Episode 3: Labeling Your Warehouse. Learn How.
In concrete terms, process optimization is about identifying waste or opportunities in the warehouse processes, and, most importantly, finding solutions that can be implemented in
Apport Warehouse MES og Apport Enterprise arbejder i sync hos emballagefabrikanten Berry Superfos
15/11/2022
Author
Christian Mikkelsen, CCO
Digitalization of production
Berry Superfos has collaborated with Apport since 2012. At Superfos’ Danish factory in Randers, both Apport Warehouse Manufacturing Execution System, MES, and Apport Enterprise, which is Apport’s Warehouse Management System, WMS, are used – and the interaction between the two systems has greatly streamlined the workflows in production and in the warehouse.
It requires overview to run a factory that produces and sells packaging. If your company, as Berry Superfos, have your production linked to the warehouse, you will typically be able to recognize the following statements:
- Allocation is difficult, as stocks are updated on the back end.
- Many production and quality papers are floating around the production area.
- There is a need to collect data along the way.
- Entering data into the ERP system back end is a time-consuming task.
The solution to these statements can be a Manufacturing Execution System – at least that is the case for Berry Superfos.
With Apport Warehouse MES (AWM), the company’s production process is optimized so that the parts of the processes that previously had to be carried out manually, and often as a difficult back-end task, are replaced by a system that automatically and flexibly ensures that the warehouse logistics is joined with the production units.
Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Process Manager at Berry Superfos, elaborates on how Apport Warehouse MES has automated the production processes at Superfos’ factory in Randers: In addition, it is possible to download your package instructions on the screen digitally and print your box labels directly from the MES station.
The Apport Warehouse MES system is therefore a tool that keeps track of the production orders and the order in which they are to be produced. This means that when the employees at Superfos arrive, the tasks are ready to be carried out in the MES system.
The functions of Apport Warehouse MES
Create jobs for the warehouse on requirements of raw material
In the interaction with Apport Enterprise, Apport Warehouse MES can automatically create picking jobs in the warehouse management system when a production order is initiated. Here, it is always possible for the operator to supplement the job by manually creating picking jobs of raw material.
After this, the picking job will move on to the warehouse management system and be displayed in the warehouse employees’ task overview, so that they can immediately carry out the task according to its specified priority and delivery point.
Systems that talk with each other is one of the benefits in the workflows at Berry Superfos. In fact, it is so beneficial that Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Business Process Manager at Berry Superfos, describes the systems as being 100% in sync:
“The orders that an employee in the production gives the system are automatically transferred to a job in the warehouse, so in that way the systems are 100% in sync,” says Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Business Process Manager at Berry Superphos.
Implementation of the production
With Apport Warehouse MES, the implementation of production becomes simple, efficient and easy to control. In Apport Warehouse MES, the operator has several options to manage the production processes with a full overview, while being able to collect useful data in connection with the production.
“For our working day, Apport gives us a full overview of which tasks need to be carried out in the warehouse. That has reduced a lot of paper used on production papers and package instructions that we previously had to print out and deliver to the production. We no longer do that – we have it on the screen in production,” explains Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Process Manager at Berry Superfos.
From the MES station, the operator has the option of the following:
- Viewing information about the job directly on the screen such as amount and descriptions
- To print labels
- To plan the next production on the production unit – e.g. requisitioning raw materials, printing labels or skipping production orders
- To see instructions in relation to the production
- To requisition more raw materials for the production
- To return excess raw material to the warehouse
- To request a pick-up of finished goods
- To end production
Pick-up of finished goods
The MES system is always on the forefront, so that the processes in the company are efficient. When pick-up of finished goods is requested, both the number of goods and the standard consumption of raw materials are reported back to Apport WMS and ERP. Thereby, Apport Warehouse MES ensures that both Apport Enterprise and the associated ERP system are continuously updated with finished goods stocks and standard consumption of raw materials.
At Berry Superfos, it is very helpful that Apport Warehouse MES updates the systems, as it helps the company with traceability in the case of, for example, defective batches:
“If a supplier comes back and tells us that batch X for the white color is faulty, we can track it back in the Apport system, where the system can tell us exactly which production orders we have used it for and we can see if they still are in the warehouse or if they have already been sold, then of course we must call them back,” elaborates Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Process Manager at Berry Superfos.
How to calculate consumption at completion
The inventory function in the Apport Warehouse MES system makes it easy for the warehouse to deliver goods to production, as well as easily take them back again. In the system, the operator, or a colleague, can calculate the consumption of raw material for production. This means that a job can easily be created so the raw materials are returned to the warehouse.
To finalize the production, the operator or a colleague has the option to correct the standard consumption to the real consumption of raw materials via an overview. In this way extra consumption can be included. The goal is that all surplus or deficit inventories associated with the production order at completion are either moved back to the warehouse or lost/gained, so that all inventories is completed at 0.
Do you want control over inventory and production?
With Apport Warehouse MES, you will wave goodbye to production and quality papers floating around the production area as well as unnecessary resources spent on manual entry of production data. Further, the system creates gains for the entire organization’s interplay and workflows by working in sync with both the WMS and the ERP system:
“The good thing about having both Apport WMS and Apport MES is that the two systems work 100% together,” emphasizes Martin Bering Egelund, IT & Process Manager at Berry Superfos.
With Apport MES, your company will have:
- A more structured and just-in-time logistics between warehouse and production.
- Ongoing online updates of completion notifications and raw material consumption for WMS and ERP.
- Savings on paper printouts of production orders, job slips and packing instructions.
- Possibility of printing labels for marking.
- Possibility of collecting control data.
Apport MES and Apport WMS create an efficient flow between production and the warehouse. By integrating the production with the WMS, there will become a comprehensive overview and control over inventory in the warehouse and in the production.
Do you experience delays in the updates with feedback in production? Are you often looking for goods and do you not have the knowledge of the inventory in production? Do you spend a lot of time printing job notices and various production papers? Do you lack traceability on your products?
Then it is worth considering an implementation of the WMS with Apport Warehouse MES. The benefits of Apport Enterprise are many and you can read more about them here.
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Would you like to know more about Warehouse Management?
Are you interested in learning more about Warehouse Management and how it can benefit your warehouse? Let me know if you need any help or have any questions.
Christian Mikkelsen
CCO, Apport Systems
E: [email protected]
T: +45 4177 6304
Christian Mikkelsen
CCO, Apport Systems
E: [email protected]
T: +45 4177 6304
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