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SOLVO automates warehouse processes for major cabinet-furniture manufacturer

28.08.2015

In the spring of 2015, SOLVO completed yet another warehouse process automation project for »Almaz« in the city of Volgodonsk.

In the spring of 2015, SOLVO completed yet another warehouse process automation project for »Almaz« in the city of Volgodonsk.

The Almaz furniture factory is one of the largest producers of cabinet furniture in Russia and is known on the market under the Lubidom brand (www.lubidom.ru/en/). The company’s retail network today includes over 200 stores.

Due to the increase in output volume and expanded assortment, Almaz decided to build a new warehouse complex (logistics center) operating under a WMS-type management system. The new warehouse with an area of 17,000 square meters required a new system that would be able to increase efficiency via warehouse process automation.

Almaz project head, Sergey Nikolaevich Omelchuk, commented on the selection of the management system for the new warehouse:

»Before system implementation, warehouse processes were assigned to specific warehousemen, who knew their furniture ‘in person’ and they were the only ones who could find it. This led to a lot of problems with certain employees becoming irreplaceable in the event that they became sick; furniture categories, which were maintained by these people, became very narrow and specific resulting in shipping delays and dependence. This is why during construction of the new warehouse we decided that it is necessary to automate these processes with a warehouse management system. Various options were considered but we stopped at SOLVO.WMS.«

New warehouse parameters:

  • Warehouse type – production;
  • Area – 17,000 square meters;
  • Pallet locations – 9,000;
  • SKU items – 7,900;
  • Storage type – rack;
  • Equipment used – 6 stackers, hand carts;
  • Dock qty. – 15;
  • Idiosyncrasies: available rail tracks, which are directly connected to the docks; support of two docks where 3 rail cars can be loaded simultaneously.

Omelchuk: »The implementation of the system was planned for the low-season in furniture sales to minimize any potential impact on shipping times. We worked with the SOLVO implementation team to coordinate the transition to SOLVO.WMS and commercial operation.«

Almaz set forth the following requirements for the new warehouse:

  • Transform warehousemen into universal warehouse employees, who are not tied to any specific zones or items;
  • Implementation of an address-based storage system with the ability to track the history of each item from receiving to shipping;
  • Support of simultaneous order assembly in various zones for transport loaded at a single dock;
  • Maintain dual control at the warehouse: one – control of packet picking and two – loading via the controller of each packet;
  • Speed up the shipping process; reduction in under-loaded and overloaded orders.
  • Personnel motivation mechanism;
  • Automated accounting and claim shipping.

Almaz’s requirements were successfully met with the implementation of SOLVO.WMS. Furthermore, as part of the project, SOLVO.WMS was integrated with the existing accounting system.

Among the idiosyncrasies of the given projects is work with furniture sets and a load unit accounting: each packet (furniture item) receives its own load label. The accounting of sets using these details makes it possible to receive from production without waiting for the entire lot to be released. Load labels on each packet enables additional control during assembly, shipping, monitor each item released from the factory up to the buyer, and to detect any defect.

Moreover, working with claims has been significantly simplified while ASN-load processing makes it possible to receive items from production and immediately put them into the assigned location at the warehouse. Due to the diligent and meticulous work of the SOLVO implementation team, the project was successfully completed in time and the warehouse went into commercial operation.

»Of course, not everything was easy due to the accounting idiosyncrasies and requirements in order not to affect shipping and picking, it was necessary to change several picking methods and system configurations on the fly,« continued Omelchuk.

»But SOLVO specialists were able to pinpoint the problem, fix it and reconfigure the system to speed up processes at the warehouse. Along with such implementation as reciving based on ASN from production and multiple warehouse processes analysis, the rules and settings were reconfigured, which led to the desired results. I would also like to note the warranty period after implementation: the team is very capable and assists as with any questions or difficult situations. With this new experience, we have also noticed that other certain processes can also be automated, which the technical support team is currently helping us with.«

Results:

  • Automation of main processes at the logistics center;
  • Address-based storage;
  • Optimization of warehouse machinery movements;
  • Automation of task issuing to warehouse employees to the RDT;
  • Consolidation of several orders into one vehicle (one dock);
  • Increase in employee performance across the board via KPI tied to pay.

»In the future, we’re planning to use a single WMS-system for our other remote regional warehouses,« explained Omelchuk.



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