Customer context
The customer, a world leader in the design and manufacture of mechanical parts, is organized into 4 BUs:
- Systems for the automotive industry
- Transmissions
- Mechanical parts (the focus of this blog)
- Industrial machinery and tooling
The mechanical parts division has factories in Japan and Europe, and one in the USA, as well as dozens of distribution platforms around the world. The global logistics center, based in the Netherlands, receives all products and delivers them to customers and distribution centers worldwide.
How do you optimize your supply chain with Fiori?
The project was to implement a radio frequency system for all internal warehouse management. Applium was involved in a cross-functional consultancy role, optimizing the organization and implementation of logistics processes. A blueprint was designed in close cooperation with the customer, covering all warehouse processes: from purchase order to dispatch and transport. The aim was to optimize the flow of 1,000,000 incoming and as many outgoing parcels per year, with a minimum of handling and administrative operations.
At Applium, Bart Van Asperen Vervenne, consultant and logistics project manager for the past 25 years, has worked with numerous Applium customers in France and around the world over the past 4 years.
Project progress and technical details:
In order to integrate Fiori ergonomics, we conducted a series of workshops with the customer to break down the process into micro-tasks, each of which can be optimized on fiori:
- Phase 1: Unloading trucks/containers using ASNs from purchase orders, with 100% validation of packages and all references and quantities correctly identified.
- Phase 2: Stowage of items by reference, with locations corresponding to product rotations and groupings.
- Phase 3: Item picking by customer order groups.
- Phase 4: Packaging optimization.
- Phase 5: 100% control of sampling / 3PC for OEM deliveries.
- Phase 6: Confirmation of weight and issue of documents.
- Phase 7: Assign transport to loading doors.
- Phase 8: Validation of loading and goods out.
- Internal transfers and stock searches.
- Inventory taking.
Production start-up:
Since June 2023, the customer has switched its global bearing distribution platform in the Netherlands to Fiori for its receiving process with:
- Control of expected deliveries in terms of product, quantity and packaging,
- Identification and control of products and printing of labels, if no identification, and ASN suppliers available,
- Fully unloaded product storage.
From June 23, 2023, half of all deliveries will be made via EDI, with a significantly reduced workload:
- Scan of the pallet received (1 scan + 1 click),
- Confirmation of the number of packages with quantity and items received (2nd click, one per item, with an alert in the event of inconsistency in the basic data),
- Suggestion of storage bins (1 scan)
- Confirmation of final location (1 pallet scan + 1 bin scan).
End of project and outlook:
The project was launched in Production on June 15, 2023! Everything got off to a flying start. Since then, 250,000 parcels have been unloaded, identified and stored, with a processing success rate close to 100%.
From December 4, new Fiori tiles will be deployed to further optimize handling operations while increasing reliability and reducing delivery times for customers. Inventories will be significantly optimized, with time savings measured in days, and the average picking time per line will be considerably reduced as a result of storage optimizations.
The customer now wants to go even further…
