RF accuracy in real time
February 1st 2008

Thanks to the the Empirica WMS with real time RF from Chess Logistics Technology, WYKO has cut despatch errors by around 50% and increased overall pick rates by 30%

Industrial products supplier WYKO Industrial Services, part of the ERIKS Group, has increased order picking and despatch performance and accuracy following the introduction of the Empirica warehouse management system with real time RF from Chess Logistics Technology.

WYKO says despatch errors have been cut by around 50% while overall pick rates have increased by 30%. Empirica operates in real time to set order picking schedules and sequences, balance task allocation and workloads, and monitor and redefine priorities to ensure that the warehouse operates at maximum overall efficiency and meets demanding despatch commitments.

"Customer service is key for us and without stock and despatch accuracy we couldn't do it properly," says Peter Timbrell, Logistics Director at WYKO Industrial Services.

Interface with existing systems WYKO distributes a wide range of industrial products direct to customers and through a network of 74 branches in the UK and Ireland from its Halesowen warehouse. The warehouse stocks around 40,000 lines and WYKO takes pride in its ability to fulfil orders quickly and efficiently. The company recognised that its business requirement would be fulfiled by an application that could interface with its existing systems and support specialist processes.

Empirica was deployed in conjunction with hand-held RF terminals to oversee order picking and despatch processes. On average WYKO picks around 1100 orders a day. One of the company's objectives was to introduce flexibility and efficiency that would enable it to balance workloads and fulfil orders next day without overburdening the entire operation.

The warehouse is zoned and has three principal storage areas comprising conventional racking with pallet racking for heavy and bulky items, a mezzanine for small parts and an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) for fast moving small items. A conveyor system links these with the order assembly and despatch area.

Balanced workloads Pickers can sign on to any zone. Empirica organises picking to optimise the route and sequence based on workloads in real time using user-defined parameters including prioritisation codes for each order, customer and destination. Orders are automatically allocated a priority code from 1 to 100, with low numbers more urgent, as details are received by Empirica from WYKO's other applications. Empirica directs warehouse staff to pick items with the highest priority by issuing instructions to the hand held terminals. Using similar routines, it ensures workloads are balanced throughout the day.

"Most other systems we looked at need some kind of intervention to prioritise and release the work but with Empirica it's automatic," says Peter Timbrell. "Scheduling and visibility of workloads allows us to allocate people where the work is. The auto sequence of picks has made a big difference to efficiency and work rates." The system is highly configurable to allow WYKO's warehouse to optimise and streamline the overall process. During picking, for example, it automatically looks for items of the same priority and allows up to five to be picked if they are nearby. In this way the average time and distance between each pick can be reduced significantly to boost overall productivity.

"With increasing volumes there are times when Empirica has given us the ability to cope with bigger and more fluctuations," says Peter Timbrell.

Items picked from the mezzanine and ASRS are scanned and placed in barcoded tote bins that are put on the conveyor for transfer to the correct despatch location.

When a bin arrives, its barcode is scanned and the contents transferred to a cardboard box for delivery. The barcode on each item and the cardboard box is scanned to confirm the transfer has been completed.

The overall results have been impressive.

Despatch accuracy has risen to 99.78% and errors reduced by 50%. Pick rates have increased from 200 to over 260 items per person per day. Overall pick rates have peaked at 600 per hour during the busiest periods. Stock 'bouncers' - when items are unavailable for picking - have also been reduced.