Picky Picky Picky

Most distribution centers and many manufacturing facilities pick products in one form or another. Pallets, cases, parts and kits are routinely picked using a variety of methods.  Paper based, RF enabled, pick to light, pick to voice, horizontal carousels, vertical lift modules, mini-loads, unit load AS/RS and shuttle systems are frequently used to automate traditionally labor intensive tasks.  From absolutely inefficient to unbelievably efficient, you will find them all in industry catalogs, trade shows, YouTube videos and people like me touting what they can do for your operation and customer service. 

It’s tough being a logistics leader at times.  There is so much technology out there and you want your team to be as efficient as possible.  You know that technology can be a modest investment or a  tremendous investment. Don’t forget that when you ask for money to buy new equipment, somebody is tracking the results of the investment.   Often the decisions to address picking efficiencies are cultural, technical, and financial in nature. 

Culturally, we need to understand the nature of our associates.  If you have a low tech, paper driven operation, consideration must be given to the skill sets present.  A leap to a high tech picking system without the pre-training and hiring of capable people will doom the project to fail.  Additionally, the team responsible for picking should be a part of the initial discussions on transitioning from a low tech to a higher tech picking process.  If the pickers have confidence in how it is supposed to work, it will have a better chance of successful implementation.  Sometimes, we have a tenured group of associates who have all the tribal knowledge and tricks to make the most out of what equipment they have.  However, can we count on having a tenured group forever?  Does it make sense to have a repeatable process that is easily learned for new hires?

Technically, order and SKU data means everything.  Volume history, dimensional analysis, peak and seasonal changes, and order makeup and growth projections are needed to determine how products should be slotted and picked.  Since travelling is often the enemy of efficiency, does goods to you technology make sense?  Do you ship high volume low SKU count or do you ship high volume, high SKU count?  Are your SKUs densely slotted; are they awkward to pick and hold?  Are your SKUs high dollar or easily broken or are they easily stolen or a drug that must be controlled by lot?  There are many things to consider that are crucial to the success of the picking system application. 

Financially, picking systems must pay for themselves in a reasonable amount of time.  I recognize what is reasonable to me may not be reasonable to you.  As such, there needs to be a mutually agreed upon set of financial parameters, based on measurable results such as labor savings, error reduction, footprint reductions, customer service improvements, throughput increases.  Companies are often unique in terms of their acceptable measure of payback.  Additionally, there are guides that detail expected picking gains using a specific technology.  However, we can’t treat all companies the same and must temper our projected gains and not overstate them. 

Picking systems are often the lifeblood of our operation.  Let’s make sure we consider the cultural, technical and financial implications before investing.

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

 

Traveling

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.  Lao Tzu

Travelling in distribution and manufacturing environments is the enemy of efficiency.  Traveling wastes time, creates workload imbalances and increases the cost of product manufacturing and distribution.  Traveling is deceptive since it sometimes appear to be necessary to get the job done. 

When we talk about traveling in the manufacturing plant or the distribution center, it usually involves manually transporting product from one value added process to another or picking items, walking along a designated pick path.  Since it’s only human to want to communicate with each other, walking past our fellow associates without sharing a how the weekend went or how your fantasy football team did is irresistible.  So what do we do about time wasted socializing?  How do we increase productivity without being the communication police?

While it is difficult to keep our team from excessively discussing the news of the day, it is easy to identify how we can reduce the opportunities for travelling. 

·         Assign pick zones or areas of responsibility so your order pickers have less reason to walk the floor

·         Employ “goods to you” systems such as carousels, mini-load systems, tote or case shuttle systems

·         Employ picking systems such as pick to voice or pick to light that tend to engage the picker, reducing the slack time between picks

·         Convey products from one value added process to another as conveyors don’t speak with each other or at least they don’t verbally

·         Use Human Machine Interface software to graphically depict your automation systems so you may identify jams, malfunctions and safety issues

·         Employ automatic scales, tapers, labeling systems and manifesting to keep personnel congestion to a minimum

Most of our associates are generally hard-working, dedicated and loyal.  We need them to successfully manufacture and distribute the products that allow us to grow and be profitable.  However, we are social beings and we need systems and an environment that reduces distractions, promoting focus on our respective tasks.  Are your associates travelling?

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

Seeking to Understand Your Distribution Needs

“Don't question what you don't understand unless you're asking questions seeking to understand.” ― Rob Liano

Questions are a necessary evil when developing solutions for our customers; but, if you are like me, when a salesperson asks me questions over and over again over an expanse of time, I start to get irritated.  I especially don’t like it when I have already answered the question. 

