materials modern handling_14_12

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m m h . c o m

PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION, WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING

December 2014

lululemon athleticaSweating the

details 18BIG PICTURE

Near future of alegacy WMS 28EQUIPMENT REPORT

Overhead handling:Raise worker safety 34INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Making MES moreefficient 38SPECIAL REPORT

Top 20 warehouses 42

Steve Berube (left), senior

VP of global distribution and

logistics, and George Tsogas,

VP of global logistics and

international distribution


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ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES and Motorola Solutions haveannounced that Zebra has completed the acquisitionof Motorola Solutions Enterprise business for $3.45billion in cash.

The transaction was funded with $200 million of cashon hand and $3.25 billion in new debt. As part of the sale,approximately 4,500 Motorola Solutions employees fromlocations throughout the world will transfer to Zebra. The

combined organization has about 20,000 channel partnersin more than 100 countries, and approximately 4,300 U.S.

and international patents issued andpending.This transformative acquisition

creates one company with unparal-leled capabilities and leading globalbrands in our industry, said AndersGustafsson, Zebras chief executiveofficer. Together, we can provide

the building blocks of Internet of Things solutions, ascustomers worldwide increasingly take advantage ofdata analytics and mobility to improve business perfor-mance.

Having sold the enterprise unit, Motorola Solutions

will continue to focus on mission-critical communicationssolutions for its public safety and commercial customers.

mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 3

Linde Material Handling North America Corp.

to become KION North America Corp.LINDE MATERIAL HANDLING North America Corp.announced it will change its corporate name to KIONNorth America Corp., effective on or about Jan. 1, 2015.

This change will allow the company to better alignitself with its European parent company, The KIONGroup, which is the European market leader and theworlds second-largest manufacturer of lift trucks andwarehouse technology. We will even further strength-en our Linde Brand with additional product offeringswhile at the same time grow the STILL Brand throughfuture developments, said Brian Butler, president and

CEO. The company hosted a commemorative ribboncutting ceremony at its North American headquar-ters located inSummerville, S.C.Guests includedmembers of theLinde, STILL andKION boards alongwith several rep-resentatives fromThe KION Group.

Schneider Electric to acquireInStep SoftwareSCHNEIDER ELECTRIC WILL ACQUIRE InStepSoftware, a provider of real-time performance manage-ment and predictive asset analytics software and solu-

tions. The transaction is expected to closein the fourth quarter of 2014, subject tocustomary regulatory and other conditions.The announcement follows Schneiders

recent acquisition of Invensys, which also complements

its software and process automation capabilities.InStep provides two primary real-time per-formance management and predictive analyticssoftware solutions. Its eDNA historian software col-lects, analyzes and reports on real-time operationaland machinery sensor data. Its PRiSM predictiveanalytics software monitors the real-time health andperformance of critical assets. The company alsooffers energy management software. InStep willcontinue to be managed by its existing executiveteam, adding about 70 employees to SchneiderElectrics U.S. operations.

MURATA MACHINERY (Muratec) of Kyoto, Japan,has acquired all of the issued stock of Cimcorp Oy ofUlvila, Finland, from the existingshareholders, and Cimcorp and itssubsidiaries have become membersof the Muratec Group.

Muratec is ranked as having thefourth-highest annual sales in the

world among solution providersfor materials handling systems,and Cimcorp is the top supplier forintralogistics in the tire industry serving a variety of retailand distribution customers. Both Muratec and Cimcorpwill continue their businesses as independent companies.

Muratec and Cimcorp have complementary solutionsand capabilities that will help us strengthen our marketposition, said Martti Artama, president of Cimcorp Oy.The acquisition combines Cimcorps experience andcompetence in robotic solutions with Muratecs ware-house automation technology.

Murata Machinery acquiresCimcorp Group

Zebra Technologies completesacquisition of Motorola Solutionsenterprise business

UPFRONT B R E A K I N G N E W S Y O U S H O U L D K N O W


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PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTION,WAREHOUSING AND MANUFACTURING

VOL. 69, NO. 12

DEPARTMENTS & COLUMNS

3/Upfront

7/This month in Modern

14/ Lift Truck Tips: Safety

16/ Packaging Corner: Alternative materials

52/ Supplement: Alleviating pain pointsusing automatic data capture

59/ Focus On: Pallets

64/ Product Showcase

66/ 60 seconds with...

NEWS

9/Manufacturing output positivedespite global concerns

10/ MHI forecasts growth of 8% to 9%for 2014 and 2015

10/ New Sealed Air survey addressespackaging in e-commerce

10/ North American robotics market setsnew records for first nine months of 2014

11/ 2014 Pack Expo Internationalattendance tops 2012 by 6.5%

COVER STORYSYSTEM REPORT

18Sweating the details at lululemonsOhio DCThe yoga wear retailers new multichannel DC is speeding up time to

market, streamlining e-commerce processes and reducing freight costs.

Flexible automation is the key.

26Embracing automation for e-commercefulfillment

FEATURESBIG PICTURE

28The near future of a legacy WMSComplemented by a growing stable of inexpensive execution

solutions, aging software monoliths can prove they dont need

to be toppled.

EQUIPMENT REPORT

34Overhead handling: Raise worker safetyManufacturers of overhead handling equipment are putting an

emphasis on safety while creating new, automated solutions that help

people work smarter, better and faster.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

38Making MES more efficientTroy Design & Manufacturing pairs real-time RFID tracking with MES.

SPECIAL REPORT

42Top 20 warehousesIncreasingly resilient to global economic moods, 3PL and public

refrigerated warehouses persistently achieve modest growth.

PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS

48Flow rack system supports range of pallet types/weights

49New storage system accommodates 50% more SKUs

50High-speed doors help control temperatures

51YMS increases 3PLs yard velocity

60 seconds with...Jim Rice

Modern Materials Handling(ISSN 0026-8038) is published monthly byPeerless Media, LLC, a Division of EH Publishing, Inc., 111 Speen St, Suite200, Framingham, MA 01701. Annual subscription rates for non-qualifiedsubscribers: USA $119, Canada $159, Other International $249. Singlecopies are available for $20.00. Send all subscription inquiries to ModernMaterials Handling, 111 Speen Street, Suite 200, Framingham, MA 01701USA. Periodicals postage paid at Framingham, MA and additional mail-ing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: ModernMaterials Handling, PO Box 1496 Framingham MA 01701-1496.Reproduction of this magazine inwhole or part without written permis-sion of the publisher is prohibited.All rights reserved. 2014 Peerless

Media, LLC.

GETTY IMAGES/KIRK IRWIN

Steve Berube, senior vice president of globaldistribution and logistics (left) and GeorgeTsogas, vice president of internationaldistribution and logistics at lululemon.


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m m h . c o m MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 7

Youll quickly see that exibility isthe core theme in this months SystemReport. As weve been covering the

last few years, the ability to design andimplement a dynamic, exible, automateddistribution facilityone able to bend andrespond to demand andcut freight costsisa critical element to success in meeting the

multichannel fulllment challenge broughton by the evolution of e-commerce.However, we may have been overlooking

the importance of instilling a culture of ex-ibility inside our facilities in this process, onethat fosters employee growth both insideand outside the four wallsuntil now, that is.

On page 18, executive editor Bob Trebli-cock shares the story behind the developmentof lululemon athleticas 310,000-square-footdistribution center near Columbus, Ohio,that went live last summer for e-commerce

fulllment. Creating and maintaining industry-leading, direct-to-consumer business levelswas at the core of the design and location ofthe facility, the companys third DC and rsteast of the Mississippia region were thecompany is seeing explosive growth.

The Ohio facility is the yoga wear retailersmost ambitious foray into supply chain soft-ware and materials handling automation afterpracticing more conventional processes in itsother facilities in the Pacic Northwest.

The team implemented a exible automa-

tion system that relies on a warehouse man-agement system and mobile data collectiontechnologies with conveyor and sortation totie together the functional areas. The idea wasto increase efciency, drive throughput andlean out processes while having the ability toex up or down with demand.

