TR Cutler Profiles Warehouse Control Systems And Arbonne's Distribution Center
Richard Estalella, senior vice-president at Arbonne, shared that there has been a natural progression to the warehouse control systems that is used in Irvine, California, then Greenwood, Indiana, and now in Calgary and Toronto. Estalella explained the progression, "Most distribution centers start as manual picks until volume grows and automation is needed because the head count has "maxed out." With rapid growth the choice is either to increase head count to achieve fulfillment or automate. The first round of automation in our Irvine distribution centre involved conveyors, carton flow, order entry fulfillment...pick, pack, and ship."
In a recent issue of Canadian Management magazine, manufacturing journalist, Thomas R. Cutler, authored a feature titled, "WCS: Proof of Concept" regarding Arbonne's new Canadian distribution centers. The Calgary Arbonne distribution center opened last year to accommodate the company's accolade as the fastest growing organization in the Direct Selling Association (DSA) for the second year in a row. As independent consultants work to earn their new white Mercedes as a sign of achievement in the company, the capacity to ship product accurately, promptly, and efficiently had been well tested; the proof of concept verified.
When companies are shipping palates of similar content, a generic WMS (warehouse management system) may be suitable; when there are complex inventory control and order entry issues for business. When companies are shipping palates of similar content, a generic WMS (warehouse management system) may be suitable, however consumer products that must be individually cartonized in high volumes, the WCS is most often the better choice.
Dave Lovegrove, director of operations for the Calgary Arbonne distribution centre further clarified, "WMS is inventory control, not pick-to-light, RF (radio frequency - bar codes) for high-volume distribution centers." The Toronto operation is slightly different because it is operated by a 3PL (third party logistics provider) and handles a different volume and slightly different process than the new Calgary distribution center, yet the WCS makes the operations all completely transparent to all. Handling all this rapid growth has not diminished the requirement of quality and accurate shipping. Mispacks are running about one in 50,000 cartons shipped. Warehouse Control Systems (WCS) often require proof of concept according to Jerry List, vice-president of QC Software. Management teams in direct-to-consumer distribution centers usually turn to improved warehouse technology solutions when one of two circumstances occurs: rapid growth requiring improved throughput capacity or serious quality-control issues (such as "mispicks" or error-prone shipping). Both these challenges will produce lower customer satisfaction if the correct products are not received in a timely manner.
List notes that, "Whereas previously each carton at Arbonne had to be hand-checked for content accuracy against the merchandise pick list, the WCS has allowed specific weight tolerances to be established and scales on the conveyors allow the company to know that if the right products were selected the weight will be correct ... the need for hand-checking quality assurance has been dramatically reduced with this quality control aspect of the WCS technology." The effort that Arbonne exerted during the initial WCS proof of concept, entering these weights and tolerances, has paid off, as the process expanded to Indiana and now in Canada. QC Software developed specific accuracy reporting functionality for Arbonne that allows the company to track the fill rate by order unit and line level. These data are critical to continued process improvement and a lean operation.
The WCS solutions provided by QC Software enables companies to streamline their warehouse operations with the lowest total cost of ownership in the industry ensuring increased corporate profitability. QC Software (www.qcsoftware.com) is the leading provider of Tier 1 warehouse control systems to the warehousing and distribution industries. Since 1996, QC Software, utilizing state of the art technology combined with extensive research, development, and rigorous testing, has developed the QC Enterprise suite of products. Designed to be modular in nature, easily configurable, and platform independent, this highly scalable solution satisfies the needs of any size warehouse.
SOURCE: TR Cutler, Inc.