| Implementation Of Warehouse Management System SmartStock.WMS in KASKO Company |
Kasko spol. s r.o.
 | Project Objectives:
- Streamline the warehouse operations
- Keeping the FIFO method rules
- Marking based on clients requirements
- Reduction of errors and inaccurately picked orders
Solution:
• Real-time warehouse management solution
• Mobile terminals Falcon 335
• WiFi RF network Proxim Orinoco AP600
• Integration into ERP system Helios IQ
Solution Benefits:
• Error and mistakes reduction in picking
• Accurate inventory control online
• Backward traceability
• Meeting the FIFO method requirements |
Company description:
The company Kasko was founded in 1992 and science that time it has remained a purely Czech company without foreign capital. The key business activity is to provide the clients with comprehensive services in the area of development, design and production of moulds, injection of plastic mouldings and their completion and delivery to clients. Important customers include among others ŠKODA AUTO a.s., Volkswagen Group, AUDI AG., SEAT, Cadence Innovation k.s., Visteon, Grupo Antolin, Johnson Controls, GUMOTEX, a.s., or Robert Bosch. |
Locality:
Slavkov, Uherske Hradiste district | Technology:
Wireless Data Terminals - Datalogic, Barcode Label Printers - Zebra, Wireless Networks - Proxim |
WMS Case StudyDownload: CS_Barco_WMS_Kasko_english_verze_17_10_2006.pdf
|
Initial State
In view of high demands of the clients and the specifics of the automobile industry, the inventory logistics of the company KASKO must provide:
• Just-In-Time goods supply based on delivery schedules, which can be amended even on the day of picking
• batch monitoring for ensuring backward traceability
• picking of goods by means of FIFO method
• marking of shipping packings by labels according to the VDA standard or as required by the client
• keeping package records with customers
• gradual implementation of EDI communication
Even looking up of goods upon picking laid considerable demands on warehouse workers because all products are warehoused and despatched either in identical packages or in several similar types of packages. It led logically and despite all efforts of the warehouse employees to confusion of goods, incomplete deliveries and breaching of the FIFO system. Manual printing of despatch labels was very time demanding, and while more and more customers required this marking, this service would need one full-time employee.
Particularly in the automobile industry, any shortage in the supplies or inability to deliver as required by the client may have a critical impact on the customer retention and thus also on the company’s competitiveness.
These and other facts led to the decision to implement a warehouse system, which would assure fulfilment of all demanding requirements of the customers and warehouse logistics, together with streamline the warehouse operations.
Expected Project Objectives
Pursuant to the specified system requirements, major objectives and expected project benefits were defined precisely:
• reduction of confusions and inaccurately picked and dispatched orders
• print of despatch labels according to the VDA standard or as required by clients
• optimization of warehouse operations, in particular the picking
• possibility of electronic data interchange by means of EDI communication
• accurate real-time warehouse records
• detailed and prompt overview of the processing status for the individual warehouse operations
WMS System Selection
Based on the initial state analysis the company has started to look for solution and provider of the system for online warehouse management. At the beginning of 2005, a selection procedure was organized, participated by 7 providers in total. After assessing all the tenders, the company Barco, s.r.o. was selected as the provider. The decision was significantly influenced by the fact that its product SmartStock.WMS offered a ready solution based on the knowledge of and hands-on experience with logistic processes and, at the same time, a possibility to make the necessary custom software modifications. Also the promptly available service in relation to the provider’s place of business was one the factor playing a role in choosing the system provider.
Project Implementation
The works started in April 2005 with pre-implementation analysis during which system requirements, precise form of individual processes, necessary program adjustments and data exchange between the SmartStock.WMS and the information system of the LCS Helios Company were defined. | 
The implementation itself started after signing the contract in June 2005 with completion of development of interface between the SmartStock.WMS and IS LCS Helios and necessary function on the part of SmartStock.WMS. Yet at the end of June necessary trainings of users and operating tests took place and at the beginning of July the system was released for the first stage of test run. Yet in this stage all the warehouse processes were handled exclusively by means of SmartStock.WMS. Only slight adjustments were made of the form of individual process. Print outputs and visual appearance of shipment labels according to the requirements of concrete customers was gradually refined.
During the second stage of test run records of goods were gradually introduced in individual pallet locations. The third, monitoring, stage of test run served for fine tuning of last details of the entire system. In October 2005 the system was handed over for routine operation.
Solution Contributions For Kasko
Kasko Sales Manager, Ing. Jiří Vojáček, has evaluated the contributions of SmartStock.WMS system for the Kasko Company in the following manner:
• thanks to the bar code technology and immediate checking of processes of goods picking and shipment the picking and shipment fault-rate decreased
• the system precisely records individual batches, provides tools for backward traceability and precisely controls the picking process with regard to the FIFO method
• significant improvement was brought about by the possibility of printing of various shipment labels of articles for various customers resulting in more efficient use of human capacities
• the system provides for precise warehouse records and detailed overview of the state of processing of individual warehouse operations in real time
• the dependency of warehouse on people, or their knowledge of logic of goods location within a warehouse has decreased significantly - anyone can now pick the goods only after a short training. |
|
