DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 5

Distribution Operations Execution

 
 Learning Lesson Outcome:

1.Definition of Warehouse Management System (WMS)

2.Describe the methods used for warehouse management system
• Automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS)
• Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC)
 Barcode scanners
 Mobile computers
 Wireless local area network (LANs)
 Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
• Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP)
• Voice Directed Warehousing (VDW)
 Picking
 Put away
 Replenishment
 Truck loading

3.Explain the Distribution Management Centre (DMC)

4.Types of DMC:
• Central Distribution Centre
• National/Regional Distribution Centre
• Local Distribution Centre
2
 Introduction

WMS in distribution operations delivers productivity gains

while containing costs.
Managing distribution is
challenging, and today's
environment of cost-cutting
and productivity demands
make it even more difficult.

Logistics professionals must

manage a changing
landscape that is more
complex by the day.
3
 A warehouse management
system (WMS) is a key part of the
supply chain and primarily aims to
control the movement and storage
of materials within
a warehouse and process the
associated transactions, including
shipping, receiving, put away and
picking.

4
 From inventory control, shipping and receiving, to order fulfillment, a
Warehouse Management System (WMS) is vital to improving the
efficiency of a company's warehouse operations.

 It helps companies to:

maximize product placement strategies
prioritize tasks
implement fair productivity standards
increase logistics efficiency

5
6
 Relying on paper trails and manual data entry to manage warehouse compromises
worker productivity and inventory accuracy.
 Once received via printer, orders are picked, packed and shipped, with a paper trail
tracking every step of the process. That information is then manually entered it into the
system and filed.
 Should a discrepancy appear in a customer's order or invoice, pinpointing the problem
requires cross referencing the data in both the system and file cabinets.
 As a result, your organization can avoid experiencing:
• Delayed access to information in the system if has been entered days, or weeks late.
• Inaccurate information in the system
• Mis-shipments
• Late invoices
• Difficulty locating items as they are moved within the warehouse

7
 Group Presentation

Explain the followings system together with the advantages &

disadvantages. Please provide a video to show how it runs in the
warehouse :

1. Automated Storage And Retrieval System

2. Barcode Scanners
3. Wireless Local Area Network
4. Radio-Frequency Identification

8
Determine the Warehouse Management System
(WMS)
1)Automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS)
•It consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing
and retrieving loads from defined storage locations.

•AS/RS systems are designed for automated storage and retrieval of parts and
items in manufacturing, distribution, retail, wholesale and institutions. 

•Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are typically used in

applications where:
 there is a very high volume of loads being moved into and out of storage;
 storage density is important because of space constraints;
 no value adding content is present in this process;
 accuracy is critical because of potential expensive damages to the load.

•AS/RS can be used with standard loads as well as nonstandard loads.

http://youtu.be/16PXh8tKJaI 9
Automated storage
and retrieval
system (AS/RS)

Advantages: ??
Disadvantages:??

10
Mini-Load Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems

A mini-load automatic storage and retrieval system handles

loads that are typically contained in small containers, cartons, or
totes.

http://youtu.be/flpQggssKUY
11
Unit Load Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems: AS/RS
for Palletized Loads

http://youtu.be/l6RcONvUAes

12
Sorting Transfer Vehicles (STV's)
Smooth, quiet, and faster than conveying systems

http://youtu.be/71lEDijZb9Q

13
Automated Guided Vehicles

AGVs offer a variety of flexible configurations

for nearly any material handling function.

http://youtu.be/Yayaet55okU 14
 AS/RS Modernizations:
Refurbish Existing Automated Storage Systems

Your system might be obsolete, but it  can be renewed

for productive new operations

15
http://youtu.be/o99brGxvQdg
 2) Auto ID Data Capture (AIDC) 1. Barcode scanners
2. Mobile computers
3. Wireless local area
network (LANs)
Barcode Scanners 4. Radio-frequency
identification (RFID)

•It is an electronic device for reading printed barcodes

•Like a flatbed scanner, it consists of a light source, a lens and a
light sensor translating optical impulses into electrical ones.
Pen-type readers
Laser scanners
CCD readers
Camera-based readers
Omni-directional barcode scanners

http://youtu.be/rgvpDVx79Dw16
 Mobile Computers
• Mobile computing is human-computer interaction by which a
computer is expected to be transported during normal usage.