Rather than implement a high level of

automation, we have a system and process-es that allow us to bypass the automationaltogether if we get an urgent order for astore, says George Tsogas, vice presidentof international distribution and logistics.

At the end of the line, the team installedautomatic weighing, labeling and baggingtechnology to streamline packing and ship-

ping. With this efciency plus the location inOhio, lululemon product is now a one-daydrive from 65% of the U.S. population andcan service 85% of its stores and customers intwo days, greatly reducing freight costs.

This is a perfect example of a trend wereseeing more and more, says Trebilcock. Thisis an enlightened retailer implementing distri-bution solutions driven by the need to be evermore responsive to customers both inside thestore and direct to the customers door.

But the most intriguing part of this story is

how lululemons culture makes a tangible dif-ference in its operations. They dont just talkit, they practice it. Culture is the epicenter ofwho we are, Steve Berube, the companyssenior vice president of global distributionand logistics tells Trebilcock. And, one of theways we build strong teams in our DCs is tosweat together.

Indeed, yoga and exercise classes areoffered every day at the facility in an effortto help employees live happy, healthy, funlivesthe core of lululemons overall mis-

sion. A big part of that culture is having funtogether as a team, adds Trebilcock. Look-ing at the photos of lululemon associates, Inoticed they were all smiling, even as theydid mundane tasks like picking and packing.I always wonder why more companies arentfocused on their culture and not just theirmetrics.

MemberMemberof

Official Publication of

WinnerJesse H. Neal

Certificates of Merit

for JournalisticExcellence

Stretching the limits atlululemon

MICHAEL LEVANSGROUP EDITORIAL

DIRECTOR

THIS MONTH IN MODERN

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EH PUBLISHING, INC.

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For reprints and licensing pleasecontact Nick Iademarco at WrightsMedia, 877-652-5295, ext. 102 [email protected].

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8/68

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9/68m m h . c o m MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 9

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A NEARLY TWO-YEAR UPWARDTREND in the manufacturing sector

experienced a hiccup accordingto the quarterly MAPI FoundationBusiness Outlook as the compositeindex slipped from 71 to 67 inthe third quarter.

The surveys composite index isa leading indicator for the manu-facturing sector and is conductedby the MAPI Foundation, theresearch affiliate of the Manufac-

turers Alliance for Productivity andInnovation.

Octobers index ended a runof six quarters of incrementalimprovement. Still, it marked the20th-consecutive quarter the indexhas remained above the thresholdof 50, the dividing line separatingcontraction and expansion.

In a recent interview, DonaldNorman, MAPI Foundation direc-tor of economic studies and surveycoordinator, said the first quarter of

2014 had not been all that strong,

but most indicators showed aparticularly strong second quarter.

Month to month, were still goingto see stop-and-go activity, he said.

Its just not all that smooth, and thatsbeen a characteristic for a while. Butthe results still point to continued new

BY JOSH BOND, ASSOCIATE EDITOR

MAPI QUARTERLY BUSINESS OUTLOOK

Manufacturing output positive

despite global concernsTHE COMPOSITE INDEX SLIPPED FOR THE FIRSTTIME IN SIX CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS, BUT STILL

INDICATES MODEST EXPANSION.growth, albeit at a modest rate.

The survey results and the indexare based on objective order vol-umes, but Norman also includessome qualitative questions as asupplement to the survey. This yearhe asked about global risks, a topicwith no shortage of headlines this

year.The region where respondents re-

ported the greatest risk to operationsis Ukraine and Russia. Otherissues posing at least a slight riskto companies relate to Israel/Palestine, ISIS in Iraq, Syria,Ebola and terrorism in Africa, themilitary coup in Thailand, andthe China/Japan island disputes.

I think with all the newsthats happened over the last

few months, were in a pe-riod in which lots of risks thatwerent apparent before aremaking themselves known,Norman said. About 65% saidthey are working to minimizetrapped cash and half areconcerned with providingenhanced security for employ-ees throughout the world. Thesurvey response shows thatcompanies are focused on

those things, which are muchmore present in their minds.


10/6810 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING m m h . c o m

MANUFACTURING

MHI forecasts growth of 8% to 9%for 2014 and 2015Materials handling equipment neworders grew 8.8% in 2013 and areforecasted to grow 8% to 9% for

2014 and 2015, according to thelatest Material Handling EquipmentManufacturing Forecast (MHEM)released by MHI.

We are optimistic about futureoutcomes and expect economicfundamentals to favorably supportMHEM expansion through 2014 and2015, said Hal Vandiver, MHI execu-tive consultant.

In addition, materials handlingequipment shipments grew 7.8%

in 2013 and are forecasted to grow4.5% to 5% in 2014 and 9% to 11% in2015. Domestic demand (shipments

plus imports less exports) grew 8.3%in 2013 and are forecasted to growjust over 4.5% to 6% in 2014 and11% in 2015.

Import growth in 2013 was 3.9%,down from 17.9% in 2012. Exportgrowth was flat in 2013, down from12.4% in 2012. MHEM imports areforecasted to grow 6% in 2014 and9% in 2015. Exports are expected torebound modestly beginning mid-2014 to grow 4% and continue togrow in 2015 around 6%.

The MHEM forecast of materialshandling equipment manufacturingis released each quarter by MHI and

looks 12 to 18 months forward toanticipate changes in the materialshandling and logistics marketplace.

E-COMMERCE

New Sealed Air survey addressespackaging in e-commerceWITH CONTINUED GROWTH ine-commerce, retailers need to take acloser look at their packaging for filling

online orders, according to new datafrom the Sealed Air 2014 Packagingfor e-Commerce Success survey.

Conducted online by Harris Pollon behalf of Sealed Air, the surveywas fielded in August among morethan 2,000 U.S. adults (aged 18+).The survey indicates that still 58% ofrespondents say that if they receivea damaged or broken product froman online order, they would eitherconsider purchasing from a competi-

tor or would not purchase from thatretailer again.

And 78% of respondents thinktheir orders should be packaged andprocessed for shipment within 24hours after their online purchase. Theaverage amount of time respondentsthink is acceptable for processing anonline order for shipment is 23 hours.

Nearly seven in 10 respondents saythey are more conscious of packagingmaterials and design today than they

were five years ago, and environmen-

tally friendly packaging hasbeen in the forefront ofmany consumers minds.

According to the surveyfindings, 94% of respon-dents believe that there areenvironmentally friendlypackaging solutions, and77% say that a companyspackaging should reflecttheir environmental values.

Consumers have varyingviews on what constitutes envi-ronmentally friendly packaging. Morethan three quarters (78%) say it can be

easily recycled or made from recycledmaterials (75%); 63% believe it can be

reused for other shipments; 55% sayit biodegrades or composts; and 31%

believe it prevents them from havingto return a damaged product.

ROBOTICS

North American robotics market sets newrecords for first nine months of 2014

ROBOT ORDERS and shipments inNorth America set new records in thefirst nine months of 2014, accordingto the Robotic Industries Association

(RIA), the industrys trade group.

A total of 21,235 robots valued at$1.2 billion were ordered from NorthAmerican companies in the first ninemonths of 2014, an increase of 35%

in units and 22% in dollars over the

Survey respondents agreethat packaging... tells customers how much the retailer cares

about them and their order (66%);

reflects the value of the shipmentthe bet-ter the packaging, the better the product inside(48%) (This viewpoint is more prevalent in youngerpurchasersthose ages 18 to 34 years (59%) aremore likely to say this than those age 35+ (44%));and

reflects a retailers environmental commitment(34%).


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PACKAGING

2014 Pack Expo International

attendance tops 2012 by 6.5%PACKAGING AND PROCESSING professionals gatheredin Chicago in early November for Pack Expo Internationaland Pharma Expo 2014, the largest packaging and pro-cessing trade show in North America.

With preliminary figures topping 48,600 attendees,show owner and producer PMMI, The Association forPackaging and Processing Technologies, anticipatesrecording a 6.5% attendance jump over 2012.

