here is a souped list of top suppliers in Warehouse Automation area. Please note that the list is not necessarily in the order of their size: