Oct/Nov 2007

We look at two applications where wireless warehouse management has streamlined spirit storage

STORY 1

Stacked - but still easy to find: Dewar's wireless WMS tracks casks in new warehouse

It might sound hard to believe, but if you're storing 72,000 casks of whisky and you lose track of one, you might never find it again. That was the reality faced by John Dewar, part of the Bacardi Group, when it was replacing its warehouse facilities in Glasgow to move to the latest standards of health and safety and fireproofing.

 

In its old facilities the company had used a paper-based warehouse management system, but it decided this would not be suitable for the new era. Its team was finding that it was taking far too long to sort through papers and identify given casks. A further change came with a decision to maximise storage space by dispensing with conventional racking, and instead storing the casks vertically in columns of up to seven. This would produce a solid volume of casks - 63 wide, 22 deep and weven high, coming to 9,702 in eight bays.

An automated wireless-based system offered many attractions, but a potential problem was that fact that signals would have to contend with wet wood, liquid and a shortage of air space. Signal absorption was a risk. Alongside this challenge, the system also had to meet European regulations governing ATmosph�re EXplosives (ATEX)

To resolve these issues the company turned to RealTime, a specialist in enterprise resource planning and automatic identification, and distributor of Motorola products. RealTime was already working with Dewar's on its main ERP system, so Dewar's was keen to work with the company in the implementation of the cask tracking system too.

The chosen system features twelve AP300 wireless access points installed in ATEX1 approved enclosures - a measure that solved the RF and environmental issues. Two WS5100 wireless switches have been installed in the computer communications room to manage the network, allowing additional capacity as more warehouses are built.

For its mobile devices, the company chose the ATEX-compliant version of Motorola's MC9000 handheld unit, which offered wireless connectivity, built-in barcode scanning and rugged performance.

Using a wireless device would ensure a cable-free environment in the warehouses, helping Dewar's to remain compliant with regulations concerning fireproofing.

The result of all this: Dewar says its stock control system is now more robust. Employees are no longer reliant on paper-based information to find casks, and this frees up their time to focus on other tasks. Additionally, they can now update the system as soon as a cask is moved.

STORY 2

Edrington skips middleware with SAP integration: Visibility, feedback and productivity gains

When, back in 2003, whisky producer Edrington completed a major upgrade to SAP for handling its business process management, the company started looking for related areas where improvements could be made. An obvious target was its warehouse operations in Glasgow.

Initially an existing warehouse management system was run in parallel with SAP, using custom-written routines to exchange data between the two, but this arrangement required substantial resources from users and the IT department. It reportedly took around 30 man-days every year to manage the interface and correct errors.

The company therefore began to look at ways to streamline warehouse operations, and recognised the opportunity to integrate radio frequency processes directly into the SAP system. The objective here was to simplify and streamline logistics processes and improve stock accuracy and warehouse efficiency.

According to Steve Smith, the IT customer controller for warehousing: 'We didn't want a middleware solution since, these are not easily integrated with SAP and often require significant support from the IT department.' He says the preferred approach was an end-to-end SAPConsole solution, which allows direct integration between warehouse management and SAP.

Following a rigorous review of potential suppliers, the company selected Zetes and its SAP RF real-time data capture solution, MiNetConnect. Then Zetes and Edrington went through a rigorous procedure to identify current business processes and work out how the company would like RF to work.

Edrington identified a number of processes ranging from stock placement and stock picking through to barcode labelling and bin-to-bin transfer movements, and these sessions enabled Zetes to begin development. A library of pre-developed 'best practice' mobile business processes sped the development process.

The resultant system includes 16 Symbol truck-mounted VRC7946 mobile computers (now a Motorola product), as well as a batch of Symbol (Motorola) handheld MC9090 computer terminals, which are used by warehouse team leaders to perform stock auditing.

The system is said to have brought integrated, real-time data capture and visibility across the company, enhancing productivity. It also gives feedback in real time, allowing problems to be addressed as they occur. For instance, the picking process prevents a driver from putting more stock than he should into a loading bay, and problem pallets are automatically directed to a problem resolution area for further analysis and work.

Furthermore, everyone in the organisation can see the real-time inventory data held in SAP, the system that is familiar to them, and respond to business issues in a more timely and effective way.