The four-day event covered more than 1.2 million netsquare feet of exhibit space in McCormick Place with 2,352exhibiting companiesan increase of more than 19% from

Pack Expo International 2012.

same period in 2013.Robot shipments to North

American customers throughSeptember totaled 18,490robots valued at $1.1 billion,breaking the previous recordset in 2013 by 5% in unitsand 2% in dollars.

Sales activity continuedto be especially strong inthe automotive industry,with orders up 48% year todate over 2013. Non-auto-motive industries, such aselectronics, food, consumergoods and metals also posted double-digit growth in the

first nine months of the year.The robotics industry in North America is having itsbest year ever in 2014, said Jeff Burnstein, presidentof RIA. Along with record performance, we are seeingmore interest in robotics and related technologies thanever before. Its also interesting to note that as robotsales boom, U.S. unemployment continues to fall andis currently at its lowest level since July of 2008, furtherevidence that robotics helps save and create jobs.

In terms of growth within specific applications, spotwelding (76%), arc welding (39%), and assembly (29%) ap-plications have recorded the highest year-over-year growth

through September. RIA estimates that some 230,000robots are now in use in United States factories, placingthe United States second only to Japan in robot use.

Automate 2015, the industrys leading event, takesplace March 23 to 26, 2015 (co-located with ProMat 2015at McCormick Place in Chicago). With four months still togo, the exhibit floor at Automate 2015 is already morethan 40% larger than the 2013 event, Burnstein said.


12/6812 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING m m h . c o m

>Increaseproductivity up to , lines/manhour>Improvepicking accuracy up to .%>Optimizespace utilization up to % compared to

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Vanderlande offers a full range of picking solutions, including

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>vanderlande.com

as many attendees identifying theirprimary or secondary markets aspharmaceutical.

Pittas noted the successes ofPharma Expo and Pack Expo 2014strengthened the groundwork forexcellent results for exhibitors atupcoming Pack Expo trade showsincluding Pack Expo East in Februaryand Pharma Expo and Pack Expo LasVegas 2015.

Exhibitors begin planning theirstrategy for the next Pack Expo almostimmediately after the close of theprevious years show, and they needto know theyll get a strong return on

their investment, says Pittas. Thesuccess of the inaugural Pharma Expoproves the strength of the Pack Expobrand across all vertical markets andreinforces the industrys view of PackExpo as the preeminent North Ameri-can packaging and processing show.

Coming in February, PMMI bringsthe strength of Pack Expo to theEast Coast with Pack Expo East (Feb.1618, 2015; Pennsylvania Conven-tion Center, Philadelphia).

State of industry released: U.S.packaging machinery shipments in-creased by 6%, to $7.9 billion, in 2013,and a rise in retail-ready packaging(RRP) is changing the role of secondarypackaging, according to PMMI.

PMMI released the findings of its2014 State of the Industry: Pack-aging Machinery Shipments Study(SOTI) and 2014 Secondary Packag-ing Market Research Study at PackExpo at a press briefing. PMMI mem-

ber packaging machinery manufactur-ers provided data for their 2012 and2013 shipments for this study. TotalU.S. packaging machinery shipmentestimates also incorporated projectednon-member shipments.

Total U.S. consumptionan overallfigure that includes imports, exportsand domestic shipmentsreached $9billion in 2013, said Jorge Izquierdo,vice president of market developmentfor PMMI. Foods and beverages

together continue to account for more

Pack Expo International 2014 wasdefinitely a success, said Jim Pittas,senior vice president, PMMI, Exhibi-tors sold machines right off the showfloor and collected high-quality leadsfrom the steady flow of attendees.

Pre-show registration was well

ahead of 2012 figures and that mo-mentum continued on site. PharmaExpo, which PMMI produced inpartnership with the InternationalSociety for Pharmaceutical Engineer-ing (ISPE), clearly contributed tothe surge in attendance, with twice


13/68m m h . c o m MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 13

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Lekulitch. Team members will share$4,000 in scholarship funds.

The PACK Solutions Challengeis an annual student contest whereteams from PMMI Partner Schoolsresearch and develop a real-worldpackaging solution. For this years

challenge, the fictional Rays Pre-mium Pet Food Company, requestedproposals for a dedicated line topackage and ship its new retail-readyline of all-beef jerky treats. The stu-dents began their research online andfollowed up with exhibitors.

than half of the shipments. This is con-sistent with what weve seen over thepast 10 years.

While SOTI illustrated a consistentoverall market, PMMIs 2014 Sec-ondary Packaging Market ResearchStudy revealed a dynamic industrysegment feeling the strength of con-sumer trends.

In 2008, when we last conductedthis survey, every company we spoketo said they were trying to reducecosts and improve their sustainabilityratings in secondary packaging, andretailers demanded those changesbecause of consumer preferences.

In contrast, roughly half of the 2014study participants say theyve imple-mented those changes and are satis-fied with the results, Izquierdo said.

One of the most visible trends forsecondary packaging, however, isits role as a retail-ready packagingmedium. Izquierdo added, Retailersare asking for more shelf display con-tainers and as a result, were seeingsecondary packaging going directlyfrom pallet to store shelf.

Changes in primary packagingare also driving shifts in secondarypackaging, the report notes. Food(45%) and beverage (50%) produc-ers noted changes such as switchingflexible packaging and lightweight-ing primary packaging are resultingin the need for stronger support fromsecondary packaging.

The 2014 study also shows de-crease usage in corrugated fiber-board materials and an increase in

the use of recycled material content,overwrapped trays and shrink-wrapped pads.

Also in Pack Expo news:RutgersUniversity took first prize in PACK So-lutions Challenge presented by thePMMI Foundation and sponsored byB&R Industrial Automation. ClemsonUniversity finished second and Uni-versity of Wisconsin, Stout, earnedthird prize. The team from RutgersUniversity included Miles Borgeson,

An Cierpial, William Kim and Melissa


14/68

14 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

S

tandards and regulations aredesigned to provide a basic level

of safety inside industrial facili-ties. But because many are vaguelyworded, proper safeguarding ofpeople and equipment often fallsshort of the intended goal. Taskedwith separating multi-ton equipmentfrom people, structures and drops, lifttruck barriers require some of the mostextreme performance among indus-trial safety solutions. Yet, they are alsoamong the least understood.

Just because its yellow and metal,

doesnt mean its providing any pro-tection, says Brian Hrabec, generalmanager of A-Safe. Then again, anOSHA regulation calling for separateareas and paths for people and equip-ment could be interpreted as a greenpainted line, so I suppose a yellowbollard is better than nothing.

The problem is when a bollardexpected to stop a lift truck proves about as effective asa strip of paint. It all comes down to physics, Hrabec says.One product might be rated to withstand a 90-degree

impact from a 10,000-pound lift truck at 3 miles per hour. Ifthe equipment is any larger, or smaller but traveling faster,thats a problemand designing a bollard to handle an ex-tra ton or two can be exponentially more expensive. And,that is assuming a barriers rating is even known.

After an impact, aside from damage to the equipment,there are more costs as the barrier and, in many cases,the oor need to be replaced or repaired. These costs arepreferable to an injury, but a well-designed barrier canprovide benets even when never touched.

Barriers can be used to help design the trafc ow oflift trucks and employees through a facility, Hrabec says.

Certain patterns can help save time if they enable the

fastest route from point A to point B.Conversely, trafc also informs barrier design, such as

the use of a steel bollard in a low-trafc area or a ex-

ible polymer barrier in an environment prone to impacts.A new set of considerations emerges in cold storagefacilities, where the behavior of polymers and concrete isagain subject to physics.

Unpainted polymer barriers are often used in food-safeand cold applications because of their ability to transferonly 20% of an impacts force into the anchor and themore brittle concrete oor. Space is at a premium, espe-cially in cold storage, but whether its -40F or 120F theright barrier can prove a worthwhile investment.

