System for the localization of materials in stock and the automation of loads for shipping

The environment

The packaging industry is experiencing the continuous reduction of production batches and delivery: while on one side the deliveries are more and more fragmented and the order cycle is accelerated, at the same time the request of “just in time” services imposes a continuous increase of rotation stock.

This situation increases the difficulty for the logistics:

• the storage location management becomes critical;
• the promiscuity of the products and the dispersal of the orders create inefficiencies, loading mistakes, useless stock residuals;
• the mapping “by heart” of the stock seriously constraints the operativity of the individuals;
• the traffic in the warehouse becomes chaotic and dangerous;
• the extension of storage and loading time can limit the production capacity of the company.

The solution

EasyStock is the solution designed by RTS to guide the operations in the finished and semi-finished product warehouse. The direction of the logistics operations is directly managed by a system highly integrated with:

• the orders management;
• the delivery scheduling;
• the production scheduling;
• the shipments system.

The forklifts, equipped with a wireless station and long-range barcode readers, move in a perfectly mapped and identified warehouse.

The operations are directly guided and optimised by the system in the following phases:

• assignment of new pallets;
• internal handling;
• means loading;
• supply of the production department.

The stock location of the goods coming from other departments is suggested by EasyStock. The operator identifies the package by reading the barcode on the label and the system:

• recalls the type of packaging required by the customer for a final visual verification of the job correct execution;
• suggests the “optimal” storage location, considering the disposition of the other pallets, of the dimension of the batch, of the delivery urgency (the calculation logics are dictated by a set of rules variable according to the characteristics of the warehouse, of the company and of the business);
• certificates the physical entrance of the goods, fuelling the products inventory and availability.

The loading of the means, planned by the shipments department with the specific functions for the optimisation of loads, vehicles travels and shipments sequence, is at disposal of the EasyStock system to steer the forklift operator in the operations:

• indicating the path for the collect of each pallet;
• verifying the loading sequence;
• checking and certifying the correctness of the loading and the type and quantity of the loaded goods.

The delivery notes issuing is automatic and verified according to the operational reality.

The system is proactive also in the internal stock management:

• it traces the handling;
• it improves the location according to the new exigencies;
• it detects the consumption for department and on the machines of the materials not destined for dispatch;
• it monitors the materials “in quarantine” to be returned or for quality checks.

The inventory functions can by dynamically executed:

• on rotation for each location;
• directly on the forklift;
• at the moment of the total end-of-period inventory.

The functionality and the immediacy of the tools used and of the operational logics rapidly allow:

• to optimise the spaces;
• to reduce the travel time;
• to reduce the traffic in the warehouse;
• to speed up the means loading;
• to minimise the mistakes;
• to assure the total interchangeability of the operators;
• to control the performances of the forklift operators;
• to eliminate the paper documents and the manual operations;
• to have a perfect tracking of the pallets.

The efficiency of the system lead to:

• the increase of the productivity and of the department efficiency;
• the elimination of “searches” and mistakes;
• the improvement of the service to the customer;
• the fast return of the investment (ROI).