Manufacturing Tracking Software

Many new phrases have become part of our everyday lingo as a result of the recession. One of my favorites is "Shovel Ready" It’s not nearly as cryptic or technical as "TARP" aka, Toxic Asset Relief Program, but it’s catchy! It’s a term that was used by President Obama in a Dec 7^th airing of Meet the Press when he talked about the kinds of projects that the stimulus bill would help most. It wasn’t long after that when we began to hear every local politician use the term on the nightly news! Congress made the term quasi official when it incorporated the spirit of the phrase in legislation that provided stimulus money to construction projects that could be started within 90 days of receiving the funds. Meaning only those projects that had already completed the necessary preparatory tasks  before the project could actually begin.  Being an system implementation project manager, I’ve developed affection for the term! 

Not all projects require a ‘shovel’ in the toolbox of things needed to get the job done, but all projects do indeed require a period of preparation before executing them.  So, I ask… is your WMS - Warehouse Management System implementation project "shovel ready"? Perhaps you’ve just purchased a new WMS system to replace a technologically outdated one or to replace a paper based system.  Either way, there are many things you can/should do to prepare for this life changing event!  One of the more fruitful yet least desirable tasks in preparing a warehouse for a new system is general housekeeping! 

• Got inventory that is aged or obsolete still gathering dust on your shelves? Write it off, toss it, donate it, recycle it, return it to the vendor, but by all means get rid of it! Got the same item located in seven different locations around the warehouse? Consolidate it to as few locations as practical.  
• How about inventory sitting at the ends of the aisles, or on the  office supply racks, or sitting on the floor of someone’s office? (really, I’ve seen this). Move it to where it should be - even if that means out the back door! 
• How about old torn and faded shelf/bin labels that are now unused residue of a re-slotting project? Get the goof-off out and remove them, as it’s likely you’ll be doing some bin re-labeling as part of your WMS Management System implementation.  
• Got any racking, shelving, material handling equipment like wobbly carts in need of repair? Do yourself a favor and include repairs as part of your ‘shovel ready’ preparations - it’ll be a visible demonstration of management’s commitment to change.
• Then there’s the data scrubbing task.  Everybody has ‘junk’ in their item files – discontinued or obsolete items, duplicate items, and even non-existent items! Have your IT folks clean the data ‘house’ before you convert. 

I could go on, but you get the idea. A ‘shovel ready’ WMS implementation will go a long way in smoothing the often bumpy road to a successful transition.

I recently received a direct mail marketing piece from a HighJump Software competitor. The mailer included a press release announcing that this company had “enhanced direct store delivery integration” and a one page datasheet which described a direct store delivery value chain as manufacturing + regional warehouse + mobile resources + retail shelf.

HighJump Software is the North American market leader for direct store delivery software solutions. If our primary competitor in the warehouse management systems market had encroached on our market position I needed to know. Perhaps they had acquired a route accounting solutions provider or acquired a provider of mobility solutions for mobile selling and delivery at the retail location. I consulted a trusted industry analyst who confirmed my suspicions… this was marketing hype and this company’s approach to direct store delivery still had significant “holes.”

Anyone familiar with the value chain of direct store delivery companies knows there are some specific complexities that must be addressed in order to have “comprehensive coverage across the extended supply chain.” Here are some things companies should consider when search for direct store delivery software solutions:

Certified Route Accounting Systems

Route Account Systems are unique software systems to manage the complexities of route-based sales and delivery. They typically manage the entire order-to-cash cycle and are geared toward the world where sales, inventory, and business metrics are all tied to a “route.” Although traditional ERP systems can be used for route accounting systems, they typically require customization to deal with complex pricing/promotion, cash settlement, truck inventory, and supplier e-commerce integration. To further understand the complexities in the beverage value chain read It is Hard for Anheuser-Busch to be Procter and Gamble.

Mobile Sales and Delivery Applications

Success or failure in a direct store delivery business is determined at the store shelf. Direct store delivery companies have large workforces of mobile sales and delivery professionals who need to be equipped with mobility technology for them to effectively accomplish their objectives. HighJump Software provides a comprehensive suite of mobility products which support industry best practices for order capture, goal-based selling, delivery tracking and cash settlement. For more details on these solutions read about our latest mobility suite product release HighJump Software Enhances Mobility Solutions With New Release of Mobile Route Sales and Delivery Software Suite.