Typical Material Handling Questions consist of:

·         Where are your bottlenecks?

·         What kind of product are you picking/shipping?

·         Is it wrapped or not?

·         Is the bottom flat?

·         Is it hazardous inside?

·         What does the bottom of your pallet look like?

·         Can you send me a picture?

·         How do you pass orders from the host software to the hand scanners or the picking system?

·         What is average rate/peak rate? 

Although using a standard questionnaire is a good start to learning and understanding the distribution operations of a specific company, all organizations are unique and thus, a template can only go so far.  Invariably, there are a few questions that were never initially considered and the repetitive calls begin and seem to never end.  Ultimately, I recognize that asking the right questions is essential to develop a good material handling system or any system for that matter. But the manner in which the fact finding mission is accomplished must be done such that customers are not bugged to death with repeated emails and phone calls so that professionalism and confidence is maintained throughout the process. 

In fact, the key component to the process is dedicated time spent with the customer at his or her facility to witness the good, the bad, and the ugly and get all of the information in person.  We really need to see what goes on in the facilities you intend to improve, to ask questions of your team, and not just your executive team but the operators and personnel that succeed or fail with your system.

Therefore, a questionnaire is a suitable start, but the finish line can be pretty far away.  Additional information needed can only come with time spent onsite, measuring, inquiring and challenging how processes work.  There are always standard operating procedures to reference but our operators usually develop their own "work-arounds".  Why did they feel the need to work around your carefully crafted SOPs and how can you incorporate their better way of doing things into your solution?

Too many projects fail due to missed details that could have been discovered by spending quality time onsite using a comprehensive and iterative process.  Isn’t it risky to rely on a material handling system proposal sent to you from someone that didn’t do the due diligence or discovery?  Will the contents have a chance to really make an impact to your facility and operations?

Thank you for the patience with our questions as we look forward to spending time at your facility in the future.

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

Expectations

Expectation is the root of all heartache…..William Shakespeare

Expectations are a funny thing.  From the time we are children, people expect us to do and be many things.  In our workplace we are told to manage our customer’s expectations.  People we expect things, or behaviors from, disappoint us sometimes. 

Often we believe we know what someone is expecting us to do or provide for them.  We think we know what our customers want based on what they state their needs or issues are and to be truthful, we probably have seen similar scenarios and fill in the blanks ourselves.  But do we really know what someone is thinking?  Aren’t one person’s expectations different from another?  Doesn’t each person’s experience, personality and standards set their level of expectations?

I am sure we all purchased things before and have felt:

·         This isn’t what I thought I was getting.

·         Why is it taking so long?  I thought it would be done by now.

·         This isn’t as robust as what I thought.

·         I thought you were responsible for this; why am I paying for it?

In my world, missing expectations can be very expensive.  Investing in a large material handling systems is no small undertaking.  Jobs can be lost and professional futures ruined if capital investments are not managed wisely and expectations for return on investment not met. 

Of course we can say we need to make sure details are clearly communicated in terms of what you are buying, how much you are buying it for and when you need it.  Approval drawings, equipment lists, pictures, and operational descriptions are necessary to quote “Manage Expectations”.  However, I submit, it is not enough. 

It is not sufficient to merely give a customer something they asked for.  You have to know why they need it.  What will it do for them above and beyond storing, picking and distributing more widgets efficiently?  Why is it important for the change to take place both operationally and personally?  How they like do to buy things and most importantly, what level of detail will they provide? Even detailed RFP/RFQs do not provide the necessary information you need to meet expectations.

Spending time with your customers and asking questions about the “why” in additional to the “what” will help you meet your customer’s expectations.      

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

 

Culture

“Engaging the hearts, minds, and hands of talent is the most sustainable source of competitive advantage.”  from Greg Harris, Quantum Workplace

I met with a customer recently who spent most of our time together discussing the subject of “Culture”.  He discussed at length the time it takes to prepare a team to usher in new technology properly and the pitfalls of overwhelming your people. In essence, the people aspect must be considered as much as value of the solution. 

Often in the sales process, we focus so intently on delivering solutions to our customer’s efficiency problems; we don’t consider the associates who must implement the solutions we sell.  Although many of our warehouse and manufacturing team members are talented, dedicated and engaged, dropping a high tech solution in their laps often creates frustration, anxiety and a sense of powerlessness. 

