Completed WMS projects
Automotive Supplier Park (Südafrika)
Selecting a Warehouse Management System
Branch
- Automotive industry
- Logistic service provider industry
- Public sector, museums, archives
The Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Auto-mation (Fraunhofer IPA) was asked by the provincial government of south African Gauteng with selecting a central and strategic logistics service company for the Automotive Supplier Park in Rosslyn. The Team warehouse logistics supported the Fraunhofer IPA in evaluating the Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) primarily used by the various logistics service companies. The Automotive Supplier Park supports the building of sustainable synergies between suppliers, service companies and manufactu-rers. Rosslyn was selected as suitable location as the Orignal E-quiptment Manufacturers (OEM’s) BMW; Fiat, Ford and Nissan have their production plants close by.
Aims and Objectives
The south African government, represented by the provincial govern-ment in Gauteng, initiated the project “Automotive Supplier Park (ASP)” to develop long term and qualified employment opportunities in strong industries. The ASP was designed to primarily attract logistics service companies and suppliers for the local automotive manufacturers. A central logistics service company was to be selected to look after the entire logistics of the ASP. To select a suitable logistics service compa-ny the Fraunhofer IPA developed a selection matrix. The selection crite-ria included the WMS used by the logistics service companies. This part of the selection process was carried out by the Team warehouse logis-tics.
Initial Situation
The Fraunhofer IPA had already listed potential logistics service com-panies. The evaluation of the Team warehouse logistics was based on this selection. Anforderungsdefinition.
Defining the requirements
In cooperation with the Fraunhofer IPA the Team warehouse logistics defined criteria for the evaluation of the WMS. The criteria included the presence of the WMS suppliers in South Africa, the company size and the line of products as well as the functional scope of supply of the WMS. These criteria then formed the basis for the requirement profile for suppliers and their WMS.
International Market Study WMS
The WMS suppliers and their WMS were evaluated with the help of the International Market Study Warehouse Management Systems. This study is carried out by the Fraunhofer IML and offers a comprehensive overview of the WMS market. It includes the performance profiles of more than 70 WMS suppliers and covers over 2,500 individual aspects.
Workshop Selecting a WMS
A detailed analysis of the WMS was carried out using the Online WMS Selection. During a two day workshop the Team warehouse logistics and the Fraunhofer IPA weighted the individual functions for the re-quirement profile. The detailed comparison was summarized from the more detailed level of individual aspects (such as whether the man to goods principle is supported) to the more general level of main functions (such as order picking). The results were then condensed into a “best of breed” overview.
Results
The results of this evaluation are
- a detailed evaluation report of the strengths and weaknesses of the individual WMS suppliers and their WMS and
- a “best of breed” overview to be used as a decision criterion for the choice of a logistics service company for the ASP.
