Accellos WMS

• Supported 100 per cent order volume growth with same number of staff
• Order turn around speed increased by 25 per cent
• Picking accuracy increased by 25 per cent

The J. Walter Company Ltd. (Walter) first opened its doors as an importer and distributor of industrial utilities in Canada in 1952. Since then, the company has grown into a world-leading supplier of metalworking products for the mining, gas and oil development, aircraft and automotive manufacturing, pharmaceutical and construction industries. Throughout its history, Walter has focused on delivering high quality, innovative high-end products ranging from abrasives for metal cutting, grinding, brushing and finishing to chemical tools for lubricating, cleaning and protecting metal surfaces. Its products not only help metalworking organizations increase productivity and lower production and maintenance costs, but also consistently exceed established safety and environmental standards. Today, Walter has offices throughout Canada, the U.S., South America and Europe.

Although the company had a basic location tracking system in place, the software was only able to track carousel sku locations, and the warehouse system was primarily paper-based. With 100 orders shipped daily to more than 80 locations, this presented a logistical challenge for the warehouse staff. They had to rely on memory to locate products, which limited productivity levels. Occasionally products would be stored in the wrong locations, forcing warehouse staff to travel through the facility searching for the right product, and cutting into the time spent processing orders. This also led to problems with order accuracy, since warehouse staff would sometimes not recognize the location mistake, and ship the wrong product.

"With no formal WMS in place, inventory control and overall warehouse performance measurement and tracking was also a challenge," says Jeannot. "We had no way of tracking inventory levels as orders came in and went out."

Since products were not scanned as they were shipped out, Walter had no way of tracking how much inventory was miss-shipped, stored in the wrong location within the warehouse, or was lost due to shrinkage. With no WMS, the company was also unable to track order progress and productivity levels within the warehouse.

"The implementation of RADIO BEACON went very well," says Carl Mikula, Imagine Inc. "Because of RADIO BEACON’s easy integration with Walter’s existing supply chain software, and great support from the Radio Beacon Inc. staff, we were able to complete the implementation in less than a month."

The RADIO BEACON WMS gives the organization the ability to track inventory in real-time. RADIO BEACON inventory control features allow Walter to allocate and rotate stock based on FIFO, LIFO, size, lot, serial number, expiry date, velocity, or other rules corresponding to the company’s business. As RADIO BEACON tracks each product’s movement in or out of the warehouse, Walter is also able to accurately plan inventory replenishment, ensuring needed products are always on hand while also reducing overhead costs.

With the paper-based system, warehouse staff were only able to pick one order at a time. RADIO BEACON wave picking features allow pickers to process several orders at a time, increasing efficiency and productivity levels. With RADIO BEACON, pickers are also able to pack products directly into final shipping cartons, cutting steps out of the order fulfillment process – another boost for productivity levels. Since RADIO BEACON supports a number of different picking styles, Walter is able to choose the optimal picking strategy for its warehouse.

"The shipping functions of RADIO BEACON are also a great tool for Walter. Previously they were using several disconnected shipping systems," Mikula says. "With RADIO BEACON and the integrated IMAGINE TMS the organization is now able to manage all shipping functions through the WMS, simplifying the process."

Imagine also recommended RADIO BEACON because of the variety of reporting and tracking functions the software delivers. With RADIO BEACON Web Dispatch, Walter warehouse managers are able to review warehouse performance and track orders and inventory levels in real time. Since the system is Web-based, warehouse performance and processes can be monitored both remotely and from within the warehouse.

Walter upgraded their RADIO BEACON WMS in 2003 to SQL version 5.1.

With RADIO BEACON, staff has all of the information they need to do their jobs effectively, right in the palms of their hands. The system tracks the availability and location of all inventory in real-time, and is then able to direct the staff to the products they need in a fast and efficient manner. The WMS has not only cut down the time each order takes to pick, but also enables each staff member to pick six to eight orders at a time, further increasing productivity levels.

"The efficiency and productivity gains we have realized with RADIO BEACON have been so great that we have been able to increase warehouse output to 200 orders per day, filled by 10 warehouse employees," says Jeannot. "Without the system we had needed 15 employees just to fill 100 orders per day."

With the new system in place, inventory accuracy and tracking issues have also been resolved. Since RADIO BEACON tracks warehouse operations in real time, information about inventory and performance levels is available to warehouse management at any time. The inventory control department is now also able to trace how every single shipment went through the system: who entered the order, who picked it, who packed it and who shipped it.

"With this system, we have gained the type of control we could only dream of previously," says Jeannot. "The supervisor knows exactly what’s happening on every floor. It’s like having an extra set of eyes."

The system’s scalability is also a great benefit, which Walter is already looking forward to using in the future. The company keeps expanding due to its high-quality products and superior customer service; with RADIO BEACON, Walter is secure in knowing that as its business grows, its WMS will grow along with it.