Gillette’s distribution center was stuck in a rut until an integrated transportation and warehouse management system boosted efficiency and accuracy.

Warehouses and distribution centers can’t afford to get complacent. At The Gillette Co., located in Boston, depending on old methods was getting costly. “The warehouse management system we had been using for 15 years was outdated,” says Peter Kanowsky, distribution systems manager. “It was too expensive to support, and too difficult to adapt to changing business requirements.” It was hampering Gillette’s ability to minimize costs and meet demands. SKUs were increasing in number, and managing customer requirements for packaging, labeling and shipping was unwieldy. Gillette, which makes consumer products such as razors, batteries and personal care appliances, responded with a complete overhaul, implementing an integrated transportation and warehouse management system (WMS).

The new system allows standardized technology and order fulfillment processes across Gillette’s four North American distribution centers and two production/pack sites. It improved task management on the floor and enabled the company to keep better track of SKUs and inventory. “Our inventory is more accurate than it’s ever been and our turn rate is much improved since we implemented the system,” says Kanowsky. “We have a much better understanding of FIFO (first-in/first-out), shelf life and expiration dates, and lot tracking.” In addition, the integrated system has allowed the transportation and distribution departments to work together. “Historically, transportation and warehousing folks end up in silos, separate from one another,” says Kanowsky. “One of our key objectives, which we achieved, was to not only break down those silos, but to provide a fully integrated tool to support both processes.”

The integrated system keeps tight control over inbound orders. An inbound order or advance shipment notification alerts Gillette that product is coming in from other facilities or overseas vendors. The incoming pallets are marked by a license plate bar code label, which is scanned by workers in the receiving dock. After inventory verification, the system determines a putaway location, which the lift truck driver can read from his RF unit. After storing the merchandise, he scans a check digit at the putaway location, notifying the system that inventory is available. “Our tasks are now driven off of real-time product data like the product location, shelf life and FIFO criteria. All of that information is updated when the product is putaway and drives how commands and tasks will be performed,” says Kanowsky.

Outbound orders are also carefully tracked. The process starts when the company receives a sales order. The order management system generates a ‘delivery,’ an order to be completed based on inventory, transportation and customer requirements. The transportation management system receives the order and determines freight plans. Then the WMS generates the optimal order-filling plan based on the transportation system’s recommendations. Because some orders do not call for full cases, repacking pallets is an issue. “We handle a lot of less-than-case quantity orders,” says Kanowsky. “We needed a system that could plan all of those repacks and the processes that go along with them automatically.” At the first pick location, the employee scans the check digit before and after he picks the items. The system then directs him to the next pick location or to the next task, enabling task interleaving. Filled orders are sent to the shipping lane, where a dock checker confirms them by container and carrier before they are loaded into a trailer. The order management system receives the shipment’s complete data and then sends an advance shipment notice to the customer. It also begins the invoicing process. Meanwhile, the transportation management system starts the freight payment process.

Another major advantage of the system is its ability to give materials handlers replenishment information in real-time. “Our old system did not link the completion of a replenishment of a pick front to a pick command,” says Kanowsky. “That means we’d have materials handlers standing around until someone told them that the replenishment was complete and they could fill their order.” The new system quickly responds to replenishment needs. For example, if an order on the pick face calls for 15 cases and there are only 10 in inventory, the system automatically creates a replenishment order and alerts the materials handler on the RF device as soon as replenishment is complete. “The amount of time saved because of that one feature alone is tremendous,” says Kanowsky.

The system also allows Gillette to cross-dock with ease. At its two production sites in Massachusetts and Iowa, goods move from the manufacturing line to the palletizing line, where they are labeled with a license plate bar code. The pallets are then sent to the cross-dock area. When the label is scanned in the cross-dock area, the system determines a putaway location in the shipping dock. The pallets stay in this area until there are enough to fill a truck. Handling full pallets and full truckloads has minimized the complexity of cross-docking. “We cross-docked pallets in the past, but with much more difficulty than we do today,” says Kanowsky.

Aside from greater inventory accuracy and turn rates, Gillette is also gaining valuable, in-depth data from this new system. “We can use that information to drive everything from incentive programs for our materials handlers to measure how we’re doing at a site, across North America, and across the country,” says Kanowsky. Furthermore, improved task management has not only optimized order fulfillment processes, but it has also allowed DC employees to tackle more important tasks especially in inventory control and management. This will no doubt help the company achieve its goal of decreasing the number of SKUs in the supply chain. With a firm grip on inventory, order fulfillment and transportation, Gillette is now considering ways to apply the system beyond the facility. “Externally, we continue to look for ways to give visibility into the status of orders and inventory to our customers,” says Kanowsky. “Right now, we provide information about when orders shipped. Ultimately, we want to exchange data that we can use to streamline our operations and complement our performance analysis.”

Source: Finding the Comfort Zone
Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large
Manufacturing.Net, June 1, 2002
http://www.manufacturing.net/?layout=articlePortal_V2&articleId=CA220377&search=magazine&text=cross%2Ddocking