Barriers to entryGeneric regulations and misused solutions often

undermine effective practices for keeping lift trucks away

from people, product and problems.

LIFT TRUCKTIPS

By Josh Bond, Associate Editor

Josh Bond is Moderns associate editor and can be reached

at [email protected]


15/68


16/68


When an automotive manu-facturer asked CreativeTechniques to develop a

new way to secure pallet loads oftray-, tote- and dunnage-packedcomponents without stretchwrapor banding, the company saw anopportunity to introduce a newstandard product: the enviroLid.

Made of structural foam plastic,the heavy-duty, 45 x 48-inch lidsits atop a pallet load of totes ortrays. The lids recessed, seatbelt-style mechanismseach with ametal hook to grip the pallets

edgeincorporate a positiveengaging ratchet mechanism. Thedevice creates tension that securelysandwiches the load between the pallet and the lid; whenremoved, the spring-loaded belts retract automatically.

The hooks can be custom designed to match anypallet, including injection molded, structural foam, ther-moformed, metal or wood, says Rick Parker, CreativeTechniques vice president of business development.

Known for designing and manufacturing custom-engineered, reusable packaging for closed-loop supplychains (typically between manufacturers and components

suppliers), Parker and his team knew the enviroLid hadthe potential for broader applications.

Benefts include better sustainability by eliminatingstretchwrap or bandingplus improved safety for bothpersonnel and product by eliminating razor knives,Parker says. In addition to being watertight, the lidsunderside can be outftted with a custom-molded insertthat perfectly aligns to the parts, totes or trays directlybeneath it to secure the contents.

The original lid, introduced four years ago, was en-gineered to secure heavy components like transmissionand engine parts, says Parker. Because those pallets

can contain 3,000-pound loads stacked up to four-high,

the lid had to be extrarobust.

Because not everyapplication calls forsuch sturdiness, thecompany recentlyunveiled an injection-molded plastic envi-roLid for 2,500-pound

loads. It has the samedimension and features, but weighs 22 pounds, so asingle person can handle it, he says.

The company also offers an injection-molded enviroLidand pallet combination with a 32 x 36-inch footprint. Itsa unique size that works well for smaller batch componentdeliveries to assembly lines by tuggers pulling carts,Parker says. With more operations looking to eliminateforklifts, this was the best size to interface with carts andpallet jacks.

Buckle up pallet loadsNew product with lid eliminates stretchwrap, banding

when securing pallet loads.

PACKAGINGCORNER

By Sara Pearson Specter, Editor at Large

Sara Pearson Specter is an editor at large with Modernand

can be reached at [email protected].


17/68


18/6818 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 / MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING mmh.com

MODERNsystem report

Youve heard the old line never let em see you sweat, right?

Well, lululemon athletica, a company famous for its techni-cal athletic apparel, including its signature yoga pants, hasturned sweat into a business, according to Steve Berube, thecompanys senior vice president of global distribution andlogistics, and George Tsogas, vice president of internationaldistribution and logistics.

The company manifesto, familiar to every employee, is acollection of ever-evolving statements and slogans intended to

spark conversation, including: Sweat Once A Day, Breathe

By Bob Trebilcock,Executive Editor

The yoga wear retailers new multichannel

DC is speeding up time to market, streamlininge-commerce processes and reducing freight costs.

Flexible automation is the key.

at lululemonsOhio DC

Sweating the


19/68mmh.com MODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 4 19

Deeply, and Drink Fresh Water. And, as much water as youcan. The company purpose, says Berube, is to elevate theworld from mediocrity to greatness through a mission to haveour products create transformational experiences for people tolive happy, healthy, fun lives. As a company, we want to elevatethe world by helping people set goals from a personal, careerand health standpoint. And, it starts with their own people.

Staff goals are posted for all to see in a new 310,000-square-foot distribution center near Columbus, Ohio, that went live

last summer for e-commerce fulfillment. Store fulfillment

and replenishment are scheduled to go live in 2015. Workingwith a systems integrator (SDI, sdigroupusa.com), the facil-ity introduced supply chain technologies and materials han-dling automation to a company that had largely relied on con-

ventional distribution in its other North American facility inthe Pacific Northwest. The technologies include:

A warehouse management system (WMS) and ware-house control system (WCS) create pick waves and orches-trate order fulfillment operations;

RF, voice and put-to-light technologies direct putaway,

George Tsogas, vice president of international

distribution and logistics (left) and Steve

Berube, senior vice president of global

distribution and logistics.

details

Getty Images/Kirk Irwin



MODERNsystem report

picking and replenishment processes; Conveyor and sortation route

orders through the facility; and Automatic weighing, labeling and

bagging technologies streamline pack-ing and shipping.

As with yoga, which is at the heart

of the company, flexibility is also animportant component of the design.Rather than implement a high level ofautomation, we have a system and pro-cesses that allow us to bypass the auto-mation all together if we get an urgentorder for a store, says Tsogas. He addsthat the facility was designed to growwith the business, including the abilityto expand from the current 7,000 stockkeeping units (SKUs) to 20,000 SKUs.

A culture of sweating togetherIts difficult to write about lululemonwithout writing about a unique culturethat values letting em see you sweat.Culture is the epicenter of who we are,Berube explains. And, one of the wayswe build strong teams in our DCs is tosweat together.

The company was founded in 1998after Chip Wilson, a 20-year veteran ofthe surf, skate and snowboard business,took the first commercial yoga class

offered in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Exhilarated, Wilson was convinced thatthe time had come for yoga. He beganto design technical and beautiful ath-letic fabrics that people could feel com-fortable sweating in. That vision contin-ues today. One of the technologies wetalk about is our anti-stink materials,

says Tsogas. You can work out in oneof our shirts today, and feel great wear-ing it again the next day.

The first lululemon store opened in

the Kitsilano beach area of Vancouver in2000. The idea was to create more than

just a store, but a community hub wherepeople could learn and discuss the phys-ical aspects of healthy living from yogaand nutrition to running and cycling.Nine years later, lululemon launchedthe iviva athletica line for young girls.As of the second quarter of 2014, thecompany was operating 270 stores and

continues to be a growth company.Despite its impressive growth, sweatremains at its core. For instance, thenew distribution center features a fullyequipped 3,000-square-foot gym and a1,500-square-foot yoga space. Personaltrainers offer classes to associates on adaily basis.

Its common to see a boot camp work-out with 50 or 60 co-workers in the park-ing lot or on the DC floor, says Berube.On your first day, you have to get out

in front of your teammates to introduceyourself, share a one-year goal and showoff your favorite dance move. Our goalis to elevate the world by creating lead-

The yoga wear retailers new Ohio

DC was designed to speed up the

delivery of e-commerce and store

replenishment orders, especially in

the Northeast and Midwest.

We sweat together as a team, says Steve Berube, senior vice president of

global distribution and logistics. Yoga and exercise classes are offered every

day at the DC.


21/68

SPEAKERS

STACY SHOUNDirector of Distribution

BCBGMAXAZRIA

BRIAN GIBSONProfessor of SupplyChain ManagementAuburn University

JOHN TALBOTTDirector of ResearchKelley School of BusinessIndiana University

GREGORY BANNISTER

COOSport Obermeyer

BOB TREBILCOCKExecutive EditorModern Materials Handling

STAN RUTSTEINRetail Expert

MARCELO VILLIN PRADOExpert in Marketing Strategies

STEVE WIERSMADirector of International DevelopmentBleckman Fashion& Lifestyle Logistics

PANEL DISCUSSIONS ONEmerging Technologies

EFFICIENCY IN THE DC:USING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY TO DO MORE

REGISTER ATSDIGROUPUSA.COM/SELF15

FEBRUARY 9TH& 10TH2015 | LAS VEGAS, NV



MODERNsystem report

ers and building authentic relationshipsinside and outside our business.

That sense of mission extends todistribution and logistics. Were aglobal engine reinventing our industryby putting people first, having fun anddelivering exceptional service, Tsogasexplains. If we do that while elevatinglives and setting up an inspirational cul-ture, we will deliver the best service inour industry.

