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SOLVO Optimizes Far-East Federal Alcoholic Beverage Distribution Center

25.04.2016

SOLVO successfully completed a SOLVO.WMS implementation project in the city of Vladivostok for the Synergy company.

In the summer 2015, SOLVO successfully completed a SOLVO.WMS implementation project in the city of Vladivostok at a distribution center of one of the largest producers and suppliers of alcoholic beverages in Russia, the Synergy Company.

Warehouse parameters

The Vladivostok warehouse is one of the company’s distribution centers and handles beverages produced at its own plants that are located in the Far-East region (Ussurisk Balsam, Maryinskyi and Habarovsk liquor and spirits plants), as well as imported beverages.

Warehouse area: 8.900 sqm
Number of storage locations: 9.500 (number of floor and rack storage locations)
Number of active SKUs: 3.300
Storage types: pallet, carton-unit, floor
Order picking types: pallet (container shipping), carton and unit (order assembly for local stores and self-pick-up)
Product assortment: alcoholic beverage (wine, vodka, cognac, whiskey, champagne, liquor)

5 receiving windows with integrated transport conveyors for loading and unloading products.

The warehouse consists of 2 zones for pallet and carton-unit product storage. The pallet storage zone is used for processing items arriving from the company’s own production facility - the »Ussurisk liquor and spirit plant.«

The carton-unit storage zone is used for processing imported alcoholic beverages intended for the company’s own retail network of supermarkets called »VinLab«. The products are stored in small shelf racks, which makes it possible to provide a large assortment of products in one zone.

WMS implementation objectives

  • Automation of receiving and shipping processes;
  • Increase quality of control for product shipping and reduce the possibility of shipping errors;
  • Enable efficient usage of warehouse space for a wide assortment of products;
  • Reduce the number of product compatibility errors during putaway;
  • Expedite inventory processes;
  • Realize a convenient mechanism for reserving goods via request.

System selection

The tender process resulted in Synergy choosing the Solvo.WMS solution.

The main advantages for picking SOLVO included: many years of experience in optimizing beverage warehouses (Baltika, MPK, Topaz, and others), the availability of a special industry-specific solution for distributors based on Solvo.WMS, flexible system configuration for ever-changing business processes, as well as round-the-clock technical support.

Receiving & putaway

The specificities of Synergy’s warehouse include the fact that all products require batch record-keeping (accounting).

The pallets created during receiving are accepted at the warehouse via Solvo.WMS. Each created load contains complete information about the product: nomenclature number, producer, bottling date, batch number, warehouse arrival date, quality status, and cargo unit holder.

After completing the receiving process, Solvo.WMS automatically assigns locations at the warehouse for storage and issues putaway tasks to CHE drivers’ data capture terminals. During putaway, the compatibility is checked for products that could already be stored in locations. If the stored and new products are not compatible (the bottling dates or certificates numbers are not compatible), the system will find a new putaway location for the load.

Order assembly & shipping

Replenishment mechanisms are used to provide easy access to products during order assembly. The pallet storage zone uses static association of SKU and quantity to locations. Replenishment in this zone is launched daily by schedule so that lower rack tiers have a required amount of inventory for night-time order assembly.

»Dynamic picking channels« technology is used for products in the »VinLab« zone, which makes it possible to manage the inventory automatically while taking into account the required lots, and ordered replenishment: replenishment jobs are created only after shipping requests are received. When analyzing each shipping request, the system will determine the parameters such as: SKU code, batch, production date, carton quantity for replenishment, then find the best possible location and create jobs for replenishment.

Radio terminals are used when assembling requests which makes it possible to processes data in real time. Assembly of requests at the warehouse is carried out by whole pallets and cartons as well as bottles. The system’s given configurations enable it to timely provide services for shipping requests not only for large clients ordering large batches, but also small retail stores, which could order small but regular amounts. Thanks to the shipments mechanism, the assembly of orders is done in the same sequence as their loading into the vehicle, which makes it possible to use the preliminary order assembly area and shipping docks in a rational manner.

Product control during shipping is done by checking the assembled items based on paper packing lists for the assemble containers. Product shipping control for the »VinLab« project was previously a labor-intensive and long process: the controller had to be careful when reading foreign labels and determine the type of alcohol when comparing it to the names in the waybill. With the introduction of Solvo.WMS, the control scheme for import products improved: now product control during shipping is done using wireless scanners connected to a laptop on a mobile cart - the controller moves along the assembly zone and checks whether all assembled products match the order by scanning bottle labels.

Results

After SOLVO.WMS implementation, goods receiving and shipping processes were successfully automated; it became easier to conduct warehouse inventory; product control become more transparent, which made it possible to quickly detect and resolve any arising problems; the number of errors during order assembly was reduced along with the possibility of incorrectly labeling items.

»In a relatively short period set aside for WMS system rollout at the warehouse, SOLVO’s implementation team was able to configure and develop a large variety of technologies, which not only expedited processes but also the quality of work at the warehouse,« said Ilyas Ahmetshin, head of WMS implementation at SOLVO. »During implementation, the client also requested additional functions, which were successfully added thanks to the flexibility of the operating system.«

Both companies have agreed to further collaborate and foster their partnership in optimizing other Synergy warehouses in the future.



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