Load Optimization

Optimized loading of side bay beverage trucks can be complex. While there are numerous packages for creating optimized load plans of traditional van trailers or flatbed trailers, optimizing for side bay beverage trucks is another animal. Additionally, this business problem becomes even more complex when you have a “peddle” environment (driver selling off truck without pre-sold orders) and driver preferences must be taken into account at the load and pallet level.

I think the moral of the story is “don’t believe the hype.” Direct store delivery software solutions are specialized for the unique needs of this industry. Direct store delivery software solutions deal with complexities of supplier integration, cash settlement and truck inventory. A WMS, TMS and retail workforce solution will not meet the needs of most food and beverage distributors in their direct store delivery operations.

There is an interesting term I have heard over the years about people who do the actual direct store delivery job. It goes something like, “If you are smart enough to do the job you may be too smart to take it.” The implication is that to do a really good job you need to have a kind of personal discipline and commitment to success as well as skill with people and sales that are not often found in industries where there is such a physical component. I have had the pleasure of working with and meeting many superstars in this industry; they are truly one of a kind individuals and are very talented. There is a true disconnect between the incentives put in place for many of these talents and a kind of regimented distrust that is prevalent in the DSD industry.

This brings us to the topic du jour. Much of the incentive in the industry is sometimes based around a relative distrust of the workforce. This can be demotivating in many cases. One of the most interesting strategies I have seen is by taking the normal performance metrics and including the route people in a kind of daily planning. The route supervisor meets each route man at the end of every day with a pile of reports: sales, returns, missed stops, time reports etc. and having a daily meeting. You change this meeting from being a performance meeting to being a planning meeting to go over what went right and what went wrong. Out of that, you develop strategies to improve tomorrow. Then you pay the route people on performance improvements.

Posting any great ideas or trends on a weekly board creates a kind of buzz around improving the sales. The people on the road are often quite bright and often underutilized. This experience can be used for the good of the company as long as you just ask. Of course there are exceptions. By and large, the biggest improvements in your very particular world are sitting at your fingertips for the asking. Often the man on the street simply feels no one would listen if they suggested something. What great opportunities lie out there. Our mobile delivery customers that have done this are getting spectacular results. Just a thought: turn the punitive controls into positive affirmation and change the culture.

Almost every company spends time and energy on customer focused marketing campaigns and strategies. We go to trade shows, buy advertising and put up great websites. Strangely, we spend almost no time or effort on marketing to our own people so that they carry that message forward to the customer as an enthusiastic advocate for the company. The people who deal with the customers are the best carriers of the corporate banner; a few bad apples spoil the entire basket.

As we deploy mobile sales, service and delivery systems for our direct store delivery and route accounting systems customers, it occurred to me that we are putting a device in the hand of everyone who directly serves our customers. We actively tell people about the great multi-media features that are available in these mobile delivery devices. You can show slides or commercials and look at spreadsheets. Why isn’t this device being used to market the value of the company to carrier rather than just the end customer? We track quotas and targets, maybe we could use it to improve and mold the impression our people have of the companies they work for.

Nothing sells better than enthusiasm and a belief in what they do. My thinking here is that with so much of our lives being interacted with through web-based and hand-held based technology, we could take a page out the internet book and ensure our own people are surrounded by the messaging they should be bringing to the customers. Everyone is on Twitter and Facebook; we are all used to seeing banner ads and messages all day long. What if we used that type of idea to reinforce the ideas we want carried forward about our own company or products. Many of these adds are contextual; think about how that might work when you sales person is dealing with a specific customer face to face.

This might be one of those cases where we are so used to working on one end of a problem that we didn’t know the other end existed. Just a random thought ...

When you hear a news story about a supply chain issue at your favorite retailer, you might think that it is not your problem, but you might want to reconsider.  According to the recent 2009 Global Retail Theft Barometer Report from the Center for Retail Research, United States retailers lost an astounding $42.2 billion last year due to retail crimes such as shoplifting, employee theft and supply chain fraud/errors.  The $42.2 billion breaks out into the following main categories:

• $18.7 billion for employee theft
• $15 billion for shoplifting
• $6.8 billion for supply chain errors or fraud

That $6.8 billion a year translates to over $70/year of additional cost the average family pays because your retailers do not have the appropriate technologies and processes to reduce these errors and catch instances of fraud.  All of the costs above translate into higher prices for consumers since the retailer needs to cover the costs to stay in business.  The report estimated that the cost of store crimes to consumers is over $435 for the past year.  These are meaningful amounts for most families and might warrant the question: what are you (retailer) doing to make your supply chain more secure from source to consumption at the retail shelf?

