Distribution Center

Located in the North Industrial Area in the town of Vidnoye, four kilometers from the Moscow Ring Road, the warehouse complex with a total area of 10,200 m2, which has been successfully operated since 2005, provides the full range of custody and handing services.

Soon the second phase having an area of 6,800 m² was commissioned in addition to the 10,200-m² complex already in operation to increase the total space available for cargo storage on five- and six-layer racks to 22,000 pallet places. 

Problems

Initially, Distribution Center managed its warehouse with Exceed 4000. But this system proved to have insufficient flexibility for the business of a 3PL operator. Setting up individual cargo handling parameters for each customer took too much time. Besides, the system could not satisfy one of Distribution Center’s key requirements, turnover breakdown by production date. This was necessary because the company had a large confectionery distributor among its clients.

Takeover operations were not automated on the basis of radio terminals. Information was entered manually, and this consumed a lot of working time for many operators. There were difficulties with stock-taking.
System support was outsourced to the company that had done the rollout.
Eventually, Distribution Center decided to have an in-house IT service and to change the warehouse management platform.

Solution

The company analyzed all the WMS’s available in the Russian market, their functionalities, and information on suppliers. Based on the findings, Distribution Center chose Logistic Vision Suite offered by ant Technologies.

In order to limit the project scope and minimize the implementation time, WMS was set up on the basis of requirements of the confectionery handling process, because the warehouse’s largest client was a confectionery distributor.

The highlight of this project was that Distribution Center needed to switch from one WMS to another without discontinuing its operations.

The flexible architecture of Logistic Vision Suite and the high professional level of ant Technologies’ technicians made it possible to roll out the system within a very short time. The settings in existing equipment (data collection terminals, label printers, head-end equipment and wireless infrastructure of different makes) were adapted to the new system so as to be able to be used simultaneously with the old WMS. The resetting allowed Distribution Center to switch to the new system while retaining much of its previous investment.

In addition to satisfying the basic warehouse management requirements (takeover, storage, picking, and dispatch), we activated a broad range of logistic functions:

• Quick adjustment and flexible change of goods placement and movement strategies in accordance with individual business processes of each customer;
• Use of different measurement units and an unlimited amount of package types;
• Implementation of an extended data exchange interface with customers’ recording and accounting systems;
• Enhanced reporting functions;
• Support for electronic document interchange, export and import of stock balance data.

Distribution Center’s personnel was trained in ant Technologies’ Training & Consulting Center. Under the contract, ant Technologies will also provide maintenance services.

Results

Logistics Vision Suite has been operated in the warehouse since July 2007. The company is building the second warehouse, which is scheduled soon to be launched under the management of Logistic Vision Suite. Besides, the third warehouse is being considered.

The new multifunctional toolset of Logistic Vision Suite allows Distribution Center to tune to individual business processes of each client, change its goods placement and movement procedures, and use different measurement units. This functionality is critical for a 3PL operator.

Following the training program, the warehouse staff successfully operates the new WMS. The company has retained its previous investments by readjusting the existing bar code equipment to the new system.

Vladimir Brylkin,  Development Director at Distribution Center:

“Logistic Vision Suite has enabled us to completely automate our warehouse complex by successfully resolving all current problems related to goods handling management. We have been also convinced that the system possesses a large potential and its deployment opens up some great opportunities in terms of further scaling up and upgrading the warehousing functionality in line with the growth of our business and the launch of new services offered to our customers. All those factors enable us to focus more on expanding our operations while preserving our earlier software investments.”