As a remedy to this problem, perhaps a more phased approach may be considered that presents technology at digestible bites.  The phased approach can take many forms. From a material handling perspective, the focus can begin on areas of your facility that involve excessive handling of product or long lengths of travel in the picking process or in the transport of orders from picking to packaging. 

Getting your associates comfortable with the benefits of automation and enabling them to see the potential to make their tasks easier engages them in the process of removing the inefficiencies out of your operation.  As your facility performance metrics start to incorporate the results of smaller automation initiatives, your associates will more willingly embrace future larger capital investments that may include more sophisticated automation.

Usher in a new culture of continuous improvement but let’s make sure we bring everyone along for the ride!

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

 

BUZZERS, ALARMS, LIGHTS OH MY !

Walk into most distribution centers and manufacturing facilities with automation and you will hear a cacophony (my $5 dollar word) of screeches, alarms, bells and grinding.  You will see indicators, status lights, digital displays, stack lights, power displays and a host of visual means of understanding your equipment and its performance. 

With this bevy of sight and sound stimulators, we ask our operators, supervisors, maintenance technicians and front line managers to know what’s going on and to keep production or distribution running at max efficiency.  When a piece of equipment fails or cases jam or someone in the 500,000 sq ft facility pulls an e-stop, hopefully by accident, we expect immediate resolution of the problem.  After all, we spent good money on this equipment and it should perform as advertised. 

If you look at the technological advances in the devices we use at home, we see the migration to appliances with the ability to communicate with each other and with you the homeowner.  Ultimately, the goal is for the ultimate convenience of knowing the status of our home equipment and adjusting the settings to make our lives easier and more comfortable….this is debatable but that’s for a different blog. 

However, shouldn’t we have a central means of understanding what is going on with our distribution center and manufacturing automation?   Are you using the tools available with Human Machine Interface Software to simplify identification of issues such as jams, emergency stops, full lines, motor failure, faulty photo-eyes, and a host of other typical issues?  Are you tracking and reporting diverts statistics, full divert line times, successful scans and bar code quality?  Most importantly, are you managing your equipment so you can see things that will happen in advance, use your associates properly, and measure the performance of your equipment?

I don’t want my refrigerator communicating with me but I wouldn’t mind my distribution center or manufacturing facility telling me a thing or two. How about you?

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg

For a quart of Ale is a meal for a King - William Shakespeare

To be sure there are many among us who would love to be a beer distributor.  All that glorious liquid stacked as high as the ceiling, packed to the gills with every flavor for every palate.  And in the quest to have a beer for every pallet, how do you organize the traditional high volume brands with the latest and greatest craft beer?  What product should be stacked?  What product to be stored at a specific temperature?  How do you re-introduce returned product?  How do I keep my order pickers as efficient as possible?  How do I keep my customers happy?  How do I deal with slower moving products that use up my warehouse space and slow my pickers down?  How do I keep my main brewers happy?  So many questions, considerations and planning to deal with, perhaps a beer distributor’s life is harder than I thought. 

As there are many financial analysts from within and outside the beer industry looking at trends and forecasting the future, there are several points to take away as you examine your existing beer distribution warehouses and plan for new ones. 

·         As people age they tend to drink less beer.  According to analysts, baby boomers and retirees are a larger percentage of the population than young adults. 

·         Liquor and wine sales are rising at the expense of beer sales.  How do you slot the products that are ancillary to beer?

·         Craft beers are increasing with 2,700 breweries in the US alone and how you slot these cases and pallets will need to be different than the main brands?  As craft beers usually cost more they are big potential profit generators.  Being able to store pick and ship them efficiently is a competitive advantage. 

·         Other non-alcoholic products such as water and mixers are growing but are small in terms of overall demand.  You need to carry it but how do you store it?

Beer demand and tastes are changing rapidly.  Doesn’t it make sense to develop storage, picking and shipping plans that are based on product velocity analysis and accurate slotting?  Understanding the dimensions of your product, coupled with the use of sales data that reflects the demand for each SKU will allow you to store pick and ship the right product in the most efficient manner.  Done properly, slotting your facility will reduce labor, maximize the use of available warehouse space and most importantly of all, allow you to examine it at regular intervals to keep up with the changing tastes dynamic.

Here’s to great success in 2014 to all the beer distributors out there as I do my part to help keep you in business.

For more information from Greg, view his page at www.trifactor.com/greg