While I am sure many retailers are painfully aware of the statistics, these numbers should be a wake-up call for many retailers about the need for additional investment in track and trace technologies and supply chain logistics software. An important fact this study highlights is that not only is shoplifting a major issue but having your own employees steal from the company is a problem that needs a better solution than many retailers have today. With improved supply chain visibility and a movement toward real-time inventory availability on the store shelves, retailers will have better information to start uncovering areas that merit additional investigation.  At these levels of loss many companies will have a compelling ROI case.

Next time you speak to a friend who works at one of your favorite retailers, you might want to ask if they are investing enough in supply chain technology and visibility from store shelf to purchase. It could end-up saving you some money.

HighJump’s new VP of Sales, Jim Bork, was in my office the other day and asked me, “Why don’t more people implement our Yard Management solution?” After hearing a customer case study at Innovation 2009, HighJump’s annual user conference, where the customer claimed benefits from yard management in excess of $1 million, Jim wondered why all of our customers wouldn’t leverage this technology. As I started thinking about this question, I realized that maybe companies are looking at the wrong business case for yard management.

What is Yard Management?

Yard management is a kind of supply chain logistics software solution that tracks trailers and containers in a yard outside of a manufacturing facility, warehouse or distribution center. Using workflows, the software can support the following activities:

·         Driver check-in or check-out including collecting all relevant data from the driver and tying the arrival to a specific dock appointment

·         Optimized storage of trailers or container within the yard. Trailers with “hot” product can be moved directly to dock door locations. Other trailers can be dropped in the yard for unloading in the future.

·         Visibility to trailer aging is provided so companies do not incur demurrage charges for holding a trailer in the yard for excessive time periods. (Trailers and containers are typically owned by a 3^rd party and holding them for too long can trigger a charge called demurrage).

·         Optimized work instruction is provided to yard drivers for moving trailers to and from dock door locations.

Work Optimization – The Old Thinking

Yard management provides benefits on multiple levels, however, most supply chain management professionals first think of the work optimization as the primary benefit. Work can be optimized creating labor savings and more efficient flow of inventory. However, if you “run the numbers” on a typical yard, labor savings alone will not drive a strong ROI on a labor management system.

The Safe Thinking

Safety and security has become a primary concern for many businesses in light of focus on national security in many countries.  A yard management solution will also provide benefits in the area of safety and security. Yard management systems help facilitate a single point of entry and exit from the yard. Additionally, a yard management system will systematically collect information about specific loads that could be used to comply with internal or homeland security requirements. While safety and security are important it is difficult to build a hard business case around these factors.

Inventory Optimization – The New Thinking

Companies with the most successful yard management initiatives find ways to optimize inventory across the yard, manufacturing facility, and distribution center. As companies in the US and Western Europe are transitioning from manufacturing-centric to distribution-centric, inventory in the yard has become a serious issue. Import-centric supply chains leverage low cost of materials and product, but suffer from long lead times and product obsolescence. Often this results in large amount of inventory being held in containers in the yard.

The best way to build a business case for a yard management system is treat your yard like an inventory buffer. An inventory buffer in the yard will allow many companies to carry additional inventory without facility expansion in their distribution center.
An additional inventory buffer provides significant benefits in terms of supply demand matching and perfect order performance.

HighJump has one yard management customer who drops orders to the warehouse for fulfillment even when the expected inventory only exists in the yard. This means they must coordinate a trailer move of inventory to the dock door, cross dock the needed product, and marry it with the other product required for the customer’s order. Clearly, this logistics capability is something to build a business case around!

So before taking your yard management system business case to the corner office, ensure you have considered all aspects of intelligent inventory positioning and supply chain management best practices that can be gained from a yard management system.