Designing for service and growthIndustry-leading service was one of thetenants behind the design and locationof lululemons Ohio facility, the com-

panys third DC in North America; thenetwork already counted a facility inVancouver that services Canada and afacility in Washington that previouslyserved the United States.

The project was initiated in 2012with a network analysis performedby FedEx. In recent years, the com-pany had seen a significant growthin its e-commerce business as wellas a growth of its customer base eastof the Mississippi. In addition to the

increased transportation costs associ-ated with growth on the East Coast,service times were suboptimal, withan average transit time to stores andguests, as lululemon refers to its cus-tomers, of 3.72 days.

By opening a second United StatesDC in Ohio, were a one-day drive from65% of the U.S. population, and we canservice 85% of our stores and guestswithin two days, says Tsogas, who addsthat stores are replenished five days a

week. In fact, the new facility has reducedaverage transit times to 1.92 days.

In addition to service, at least fourother factors came into play, including:

1. Business continuity and riskmanagement:If the DC in Washingtonwent down, the network would have beenchallenged to service U.S. stores and cus-tomers. Now, there is an alternative.

2. Capacity constraints: A two-facility model provides capacity for thenext five years and the Columbus prop-

erty has room to expand by 150,000

square feet.3. Freight costs:Locating a distri-

bution center in the Midwest reducesfreight costs to stores and guests on theEast Coast, Southeast and Midwest.

4. Laboratory for innovation:The Columbus DC serves as a lab,

where innovation can be tested andthen rolled out to other facilities,including third-party logistics (3PLs)providers in Hong Kong and Europe,and a DC in Australia.

Flexible automationWhen it came to designing the mate-rials handling systems and processes,the final design was chosen from about12 different layouts and configurationssuggested by the system integrator.

For every potential solution, the wholedistribution team was involved in theevaluation. The projects steering com-mittee included the chief informationofficer, the head of e-commerce andrepresentatives from planning, alloca-tions and finance.

In the end, lululemon opted for flex-ible automation. Instead of an auto-mated storage and retrieval system(AS/RS) and goods-to-person pickingstation, the facility relies on its WMS

and mobile data collection technologies

along with conveyor and sortation totie together functional areas. The ideais to increase efficiency, drive through-put and lean out processes while main-taining the ability to flex up or downto meet demand, which can vary from5,000 to more than 12,000 orders a day,

or to fill a hot order for a store.In the future, guests may want pre-

mium packaging or something uniquewith a garment during seasonal periods,says Berube. We may need to isolatea store that is having exceptional sales,or rework a SKU with new pricing andhang tags. Those couldnt be done aseasily if we were using an AS/RS.

The key technology is the WMS,which determines the most efficientway to batch single line ordersnow

50% of order volumeto an autobag-ger, multi-line orders to manual packstations, and store replenishment activ-ities that are scheduled to come onlinesoon to create a true multichannel envi-ronment. The WMS is complementedby three data collection technologiesthat are deployed to optimize variousprocesses:

RF, mobile computing and barcode scanning direct inbound receiv-ing, putaway, full carton picks and

replenishment of pick faces.

In the e-commerce fulfillment area, associates are voice directed to pick orders

to totes on mobile carts. Pick-to-light is being installed in other areas.


23/68

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MODERNsystem report

Voice technology is used to directe-commerce picking processes and thereplenishment of existing SKUs at thestores. E-commerce orders are pickedto totes that are conveyed to an auto-bagger or a manual pack station. Itemsfor store replenishment are picked tocarts that can manage up to 12 cartons/orders per pass through a pick zone.Those cartons are then inducted onto aconveyor and sorted to shipping.

Put-to-light technology is used topick and pack mixed cartons during theallocation of new SKUs to the stores. Ashipping carton is automatically scannedwhen it enters a pick zone, and lights

direct the order selector to the right binsto pick the right quantity of items to thecarton. Once an order is complete, thecarton is conveyed to shipping.

Since stores are receiving daily deliv-eries, all orders are relatively small andshipped with parcel carriers.

Sweating togetherThe new lululemon facility went livelast August with e-commerce fulfill-ment. The idea was to train employees

on software, systems and equipmentthat hadnt been used before whilegaining the benefit of lower transporta-tion costs by being closer to the market.The company also committed to tak-ing whatever time was required to getit right.

For instance, a team of 20 superusers trained on the WMS system forfive months, followed by three monthsof testing. When it came time to turnthe switch, the team knew the systeminside and out.

Although the whole facility wontbe operational until 2015, Tsogas andBerube are already seeing results, with

a 20% to 30% improvement in the num-ber of e-commerce orders processedper hour. We will realize the real ben-efit when we put in retail replenish-ment, and have the ability to shift peo-ple back and forth between processes,Tsogas says, adding that lululemonalso expects to realize carbon emissionreductions that are important to its sus-tainability plan.

Most importantly, both say thatlululemon was able to get the culture

right at the new facility. In large part,thats because 50% of the manage-

ment team in Columbus came fromthe Washington facility; they under-stood and taught the values, and theyrecruited local talent that perfectlycomplements the team.

Were proud of the team we have inplace. How we coach and mentor ourpeople is ingrained in who we are andwhat makes us unique, says Berube.We authentically care about the livesour people, and its paid back manytimes. Thats just who we are.

The yoga wear retailers new310,000-square-foot distribu-tion center near Columbus,

Ohio, is a testing ground for auto-mation. The system features a com-bination of conveyor, sortation, put-to-light and voice technology, alldirected by a warehouse managementsystem (WMS).

Receiving: Receiving is initiatedwhen advanced ship notifications arefed into the WMS. Newly received

product is unloaded to an extendable

conveyor and delivered tothe receiving area (1). Whenthe cartons are scanned, the

WMS directs the receiverto sort the merchandise bythe next task and distribution chan-nel. Next task, for example, includesmerchandise that might require dimen-sional scanning, quality assurance ora value-added service before putaway.Similarly, the product may be stagedfor storage in a pallet racking area (2)

or a carton rack area (3). Once product

is ready for putaway, the WMS directsa wire-guided lift truck operator to theright storage location. The operatorscans a location to confirm putaway.

Replenishment: Wire-guided lifttruck operators are directed by the

WMS to pull merchandise from reserve

stock locations (2,3). Those items are

WMS, lights, voice and conveyors bring

a new level of efficiency to lululemon

athleticas Ohio distribution center.

Embracing automation fore-commerce fulfillment

lululemon athleticaGroveport, OhioSIZE: 310,000 square feet

PRODUCTS:Yoga and athletic wear

SKUS: 7,000 with capacity of up to 20,000 SKUs

THROUGHPUT:4,000 orders per day

EMPLOYEES:50 employees expanding to 200 when fully

functional

SHIFTS PER DAY/DAYS PER WEEK: 2 shifts per day,

5 days per week

Associates prepare to replenish pickfaces in the carton picking area.


25/68

Modern Materials Logistics Management Supply Chain Management

Automation

Conveyors & Sorters

Inventory & Picking

Loading DockEquipment

Mobile & Wireless

Shipping Pallets

Storage Systems

Containers & Totes

Energy & Sustainability

Lift Truck & Fork Lift

Handling & WarehouseErgonomics

Packaging

Software & Technology

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MODERNsystem report

(8) for that order. Once the truck ispicked up by FedEx, the order is closedout in the WMS. That information isthen fed to the order management sys-tem, which triggers payment confirma-tion and sends a shipment notificationto the customer.

Store picking, packing and ship-ping:Stores receive two types of deliv-eries: new styles that are allocated tothe stores and replenishment orders ofexisting styles. Each delivery type hasits own picking, packing and shippingprocess. Its important to note that over99% of orders are re-packs and newstyles are delivered to the stores weekly.

New SKUs:Orders for new stylesare fed into the WMS, which createsa picking wave. These can include fullcartons and mixed cartons.

