Oracle Warehouse Management
Dave Herring – Lion Apparel, Inc.
Brian Pellot – Pelley Consulting, LLC
Overview
Project Status and Background
WMS Basics
LPN Concepts and Processing
Task Processing
Rules Engine
Key Learnings
Wrap-up
Background and Project Status
100 years plus
World’s largest maker of protective clothing
Turn-out gear, helmets, boots ...
Background and Project Status
Implementing OM, Configurator, Inventory, Quality, BOM, WIP, Cost, AR and WMS
Starting second round of system testing
Planning to go-live March, 2004
WMS Basics
WMS augments other modules’ functionality (Inv, Shipping, WIP, Quality)
Additional responsibility and set of forms plus forms from the other modules
Rules engine – Core of WMS functionality
Mobile Web Applications(MWA), Mobile Supply Chain Apps (MSCA) – Handheld/RF ready interface
WMS Basics - MWA
Mobile Web Applications
•Intended for handheld, RF devices
•Device Evaluation and Selection
•Many are portable PCs with other capabilities
•Easily integrated with flexible setups in the application
WMS Basics - MWA
Transactions entered through a Telnet session
Receiving/Putaway
Shipping
LPN transactions
Physical/Cycle Counting
Standard inventory transactions
WIP Moves and Material Transactions
Inquiry Screens
WMS Basics - MWA
Subinventory Transfer
Data can be entered, scanned or selected.
Think about the amount of information to be entered(keyed) through the handheld.
LPN Concepts and Processing
License Plate Number – unique identifier for a group of items/instances
Like a box, crate, truck, basket, pallet, vat, tank, etc.
LPNs can contain other LPNs, boxes in boxes, boxes in trucks
Pack, consolidate, unpack
Herring’s law of packing (with regards to Newton)
Task Processing
Tasks are actions performed in the warehouse. Putaway, pick
Tasks assigned to WH resources (people and machines)
Rules engine assigns correct task to correct resources
Task Processing
Task List Pick 2 smiles Pick 3 circles Putaway LPN X Pick 4 bolts
Rules Engine
Resources Joe in a Forklift Alice on Foot Betty in Crane
Task assignment, progress and efficiency can be directed and monitored through a control board.
Rules Engine
Uses Rules, Strategies and Assignments to:
Assign Tasks
Allocate Material to Move Order (pick waves)
Assign Cost Groups (inventory accounting)
Direct Putaways
Drive label printing
Rules Engine
Example Rules
If item to be putaway has a category of Frozen Goods and is larger than 200lbs, place in subinventory Bulk Frozen Goods
Pick material for customer X from a Grade A lot
Put internal order receipts in FG subinventories
Rules Engine
This is very flexible but can be difficult to achieve the desired result
Some programming experience is necessary
Key Learnings
WMS is fairly immature
Bugs
Seemingly logical functionality is not available
Much of the functionality only available in MWA
LPNs
Pick confirmation by tasks
Key Learnings
Once you go WMS, you have to use the WMS methods. Cost groups – they have to be used as assigned
through the engine.
Locator Control must be turned on
Pick confirm must be manual and use tasks.
Receiving must be done in MWA
A Lot of Setup Cartonization
Directed putaway by weight or volume
Key Learnings
Rules Engine requires functional and technical help
Open interfaces do support much of the functionality for extensions. However, only briefly documented.
Some features are difficult to implement since all information must be entered through MWA