This year’s conference features nine customer case study presentations, giving customers an opportunity to share the cool things they’re doing with their HighJump solutions.  John B. Sanfilippo and Sons (JBSS), the makers of Fisher Nuts, presented this afternoon on how they use the HighJump WMS warehouse management system to manage its manufacturing operations and allergen and contamination prevention.

Keeping the nuts from comingling is serious business, and the HighJump WMS enables JBSS to enforce a strict allergen control program, including put away logic by nut type.  For example, the system doesn’t allow a worker to put away any nut that isn’t an almond on top of an almond.  These specific rules prevent contamination of allergens.

The system also enables work order processing and picking in the company’s manufacturing operations.  The system tracks the nuts all the way from the supplier through the manufacturing and distribution process.

Thomas Kirkham, Director of Systems Implementations, John B. Sanfilippo & Sons, Inc, highlighted the following benefits from implementing HighJump Warehouse Advantage.

·         Reduced physical inventories from quarterly to annually

·         Inventory accuracy over 99% - up from 80%

·         Service levels up from 90% to 99.5%

·         Picking efficiency increased 50% and rising

·         Inventory levels at record lows

·         Audit scores have increased

·         Food safety has become a selling point

 Watch this video to see the HighJump WMS in action at JBSS.

The human race is kind of crazy in that we seem to organize everything into neat little buckets.  If you were to drop in from space these would seem to make absolutely no sense. Being in sales, the difference between closing a deal this Wednesday (September 30) and next Wednesday is paramount even though it would make no difference to the company in the long term. The difference in that small snapshot is critical.  In most Direct Store Delivery businesses this arbitrary cutoff can be divided into much more manageable and achievable goals. In high transaction, low dollar businesses, you can’t leave it to the last minute.  Every day is quarter end to some extent in this type of business.

If you tell someone how they are measured, in general they can tell you how they will behave. Following that logic, if you don’t measure it, don’t expect it to happen. Very often, this key step is missed and we are left at the end of a period wondering why all of our hopes and dreams didn’t come true. In route sales, by publishing and tracking daily, weekly and quarterly goals, you can keep the field team motivated to sell that extra box, do one more stop or prospect for one more customer.  Growth comes from a lot of “one mores” put together in a line.  It very rarely comes from some monumental single event. More importantly, it is critical to communicate that these goals/targets are being watched. No one will care about the goal if you don’t demonstrate that you care about it. One of our most successful customers literally meets each and every routeman when they come in the door at the end of the day to review the day’s activities, results and to plan for the next day.  Active management in a team environment where everyone is committed to the same goals and results creates a pretty amazing selling environment.  They may not make their numbers every quarter, but they make it or lose it together and they know where they stand every day.

Sometimes we tend to look at the end goal and don’t give any thought to how we will fill the void between where we are and where we go.  I think my daughter said it best when she said “just one more daddy.”  Kids have this figured out when they are 4; it seems to take us adults a lot longer. Everyone is saying that times are tough. As a collective team, if we all just do “one more” (whatever that might be) then we harness a lot of productive power into our businesses.

A company that is a manufacturer and distributor of baked goods recently put out an RFP for WMS Warehouse Management System.  During the process HighJump Software and a few other best of breed WMS providers were considered.  What became apparent during the sales process was the company needed more than just a WMS system.  Expiration date and batch tracking are critical with bakery products and having their manufacturing process inter-linked with the distribution processes was vital to prevent inventory waste.

Many other systems would optimize the processes and inventory within the warehouse but this could result in an overall sub-optimal result by not taking into account raw material inventory and finished goods at the manufacturing sites.  They needed a solution that could optimize their manufacturing processes while providing inventory visibility from raw materials to finished goods.  HighJump Software is one of the few software providers that can provide a Manufacturing Execution System Software and WMS Management built on the same platform.  This allows companies to have inventory visibility throughout their supply chain.

In the end, I am happy to say the company saw the value of an integrated solution and selected HighJump Software.

Image via Flickr user loop_oh

CobornsDelivers is an online grocery delivery company that services the Minneapolis - St. Paul metropolitan area.  Back by a strong commitment to customer service, the company utilizes the latest technology to ensure easy ordering, fresh products and on-time, accurate delivery.