Full cartons are picked in the cartonrack storage area (3). There, associatesoperating wire-guided lift trucks aredirected by the WMS to a pick loca-

tion, which is confirmed by scanning.Full pallets are delivered to the ship-ping area (8).

Mixed cartons orders are picked ina put-to-light area (9). The WMS sendscarton information to an associate whoinducts the right carton for an orderonto the carton sortation conveyor. The

WCS diverts the carton to the corre-sponding put-to-light lane. When thecarton arrives in the zone, the cartonlabel is automatically scanned. The binswith items for that carton are illumi-nated, along with the number of itemsto be picked. Once the associate packsthe carton, it is inducted back onto the

carton sortation conveyor. Followinganother automatic scan, the cartonis conveyed to an inline scale wherethe weight is recorded and sent to the

WMS. The WMS determines the bestway to ship the carton and creates ashipping label, which is automaticallyapplied. The sorter then diverts the car-

then delivered to a pick location in theactive carton (4)and active pallet pick-ing areas (5). Pick locations are con-firmed by a bar code scan.

E-commerce picking, packingand shipping:The WMS creates pick-ing waves for single line and multi-lineorders. Voice technology directs orderselectors in the active pick shelvingarea (4). Single line orders are pickedinto a large tote that consolidates upto 35 orders per tote; multi-line ordersare picked to a cart that holds up to 16smaller totes in a single pass through apicking area. Once a tote is complete,the order selector inducts the tote onto

the e-commerce packing induction con-veyor (6). Following an automatic scan,the WCS diverts totes to the appropri-ate lane in the packing area (7)for thatorder: Single line orders are packedusing an autobagger; multi-line ordersare packed manually.

Once packing is complete, an opera-tor inducts a package onto the cartonsortation conveyor. The sorter divertsthe package to the right shipping lane

2

Receiving1

Shipping8

Put-to-light 9

Palletracking

7

Packing area

3

Carton rack

4

Active cartonpicking

6

Packing inductionconveyor

5

Activepallet

picking



MODERNsystem report

ton to a shipping lane (8).Existing SKUs: Before

picking for existing stylesis initiated, merchandise ispulled from the carton rackstorage(3) and moved to car-ton flow racking located inthe active carton picking area(4). Associates are directedby the WMS to pick replen-ishment stock to a wire-guided lift. That inventory isthen delivered to a pick loca-tion in the carton flow rackand confirmed by scanning alocation label.

Once the carton flow rackarea is stocked, pick waves are createdin the WMS. Associates are directed by

voice to pick to carts. Each associate canpick up to 12 cartons/orders in a singlepass through the pick zone. Once all ofthe items have been picked, the associ-

ate inducts the cartons onto the cartonsortation conveyor. As new items, car-tons are automatically weighed and ashipping label is created and automati-cally applied before cartons are sorted tothe right shipping lane (8).

In both instances, the load is closedin the WMS when the carrier picks upan order. The information is fed to theenterprise resource planning (ERP)system, which triggers a store shipmentnotification.

System suppliers

SYSTEM DESIGN, INTEGRATION, WAREHOUSE

CONTROL SYSTEM, CARTON SORTATION, PUT-TO-LIGHT SYSTEM & PACK STATIONS: SDI, sdigroupusa.

comCARTON CONVEYOR:Intelligrated, intelligrated.com

MDR CONVEYOR: Hilmot, hilmot.com

BELTED CURVES: Transnorm, transnorm.com

EXTENDABLE CONVEYORS:Best Conveyors,

bestconv.com

WMS: Manhattan Associates, manh.com

MOBILE COMPUTING AND SCANNING:Motorola Solutions, motorolasolutions.com

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Where Business Meets Materials Handling

The legacy warehouse management sys-tem (WMS) is powerful and essential,but it has its strengths and limitations.A traditional WMS offers strengths inplanning and inventory management,but its weaknessesa focus on daily,sequential, waterfall-style task assign-menthave proven to be a crippling

shortcoming amid the e-commerceboom and the demand for rapid execu-tion of increasingly complicated orders.A growing trend suggests operationslooking for an intermediate or alter-native approach to a new or upgraded

WMS have some options, includingwarehouse control systems (WCS) and

voice solutions.

A lot of companies we run intoevery day have a legacy WMS that isnot as functional as it needs to be,says Ian Hobkirk, founder and manag-ing director of Commonwealth SupplyChain Advisors. Its extremely com-mon, with probably 40% to 50% of cus-tomers in this situation to some extent.

Hobkirk emphasizes that voice sys-tems and WCS have their own sets ofstrengths and weaknesses, and are nota WMS replacement, but a comple-

ment. If you have one or two needs

By Josh Bond,Associate Editor

Complemented by a growing stable of inexpensive execution

solutions, aging software monoliths can prove they dont need

to be toppled.

The near future of a

legacy WMS

Source: Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors, 2014

Reasons companies avoid replacing/upgrading WMS(% of respondents)

Fear of a bad implementation 44%

Minimal perceived benefit 28%

Cost 28%

THE BIG PICTURE



that play to strengths of WCS andvoice, great, he says. If you have half adozen needs across the operation, lookat a new WMS.

If done right, the addition of voiceand/or WCS can make a later WMSupgrade much less disruptive. If youdeploy voice right now in a legacy WMSand keep it doing what its good at,

you can keep voice when you update,Hobkirk says. But if you stretch voiceor WCS to things not in its wheel house,

you might throw away a lot of that devel-opment.

For many, the pace of change in thesoftware market is shocking and certainlybears no resemblance to the historical 10-to 25-year lifespan of monolithic softwaresystems. In all my years, Ive never seenso rapid a change, says 30-year industry

veteran Greg Cronin, executive vice pres-

ident at Intelligrated. Software used to Source: Commonwealth Supply Chain Advisors, 2014

Functionality drivers by WMS maturity level

Class A

Companies that alreadyave a moderately robust WM

Voice directed warehousing

Slotting

Labor management

More sophisticated pick process

Pick wave planning

Lot control issues

Task interleaving

Cartonization

1

4

7

Class B

Companies that have littleor no WM capabilities

Real-time transactionconfirmation

More sophisticatedpick processes

Directed put-away

Receiving improvements

Slotting

Improvement integrationto MHE

1

4

5

E-commerce demands real-time responsiveness to single-line orders, challenging legacy systems geared

toward daily cycles and case quantities.



be on a five- or eight-year cycle. Now itscloser to three. Everything is speed andsatisfying consumer demand.

The legacy of WMSTen to 20 years ago, systems weredesigned around cases and pallets. Ifthe WMS did not have the data neededto support less-than-case quantities, itmight be too difficult an engineeringeffort to add that capability. It leadsto dysfunctions, and some end up cre-ating separate businesses, says Curt

Sardeson, managing principal at OpenSky Group. If youre operating onefacility with two WMS solutions, youprobably have a problem.

Even if there are not yet functionalproblems, Hobkirk says there are sometelltale signs theyre not far away. If asystem is not supported by the originaldeveloper, if its entirely homegrown, orif its in an outdated code base that willmake it hard to find support with thatexpertise, you will have difficulties, hesays. Then again, it can be as simple

as an old systems inability to recognizemore than a single forward pick loca-tion for a given SKU.

Historically, a WMS assigns a singlepick location per SKU. This can cre-ate significant congestion as pickerstry to access fast-moving SKUs. Theseemingly simple act of distributingA-movers to several areas can chal-lenge legacy systems. And, then theresthe complexity of integrating a legacy

WMS with one or more automationsubsystems.

As automation has migrated into thefulfillment spaceCronin says it hasalmost become a requisite for compa-

nies starting at 15,000 orders per dayWCS evolved as a real-time intermediarybetween the WMS or system of recordand the dynamic needs of the facility.The hope when investing in a carousel,automated storage and retrieval system(AS/RS), pick-to-light system, auto-matic guided vehicle (AGV) or A-frameis that speed and efficiency will follow.But a legacy WMS geared toward dailycycles will struggle to keep up with thereal-time capabilities of automation.

