Real-time tracking with Pesmel’s warehouse management system WMS is about much more than just knowing exactly where every coil is located. Compared to traditional warehousing solutions, the benefits available with Pesmel’s high-bay warehouse inclusive of Material Flow WMS can be measured in quality, efficiency and speed.
The real-time tracking feature is based on creating a data model of the warehouse. Every movement is recorded, providing an up-to-date view of all operations. As every coil is automatically recorded in the system upon entry, the reliance on hand-made markings or barcodes attached to the coils is redundant. In fact, the coils do not necessarily need to be marked at all for the purpose of identification during storage.
When you elevate your thinking from the day-to-day benefits to the lifecycle ones, it all starts adding up.
Quality – A common constant priority
Business revolves around the quality of products and processes. Every time a coil is handled while in storage the risk of damage is present. When goods are clamped, it inevitably leaves some kind of a mark. The Pesmel logistic solution not only minimizes the number of times a coil is handled during storage, but the automated coil cars also treat valuable materials with care, lifting them gently from below.
Also, having full real-time visibility into the stock held in an automated high-bay warehouse helps ensuring or improving another kind of quality – the quality of customer deliveries. The expenses related to shipping out incorrect product to customers is two-fold. There is the expense of handling returns and reclamations related to heavy and valuable products sent incorrectly around the globe, but there is also the damage to reputation of mishandled shipments that should be considered. The transparency and traceability of a WMS helps ensure only the right products get sent out.
Efficiency – Work smarter, not harder
The real benefits of Material Flow WMS operating a fully automated storage facility come from improved efficiency. A vast amount of time is wasted in traditional manually operated coil storage yards trying to identify and locate coils. There may be several people per shift looking for coils that need to be further processed or shipped out. That is means potentially hours of wasted time for the plant each day,
compared to relying on a solution with real-time tracking capabilities and no extra labor-related costs.
Investing in a smart and fully automated warehousing solution not only reduces labor costs over time, it also allows for foresight that helps optimize operations. This can mean, for example, utilizing less busy periods of time to sort and prepare the warehouse for upcoming outward shipments. Coils destined for shipment can be moved closer to the loading bay in advance, improving turnaround time and efficiency of outbound truck traffic on-site. With the WMS in operation, shipments can be handled 24/7. The system works through nights, weekends and holidays without breaks.
The benefits of this kind of data-driven foresight extend beyond the warehouse.
The benefits of this kind of foresight and predictability extend beyond the warehouse. Exact knowledge of all product locations combined with customer order data can help with the planning and optimization of production as well.
Speed – Availability at the right time
With smart warehousing solutions, it is possible to increase handling volume, reduce handling times, and minimize errors. Integration of warehouse data with shipping data, for instance, allows for coils destined for pickup to be positioned near the truck loading bays, speeding up the dispatch process significantly. A smart logistic solution based on an automated warehouse can help reduce crane travel per coil by several hundreds of meters. This also helps save energy and improve the sustainability of processes by eliminating the need for fuel-powered forklift trucks altogether.
When clear visibility into stock is paired with smart automated stacker cranes and advanced sorting, any coil in the storage can be available for shipping in three minutes, compared to typical values of 30 minutes or more in conventional yard-type warehouses.
When calculating the potential time savings over a day, week or year, the benefits of investing in smart high-bay warehouse solutions and advanced automation across the entire supply chain become evident.
Long-term and short-term benefits
Automated high-bay warehousing managed by a WMS with integrations to production, packing and logistics data is a considerable investment. But this is when both the day-to-day benefits and the long-term payoff of the investment should be factored in. The real-time tracking of inventory inside the warehouse ecosystem creates savings every day – reducing damage to goods, handling times, labor costs and harm to brands and reputation. Overall, when elevating the perspective from the day-to-day to the lifecycle benefits of such a solution, it all starts to add up.
Even if taking a conservative stance on the savings, calculating the 20 minutes or so of handling time per coil for the total number of coils getting shipped each year, the implications of improved efficiency start becoming evident. When adding savings on manhours over the operational lifecycle into the equation, The ROI and pay-back time for an investment such as this will become surprisingly short, typically four to seven years.
Contact person
Sami Koivuluoma
+358 20 700 9746
sami.koivuluoma@pesmel.com