Its previous WMS warehouse management system had stability issues and downtime was becoming a significant concern. The outdated WMS was hindering the company’s ability to manage growth because it could not accommodate changes and upgrades cost-effectively.  To solve these challenges, the company implemented HighJump Warehouse Advantage based on the system’s depth of functionality, ease of changing processes, and reliability in handling inventory track and trace functions such as expiration date tracking and rotation.

Learn more about how CobornsDelivers and how it implemented supply chain management best practices by reading the success story: Innovative Online Grocer CobornsDelivers Achieves Success With Customer-Centric Distribution. 
 

About 24 months ago at our midyear sales meeting I unveiled HighJump’s strategy to more aggressively target logistics service providers with our supply chain management software solutions.  The reaction from the sales team was mixed.  Logistics service providers are notoriously highly variable sales processes because the system purchase is typically tied to the acquisition of a new client for the logistics service provider.  The market data supported our strategy.  Use of logistics service providers is increasing worldwide as more companies outsource all or a portion of their logistics capabilities.

Times have changed.  The sales team now loves this strategy as logistics service providers are turning to HighJump Software for their supply chain logistics software.  The most recent logistics service provider to select HighJump is Cresent, a leading logistics outsourcing partner for a number of consumer goods companies.  Read the HighJump news release regarding Cresent.

HighJump WMS Warehouse Management System will automate many of Crescent’s previously manual warehouse processes and optimize the movement of goods throughout Crescent’s distribution centers, boosting productivity and inventory accuracy. The system will also enable the company to meet customer traceability requirements for batch and lot code tracking. Crescent will also be able to interface to customer ERP systems, a requirement that often previously hindered new business wins. The company will utilize HighJump’s Manufacturing Execution System Software in its co-packing operations, where it assembles product multipacks and builds product displays.

Why are so many logistics service providers turning to HighJump Software for their supply chain logistics software?  Here are few of the contributing factors.

Billing Management
HighJump Billing Management helps ensure maximum revenue and minimal billing cycle time by enabling activity-based billing of each client according to their distinct attributes. Appropriate charges are automatically generated for storage of goods and any other services you perform as a logistics services provider.
HighJump Billing Management’s capabilities extend far beyond billing and reporting. This comprehensive solution can also help make your business more attractive to current and potential clients by enabling you to offer more value-added services, superior inventory control and overall cost reduction—making you stand out in a commoditized logistics marketplace.

Dynamic Inventory Attribute Tracking
Logistics Service Providers have complexities of handling a variety of products with complex tracking requirements.  The same facility may manage perishable products that require best before date tracking, apparel that requires style color size tracking, and electronic products that require serial tracking.  With HighJump WMS Solutions all these attributes can be tracked in the same inventory model.  In fact, as the logistics service provider encounters uncommon data tracking requirements they can configure the solution to track these inventory item attributes.  Additionally any of these attributes can be shared with end clients through inventory visibility portals.

Integrated Transportation Management
Many logistics service providers in traditional public warehousing or in contract warehousing are branching into managed transportation services.  HighJump Software provides a transportation management solution used by many logistics service providers and is fully integrated with WMS warehouse management system.  The TMS support management of buy-side and sell-side contract rates allowing a logistics service provider to manage rates for contract carriers and separate rates for the price they sell the transportation service to their end client.

Flexibility to Meet the Changing Needs of Clients
The most important business differentiator for a logistics service provider is flexibility.  Existing clients frequently have new requirements and winning new business often requires changes to the operations and supporting systems.  HighJump has developed an out-of-the-box rules based architecture to allow logistics service providers to create unique rules that influence how a process works in the warehouse.  The rules can then be assigned to a client, an item, a vendor, or any attribute within the WMS warehouse management system.  Additionally if a standard rule cannot meet the specified requirement, a new rule may be created using Advantage Architect, HighJump’s workflow management adaptability tool.

I always tell my daughter, “You are going to get an ouchie if you jump on the bed."  The general response I get is continued jumping with a look of glee because it is so fun…… until she bounces a little to one side and hits her head with tears freely flowing. 