Lance Anderson, vice president of salesfor Invata Intralogistics, explains theimportance of effective communicationbetween the two.

The WMS sends the carousel allthe orders it wants to process for theday. Now, say the WMS didnt knowa sale was coming, and had populatedthe days replenishment based on his-toric algorithms. When orders come in,items are not in the carousel and youhave to scrap the whole order and start

over, Anderson says. Once the WMSbatched at night and moved inventoryto the forward pick area, you need toexecute the order however its laid out.

If a WCS has the authority to moveinventory around, reroute orders, and

Voice can isolate associates fromchanges in software systems bypreserving a familiar interfaceduring upgrades.

THE BIG PICTUREWhere Business Meets Materials Handling



make changes in the middle of thebatching process, it can work to getorders out the door. It might also haveaccess to the labor pool to reallocate

accordingly. At that point, Andersonsuggests an operation is less concernedwith cost per piece than with filling theorder. Batch- and wave-based WMS

algorithms are based on the lowestcost, he says. With e-commerce, if Itell my boss 80% got out efficiently but20% didnt get out at all, do you thinkhe cares about the 80%?

Instead, every time a WCS assignsthe next work task to replenishment,picking or packing, it will run the algo-rithm again. What is the state of theoperation right now? Is the pack linedown? Is a print head down? What isthe state of labor? Who didnt comeback from lunch? At that moment itmakes the best decision on what to donext, and updates the WMS accordingly.

Mission: control

But suppliers emphasize that WCS ismore than middleware (which hasalmost become a dirty word) or some-thing only intended to orchestrate auto-mation. By taking control of fulfillmentand working toward optimum produc-tivity, WCS has become proficient in

ASSET STEM Education is a distribu-tor of professional development toeducators, specializing in the kitting,delivery and management of hands-oncurricula and leased supplies. Reverselogistics and quality control areessential to the company, which oftenreceives returned kits with missing,damaged or extraneous items. Afterdeploying a series of custom softwareapplications, the company was able tomanage inventory on an item-levelrather than kit-levelbasis.

The company operates a20,000-square-foot warehouse onthe south side of Pittsburgh. Its 3,000SKUs include equipment and con-sumables for science, technology,engineering and math (STEM) lessons.SKUs are assembled into at least 100different modules, with 12 lessons ineach unit.

We dont want teachers to haveto shop for supplies, so we provideeverything they need, says CynthiaPulkowski, executive director ofASSET STEM Education. But if oneitem is missing or damaged, they have

to make a trip to the store, and wevemissed that goal.Previously, the system assumed

that if a kit came back it did so withall components intact. Because thatwas rarely the case, an accurate inven-tory count was impossible. Associatesoften borrowed from one module tocomplete another.

It created a nightmare, saysFrank Arzenti, director of materialssupport center. It was frustratingbecause we considered continuing touse our existing WMS or look at a newone, which probably would be toocostly and big for what we need.

A custom-engineered assort-ment of functional apps (DMLogic,dmlogicllc.com) now works with theexisting system to provide item-leveltracking and management of work-flows in returns, picking and packing.The company executed the change-over to the new apps without anyshutdown, while working to add allinventory to the system.

When orders are released to thefloor, it creates a unique license plate

for specific totes, each representinga module or portion thereof. Oneperson can now pick to six totes atthe same time, instead of six peoplepicking to one module each. Last yearthe company shipped about 10,000totes containing a total of 3.6 millioneaches.

The project reduced spaceneeded for materials, so last year thecompany was able to give 10,000square feet back to the landlordwhile also bringing materials backin-house from off-site storage. Afterreconfiguring the warehouse to storecomponents instead of pallets oftotes, it went from 1,000 linear feetof storage to 4,000 linear feet with-out breaking a wall.

Item level has been tremendousimprovement to inventory, Pulkowskisays. One of the most importantthings was that the supplier alwayslistened to the staff as they weredeveloping. They never just gave ussomething and said, use this. It waswhat we asked for and they checkedat every step of the way.

Distributor of education supplies passes inventory exam

A legacy WMS should focus on what it does best: planning. Voice andwarehouse control systems can handle the execution.


32/68

THE BIG PICTUREWhere Business Meets Materials Handling


fulfillment execution, or the real-timedirection of automation and labor in syncwith incoming orders. That said, somecall the WCS market a Wild West

characterized by proliferating acronyms,customer confusion and a growing num-ber of solutions to problems they onlyrecently learned they had.

To simplify things, Jerry List, vicepresident of QC Software, describesthree basic tiers of WCS. The Tier 3

WCS involves a more traditional inter-face with materials handling equip-ment. Tier 2 gets into order fulfillment,not necessarily using automation, andmight coordinate picking and packing

functions. A Tier 1 WCS is one thatbegins to overlap into the WMS space,offering more dynamic inventory con-trol and management.

The goal at any tier, List says, is agood understanding of an importantformula: productivity equals efficiency

times percent utilization. A lot of peo-ple use the words productivity and effi-ciency interchangeably, but theyre notthe same, he says. If a voice-enabled

picker has to wait a few seconds for atote to arrive, thats zero utilization. Hesefficient, but not necessarily productive.The only way to improve is with a real-

time execution system.Voice is among the many solutions

for the increased amount of each pick-ing, and enjoyed a warm welcome inthe execution software environment.The software foundation in the WCSwas already there, says Ken Ruehrdanz,manager, distribution systems marketfor Dematic. WCS systems had beendirecting warehouse activities usingpick-to-light and put-to-light technologyfor perhaps 20 years prior to the arrivalof voice. Many legacy WMS do notaccommodate voice, while many legacy

WCS software modules do. Becauseof this early start, WCS software has

expanded the functionality and perfor-mance that voice technology can providein warehousing applications.

Still, there is no hard and fastrule about which solution should bedeployed in which order. Conventionalwisdom held that a WMS was needed todrive the workflow, that planning had tocome before execution. You can thinkof planning, execution and reportingas linear, but its more of a cycle, says

Jennifer Lachenman, vice president of

product strategy and business alliancesfor Lucas Systems. Some customershave chosen to upgrade planning or

WMS prior to implementing execution

With access to both inventory and labor, voice and WCS systems can helpredirect resources in real time.

WCS solutions began as middlewarebetween automation and the WMS,but their functionality has expanded

much further.


33/68

including voice. Some start with execu-tion knowing they will upgrade theplanning system later. Some have doneboth simultaneously.

As businesses change, Lachenman

says a central benefit to voice and WCSis their ability to insulate employeesfrom changes in interface and pro-cesses. Even as a legacy WMS is entirelyreplaced with a new one, the interfaceon the execution side can remain iden-tical to pickers and operators, reducingthe disruptive impact of such a project.

Theres an app for thatA shiny new WMS is likely to be trans-formative to an operation, but the

smallest of software point solutions canbe just as impactful.

Voice and WCS are better thanjust a Band-Aid for a struggling sys-tem, Sardeson says. Im a big fan,and they can be a good investment foran old or new system. I hope the daysof screenscrapers are over, and in thefuture well see a more open abilityto pass data around to software andhardware.

The la carte approach is already

gaining steam, with systems offering

plug-and-play functionality. Whetherits one of the many variants of voiceand WCS systems or tasks traditionallyhandled by WMS, Bob Kennedy, vicepresident at DM Logic, notes a pro-

liferation of targeted, small-scale soft-ware solutions. They all reside underthe umbrella of adaptive software,which he says is analogous to the appapproach, with an emphasis on ease ofdeployment, interface and change.

Its a radically different paradigmshift in how software is developed anddelivered, Kennedy says. And its notunique to our solutions. The concept isto allow less tech-savvy people to cre-ate software so the customer can take

control of the direction, evolution andmaintenance of their WMS system.

