FEATURE MATERIALS HANDLING & CONVEYING
WMS INTEGRATES WITH ERP to increase throughput levels
A warehouse management system from Indigo has been installed by a leading automotive product manufacturer to integrate seamlessly with an ERP and meet seasonal requirements
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etrosyl has manufactured and supplied car care products since 1954.
Today it is a leading manufacturer and supplier of car care products, valeting and lubricants. Together with automotive spares and home improvement products the company ships over £120m of product each year. Tetrosyl manufactures its product range
from two sites in Bury and operations need to cope with a high degree of seasonality. In total the company produces approximately 5,000 SKUs which equates to 200,000 pallets being shipped from the Oldham warehouse or Bury manufacturing sites per annum. To cope with busy periods Tetrosyl relies on having a logistics operation with the flexibility to assign dispatches to either the warehouse or for larger orders straight from the production line. “Our production sites and DC are located within a tight 15-mile radius and in the winter when demand for antifreeze and screen wash can be insatiable we need the flexibility of choosing where and how to fulfill shipments from in order to meet sales order demands on time”, says site manager Barry Rennie. “We might have to do a little bit of extra recruitment in the winter months but because we can ship full truck loads straight from the production line we can manage most of the increased volume with in-house resources.” At its peak this means shipping in excess of 1500 pallets a day. Infor’s ERP solution is deployed across Tetrosyl and shortly after completing this implementation the company added a WMS solution to manage logistics operations. Within a short space of time it became apparent that the tool originally selected was unable to provide the breadth of functionality and operational flexibility needed and the company began to seek an alternative. Limitations of the former system included poor interfacing with the host ERP system which created information processing delays and the range of warehouse processes that could be automated was very limited. Indigo’s WMS was selected as it could integrate seamlessly with Infor’s ERP,
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allowed Tetrosyl to nominate where orders could be shipped from. “If someone places a smaller order up to a pallet of a product this comes from the pickface in Greengate but if they order 26 pallets this would be picked straight from the factory to minimise handling requirements and allow us to cope with the increased throughput”, says Rennie.
provided a high level of out of the box functionality and further customisation to suit the specificities of Tetrosyl’s seasonal manufacturing and distribution operations were straightforward and cost effective. Prior to implementation Indigo’s project management and development teams worked very closely with Tetrosyl’s warehouse management. This time invested meant they could ensure the specifications for each software module exactly matched their workflow processes and alterations could be built into the system from the outset. “We went through each of our
warehouse processes step by step, got exactly what we needed and could maximise the benefits to our systems,” explains Rennie.
REAL TIME DATA CAPTURE The solution was live within 3 months. In a short space of time Indigo’s WMS improved picking speeds and accuracy by providing real time data capture and allowing picked products to be assigned a marshalling location. Prior to implementing Indigo this shortfall in their previous WMS system created inefficiencies because time would be wasted during a large pallet pick searching for goods before they could be loaded onto vehicles for dispatch. Now, all products can be scanned and
assigned a particular location so that when Tetrosyl’s loaders require an order they can go straight to the right location with no time wasted wandering around the warehouse looking for picked orders. Multisite dispatch was a further
important benefit and key to facilitating increased capacity levels because it
S1 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 | MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS
To cope with busy periods Tetrosyl relies on having a logistics operation with the flexibility to assign dispatches to either the warehouse or for larger orders straight from the production line
ROI WITHIN 12 MONTHS Tetrosyl’s investment has made a significant business impact and ROI was achieved within 12 months. Savings were seen across the warehouse and as a result of overall improved productivity the company has achieved 10% greater throughput capacity without the need to employ additional resources, especially during busy winter periods. The value of this has been estimated at around £202,500 per annum by enabling the warehouse to increase shipments to 200,000 pallets per year and avoid extra manpower costs. In addition, Tetrosyl’s warehouse
management has real-time access to detailed productivity data for each warehouse operator to highlight process inefficiency problems and whether additional training is required. In using Indigo operators became more accountable and set their own productivity targets based on highest performance levels achieved which in turn has translated into higher productivity levels across the warehouse. “Indigo has given us a level of control we never had before,” concludes Rennie. “Shift managers can monitor operations at a glance from their offices, giving us the flexibility to remotely assign work allocations and control productivity levels. In this respect it’s much more effective than having management continually pace the warehouse floor. It is functional, gives us a high degree of control and is stable. If we need extra features or support we know we can work closely together with the development specialists at Indigo to customise the WMS to suit our exact requirements.”
Indigo Software T: 0191 375 6700
www.indigo.co.uk
/ MATERIALSHANDLINGLOGISTICS
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