storage case study l
A software solution from Chess Logistics Technology, which integrates a number of warehouse operations and processes at industrial products supplier ERIKS UK, increases flexibility and productivity.
Sealed and delivered A
unique combination of vertical picking towers, sortation conveyors, RF barcode scanners and warehouse management
system has provided ERIKS UK with a highly productive, adaptable and efficient order fulfilment solution at its seals warehouse in Dudley. Chess Logistics Technology integrated the solution around its Empirica application to manage all warehouse, stock and picking operations dynamically and in real time while also providing a seamless link with existing business applications.
“This highly efficient solution supports our business and manages the complete stock control and picking process so that we fulfil the maximum
number of orders every day,” says Peter Timbrell, logistics director at ERIKS UK. “It helps us provide the very high levels of information, quality of service and product availability expected by our customers.”
Dual approach
ERIKS supplies an extensive range of industrial products and services ranging from sealing technology to electro-mechanical repairs. It is a world leader, supplying over 500,000 unique industrial products with over 90 years’ experience in the production of O- rings and elastomeric seals, the manufacture and distribution of gaskets, rubber products, engineering plastics, valves and hoses as well as bearings, motors, pumps and gearboxes. The company has a dual approach of serving the OEM (original equipment manufacture) and MRO (maintenance repair operations) sectors and its customers include some of the largest aerospace, automotive and food and beverage manufacturers and countless other engineering companies.
This dual approach presents some interesting challenges to the picking operation which relies on many stock and customer-focused parameters to maintain the high level of customer service. OEM orders are reasonably predictable but MRO requires adaptability to provide an on-demand service. Some customers are unconcerned with first-in-first-out (FIFO) sourcing but require items made with a specific date range while some want items from a batch they have tested. Some want additional codes or markings applied to products. ERIKS has to meet these, and other, requirements while maintaining a high level of operational efficiency with low transaction costs. Quality and accuracy of information is vital.
22 ShD March 2012
www.PressOnShD.com Flexibility is foremost
At the seals warehouse, the company stocks upwards of 12,000 product lines and orders can be for single items costing hundreds of pounds for specialist applications through to thousands of lower cost items for high volume manufacturing. Order picking has to be flexible enough to cope with both extremes and everything in between. The company despatches to an average 240 sites every night which includes deliveries despatched direct to the customer and to its own network of branches around the UK and Ireland.
Operations in the company’s previous seals warehouse were managed by a combination of paper documentation and the knowledge and experience of employees. As many as four people worked full time on picking tasks. Although the business coped and grew significantly there was little control over picking priorities while managing batch information and traceability was laborious. There were no computer records of stock age, so pickers would not know if some orders could be fulfilled from an acceptable batch until they arrived at the pick location.
These factors, together with continued growth, led the company move to a new purpose-built seals distribution centre which opened in Dudley during 2010. It wanted to introduce processes that would support the best possible efficiency, performance and customer service. ERIKS has employed the Empirica warehouse management system at its Halesowen industrial supplies warehouse for some time and, although it reviewed alternatives, recognised its suitability for the new operation.
“Given our experience with Empirica in integrating a number of warehouse
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