Below are a few thoughts about potential pain points if you decide to jump on the 3PL bed:
• Inefficient management by 3PLs was voted as the top reason an outsourcing strategy can fail .  A common mistake companies make is to sign-up a 3PL and not manage them.  Even though you have outsourced some of your supply chain functions, you will still need in-house management capacity to track the performance of the 3PL and hold them accountable for deliverables.
• According to a recent study by Cap Gemini and Georgia Tech, only 36% of companies are satisfied with their 3PL’s technology capabilities.  A 3PL needs to have state-of-the-art technology to easily onboard new clients.  Without this, there could be significant time delays or unexpected work required by your I.T. organization to make the partnership work.  This should be a key area of your due diligence when evaluating 3PLs.

While there are other pain points that should be considered, this provides you a few of the important ones and how to address them.  Hopefully that will help you avoid an “ouchie” or two.
 

Don’t you just hate starting a new job and getting assaulted by a never ending stream of acronyms?  I know when I started my supply chain career; it took me a while to sort out the difference between WMS solutions (warehouse management systems), WCS (warehouse control systems, TMS (transportation management systems), MES (manufacturing execution system software), etc.

If you are new to outsourced logistics, the bevy of terms can be equally confusing and overwhelming.  Below is some clarification about some common terms you will see as you start to explore this area:

• Third party logistics (3PL):  Organizations that provide outsourced logistics services, typically specializing in integrated warehousing and transportation services, although the portfolio of services offered continues to expand and can include additional services, such as freight forwarding and customs brokerage.
• Logistics Service Providers (LSPs):  An umbrella term for independent organizations that provide, for a fee, various logistics services, such as shipping, forwarding and contract warehousing. Can include 3PLs, 4PLs, freight forwarders and carriers.
• Fourth-Party Logistics (4PL)/Lead Logistics Provider (LLP):  In practice, this is a 3PL comprised primarily of computer applications and knowledge workers that manages other 3PLs and logistics service providers that supply logistics services to customers. A 4PL is often viewed as the same as a non-asset-based 3PL or lead logistics provider.  A 4PL also can manage other 3PLs to provide a global solution to customers.
• Non-Asset Based:  Provides logistics services, such as coordinating transportation, tendering/booking, routing and freight auditing/payment, but these firms do not typically own the warehouses, vehicles or other forms of transportation assets. These firms typically only have applications/systems, operational best-practice methodologies and logistics expertise in areas such as logistics operations, freight negotiations and customer service.

Hopefully this can help mitigate some of that initial frustration of outsourced alphabet soup.
 

Have you ever anxiously awaited the results of an exam wondering if you had even received a passing grade? I must admit that there were a few electrical engineering courses in college where I hoped the “curve” put me into passing range. I had a similar feeling when reviewing HighJump Software’s direct to store delivery software capabilities against a list of “next generation” technology capabilities to support direct to store distribution processes.

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion at the Grocery Manufacturer’s Association Information Systems/Logistics Distribution conference. The panel was chaired by Lora Cecere from AMR Research and consisted of leaders from several software companies that provide direct to stored delivery (DSD) software. 

The GMA has a committee of DSD manufacturers who have identified “next generation” technology capabilities to support their DSD processes. I will highlight a few of these next generation capabilities and explain what HighJump Software is providing in these areas.

In Store Survey Assessment for Competitive Information – in Mary 2008, HighJump Software launched HighJump™ Survey Management.   This new product integrates with existing HighJump mobile pre sell technology and allows competitive information to be collected in the field and analyzed at headquarters by sales and marketing professionals. 

Return and accounting for marketing materials, coolers, display units – management of non-product assets in the direct to store delivery supply chain is critical. These items could be point of purchase merchandising materials, branded coolers, or beer tap handles. In the battle for consumer mind share, the proper tracking and delivery execution of these materials is as important as the product itself. HighJump’s route accounting systems (RAS) have capabilities to manage and track these promotional materials.

Near real time synch – significant technology advancement has occurred in this area. As rugged mobile computers have advanced with cellular data connectivity, the ability to leverage real time information in the direct to store delivery process has increased. With HighJump direct to store delivery solutions, the mobile workforce has the ability to view inventory and place orders in real time. Additionally, with the HighJump™ Usable GPS management can gain real time visibility to the location of their mobile workforce and view progress against a previously scheduled route. 

Based on these emerging trends in direct to store delivery technology, I would have to say that HighJump Software receives a passing grade (likely better than just passing). It seems that our over 500 direct to store delivery customers have helped steer our product in the right direction.