Kennedy offers the example of acustomer who used a lot of seasonalemployees. When they picked usingRF, sure enough they made a lot ofmistakes, he recalls. In a matter ofhours, the customer built a new mes-sage stream for temporary workserswith a picture of the target pick anda couple extra scans for verification.Seasoned pickers continued to use the

standard message stream. Over time,

they can migrate these workers fromthe introductory stream to standard,or can build new streams very quickly.To build, test, deploy and confirm thatin the past would have taken days and

help from the supplier.Taking it one step further, Kennedy

says if the customer and supplier arebuilding apps they might make them allavailable to the community on an appstore. Before creating a new app, thecustomer could look at the app exchangeto see what already exists. Maybe theypay a fee, maybe they make a coupletweaks, but youll develop a communityto foster an exchange of best practices,adds Kennedy.

Companies mentionedin this articleCOMMONWEALTH SUPPLY CHAIN

ADVISORS, commonwealth-sca.comDEMATIC,dematic.comDMLOGIC, dmlogicllc.comINTELLIGRATED,intelligrated.comINVATA INTRALOGISTICS, invata.comLUCAS SYSTEMS,lucasware.comOPEN SKY GROUP, openskygroup.comQC SOFTWARE, qcsoftware.com

Instead of replacing a WMS outright,a variety of targeted executionsolutions might extend its longevityby several years.




MODERNequipment report

With warehousing, distribution and manufacturingprofessionals focused on doing more with less,speeding up processes and maximizing existingspace, overhead handling equipments role in the

distribution center has become more importantthan ever. Add automationand other technological inno-

vations to the mix and crane,hoist and overhead handlingequipment manufacturers aremaking sure to keep a watch-ful eye on worker safety aswell ergonomics.

Overhead handling is amature market, but were alwayscoming up with new innova-

tions and new twists on things,says Martin Marincic, productmanager of cranes for DemagCranes & Components. Weeither look for product improve-ment or innovative productleaps whenever possible. That

innovation has garnered the attention of major com-panies like Airbus, which in 2014 ordered 10 Demagprocess cranes in its new assembly facility in Mobile,Ala. This project includes several levels of automation

and sophistication and also has a lot of safety built intoit, he adds.

The issue of safety has grown in importancefor managers looking to put safety first withintheir own corporate cultures. To accommodate thisdemand, overhead handling equipment manufactur-ers are emphasizing safety. Every meeting we havestarts off with a safety-related topic, says Marincic.We not only make sure that we adhere to all safetystandards, but we also offer training at our facilitieson how to safely inspect and repair our products.

Konecranes is also putting a bigger emphasis

on safety, according to Chuck Snook, sales man-ager for Region Americas, WLS. Were starting tosee a growing shift toward safety as a cultureand basically part of our DNA in the day-to-daymanufacturing environment, says Snook, whosees the push for better productivity and the needfor ergonomic products (to alleviate repetitivestrain injuries, for example) as the other forcescurrently driving innovation in the overhead han-dling sector.

When we design equipment or add new prod-ucts to a facility, were actually suiting the job to the

person as opposed to finding the right person for a

By Bridget McCrea, Contributing Editor

Manufacturers of overhead handling equipment are

putting an emphasis on safety while creating new,

automated solutions that help people work smarter,better and faster.

Overhead handling:Raise worker

Overhead handling

equipment manufacturers

are emphasizing safety.




A workstation lifting system takes

the load off workers at a water

distribution products supplier.

specific role, says Snook. Because ofthis, the equipment were making hasto cover a very broad spectrum. Thatswhere both safety and ergonomicscome into play, says Snook, and its whyboth play critical roles in the produc-tion, installation and use of overheadhandling equipment.

Its about being more proac-

tive with materials handling needsand solving problems in advance,as opposed to just reacting to thoseissues, Snook adds. For example, hesays many companies have policiesprohibiting employees from manu-ally lifting anything that weighs morethan 30 poundsdespite the fact thatmany adults can feasibly lift an itemof this weight. To satisfy this require-ment, overhead handling companiesare making workstation cranes like

Konecranes AirBalancer. This pneu-

matic powered device aids the opera-tor by allowing him or her to maintaina natural lifting motion. It almostmakes the operator super human,says Snook, without slowing him orher down.

The need for speedCleve Pechuekonis, Ingersoll Rands

global product leader for industrialequipment, says manufacturers havebeen adding new features and benefitsto powered hoist offerings (air and elec-tric hoist) as well as to human-poweredmanual hoists. Before making thoseimprovements, Pechuekonis says heand his groups product managers spenda time in the field, working closely withend users. Were interested in whattheyre doing, what theyre lifting, andwhat products theyre currently using,

says Pechuekonis. This helps us iden-

tify trends, future applications andunmet needs.

In the distribution space, specifi-cally, Pechuekonis says his teams fieldresearch has turned up a need to moveproducts as quickly and safely as pos-sible without damage. This, he adds, ishow companies become as productiveand profitable as possible. To accom-

modate those needs, Pechuekonis saysIngersoll Rand has developed over-head hoists that are extremely fast andprecision-controlled to ensure accu-racy and safety. We currently offerhoists that move product at 110 feetper minute, Pechuekonis says. Weretalking about being able to get a prod-uct 10 stories high up in the air within60 seconds, and our customers are stilltelling us to go faster.

Up until now, Pechuekonis says

overhead materials handling as a whole

safety




hasnt always been as quick to accom-

modate users demands. Because of this,manufacturers are putting more focuson the overhead lifts, the trolley move-ments, and the actual movement of theequipment on the warehouses beams.

With conveyors swiftly transportingitems throughout the warehouse, forexample, Pechuekonis says the pointwhere the overhead crane or hoistinteracts with the pallet (on its way outthe door of the warehouse, for example)is a hot button area.

Thats the point where weveseen some speed limitations, saysPechuekonis, who points to pneu-matic air hoists as the speediest inno-

vations developed to date. Electrichoists are still lagging in this [area];thats where were seeing some poten-tial opportunities.

In many cases, the need for speeddoesnt come into play until it comestime to actually hoist items up into theair. Only then do companies realize

their equipment is ineffective or anti-

quated. You dont think much aboutthe crane until you dont have access toit, and then you realize just how vitalit is, Marincic says. This piece ofequipment can create a real productionbottleneck. To avoid that, managers arelooking for reliable, trouble-free cranesthat meet their ergonomic applicationsand safety requirements.

Preventative maintenance

With more and more attention being

paid to analytics and tracking within thewarehouse, overhead equipment manu-facturers are jumping into the fray andcoming up with ways to incorporatesuch capabilities into their cranes, hoistsand workstations. With a continual eyeon productivity and safety, for example,Columbus McKinnon is adding morediagnostic capabilities to its products.Were trying to provide preventativemaintenance data, says Jeff Armfield,executive director of global product

strategy and product development.

When that diagnostic data is easilyaccessible, machine users can keep bet-ter tabs on how their equipment is per-forming on a day-to-day basis. Havingthe data that predicts when a machineneeds to be fixed, or when somethinghas to be done, is pretty important,says Armfield, so were focusing someefforts in that general direction.

According to Armfield, the focus onproviding better diagnostics will helpusers make more intelligent decisions

around equipment usage and mainte-nance. Through this data and relatedreports, those users will gain a clearpicture of just how their materialshandling equipment performs duringthe course of a day, shift or even asingle hour. Its all right there in frontof them, says Armfield, and it givesoperators a very clear understanding ofhow their product is operating.

For now, Armfield says the largercompanies are most interested in

Workers building lift trucks rely on overhead cranes to do the heavy lifting.


37/68mmh.com

Companies mentionedin this articleCOLUMBUS MCKINNON, cmworks.com

DEMAG CRANES & COMPONENTS (A TEREX

BRAND), demagcranes.us

INGERSOLL RAND, ingersollrand.com

KONECRANES, konecranesusa.com

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We currently offer hoists that move product at

110 feet per minute. Were talking about being

able to get a product 10 stories high up in theair within 60 seconds, and our customers are still

telling us to go faster.

Cleve Pechuekonis, Ingersoll Rands global product leaderfor industrial equipment

accessing sophisticated data rel

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