• Mobile computing involves mobile

communication, mobile hardware,
and mobile software.

• Communication issues include

ad-hoc and infrastructure networks
as well as communication properties,
protocols, data formats and concrete
technologies.

• Hardware includes mobile devices or device components. Mobile

software deals with the characteristics and requirements of mobile
applications
17
 Wireless Local Area Network (LANs)

• WIRELESS
It links two or more devices using some wireless distribution method (typically spread-
spectrum or OFDM radio),
LOCAL AREA and usually providing a connection through an access point
to the wider Internet.
NETWORK
(LANS)
• This gives users the ability to move around within a local coverage area and still be
connected to the network. Most modern WLANs are based on IEEE 802.11 standards,
marketed under the Wi-Fi brand name.

• Wireless LANs have become popular in the home due to ease of installation, and in
commercial complexes offering wireless access to their customers; often for free. New
York City, for instance, has begun a pilot program to provide city workers in all five
boroughs of the city with wireless Internet access.

18
 TYPES OF WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LANs)

WIRELESS
BRIDGE DISTRIBUTION
The bridge acts as the SYSTEM
connection point to the enables the wireless
Wireless LAN. interconnection of
access points in an
IEEE 802.11 network.

 19 
An ad-hoc network
also called WiFi Direct
network is a network
LANs
where stations
communicate only peer
to peer
 RADIO FREQUENCY
IDENTIFICATION
(RFID)

Radio-frequency Identification (RFID) is

the use of a wireless non-contact HOW ?
system that uses radio-frequency
electromagnetic fields to transfer data
from a tag attached to an object,
for the purposes of automatic
identification and tracking
http://youtu.be/aj7pbBg4LpI 20
 21
http://youtu.be/u1CpD6U7HuY
 Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is business management software that
allows an organization to collect, store, manage and interpret data from
many business activities to manage the business and automate many back
office functions related to technology, services and human resources.

 ERP software integrates all facets of an operation, including product

planning, purchasing, product development, manufacturing, inventory,
human resource, shipping, payment, sales and marketing.

 Benefit???
 Disadvantages??

22
 An integrated system that operates in (or near) real time without relying on periodic
updates
 A common database that supports all applications
 A consistent look and feel across modules
 Installation of the system with elaborate application/data integration by the
Information Technology (IT) department, provided the implementation is not done in
small steps

23
 It refers to the use of the voice direction and speech recognition
software in warehouses and distribution centers.

 VDW has been in use since the late 1990s, and its use is expected to
increase rapidly over the next five years due to advances in
technology and decreasing costs for the voice directed software and
for the mobile computers on which it runs.

24
 In a voice directed warehouse, workers wear a headset connected to
a small wearable computer, similar in size to a Sony Walkman, which
tells the worker where to go and what to do using verbal prompts.

 Workers confirm their tasks by speaking pre-defined commands and

reading confirmation codes printed on locations or products
throughout the warehouse. The speech recognition software running
on the wearable computer 'understands' the workers' responses.

25
 Voice-directed warehousing is typically used instead of paper- or
mobile computer-based systems that require workers to read
instructions and scan barcodes or key-enter information to confirm
their tasks.

 By freeing a worker's hands and eyes, voice directed systems

typically improve efficiency, accuracy, and safety. Whilst VDW was
originally used in picking orders, now all warehouse functions such as
goods receiving, put-away, replenishment, shipping, and returns
processing can be coordinated by voice systems.

26
Group Activity:
Find a video showing the use of VDW in the followings activities.

Example:
http://youtu.be/6UXQRHObj1Q
27
 Implementing voice systems in the warehouse has among its benefits
 Increased picking accuracy
 Increased inventory accuracy
 Increased employee productivity
 Improved safety
 Reduced new worker training time
 Increases job satisfaction for warehouse associates
 Eliminates cost of printing and distributing picking documents
 Growing customer satisfaction

28