Accellos WMS for Microsoft Dynamics GP
COMPANY: Del Nat Tire Corporation
KEY BENEFITS:- 90 % increase in inventory control
- 35 % increase in order fulfilment speed
- Significant productivity gains
- Significant increase in locating product in the warehouse
- Daily Process now takes the same worker 6 hours versus 10 with the previous paper based system
 The Company DNTC continual growth has made its warehouse a very busy place. The company’s daily inventory hovers near 700,000 tire units. To accommodate the demand for inbound and outbound products, the company employs 60 warehouse staff within a 500,000 square foot facility. The total facility includes 35 acres with much of it used as outside storage. With 68 dock doors, the DNTC warehouse is extremely congested with inventory flowing in and out at a rapid pace. The Challenge
DNTC had previously managed its warehouse using a home-grown ERP system, which handled its warehouse management, accounting and customer service operations. As the pace of business increased, the old ERP system began posing some productivity challenges. The system was not able to integrate with mobile devices, meaning that warehouse staff had to print out any receiving, picking or shipping information in order to process all orders. Working with a paper-based system created inventory control and efficiency pitfalls for staff. With no automated way of tracking inventory locations, DNTC staff had to rely on their memory to find the required products. Another challenge impeding productivity was misplaced paper order forms, causing shipping delays and frustrating DNTC’s efforts to provide the highest levels of service to customers.
The company also wanted to provide its staff with tools that would assist the overall productivity in the warehouse. With the paper-based system, staff was limited as to how quickly inventory could be received, or orders shipped. It was not possible to receive, pick and ship at the same time, forcing DNTC to operate three shifts a day. In addition, with no automated way of tracking products, inventory control was a challenge for the company. Inventory checks would often reveal inventory discrepancies and documentation issues. "When we conducted our inventory check we would notice significant amounts of product were missing or misplaced. The numbers were so high that we knew the products were not missing, but instead had been either documented improperly, or the tracking paperwork had been misplaced," says Tosco. "We knew that an automated solution would help us resolve not only our inventory control issues, but also help us to improve the overall performance levels within the warehouse." DNTC decided that the best way to improve warehouse operations and make it easier for staff to deliver the highest levels of customer service, was through the introduction of an automated warehouse management system. The Solution
In the fall of 2002, DNTC decided to replace its aging home grown computer hardware & software system with Microsoft Great Plains & Dell servers. With plans to further improve processes and provide new productivity tools for warehouse staff, the company integrated RADIO BEACON WMS into Great Plains.
DNTC deployed RADIO BEACON WMS with wireless hand held data terminals from Hand Held Products and Cisco access points into the warehouse in February of 2003.The solution combined radio frequency and barcode technology with an Internet-based architecture. This gave DNTC access to a powerful, scaleable and flexible real-time WMS. With RADIO BEACON, DNTC has been able to streamline its putaway process. Inbound container receiving within RADIO BEACON allows warehouse staff to process multiple purchase orders simultaneously, and allows multiple receivers to work on the same purchase order. By running RADIO BEACON WMS on Microsoft SQL Server and the Microsoft Windows operating system, DNTC can now access a richer feature set and deliver a more stable and secure platform than its original DOS system. The easy integration of the product with Microsoft Great Plains also played a key role in the company’s decision to introduce RADIO BEACON to its warehouse. Through this integration the company is now able to seamlessly track all business processes in real-time. "Another user friendly feature within RADIO BEACON is the Web Dispatch tool. It allows warehouse managers to keep up to speed on warehouse activities and to address any issues that may arise from any location," says Tosco. "We no longer have to wait for people to come into the warehouse to get operations back on track. If a problem comes up during our late shift, we can deal with it quickly by alerting the required manager on the phone and they can address the issue remotely." The Benefits
Implementing RADIO BEACON within the DNTC warehouse is leading the organization to better meet customer expectations with significant productivity, accuracy and service improvements.
The new system designs a work flow path for each inventory picker that helps them quickly locate products and then plots efficient routes through the warehouse to complete their order. With the paper based system, warehouse staff regularly spent eight to 10 hours picking products. Today, the process takes a maximum of six hours. DNTC has also realized a 35 per cent increase in overall order fulfillment speed. This increased fulfillment speed has enabled the company to eliminate its third shift, thus operating on two shifts while still meeting customer demand. "Working with RADIO BEACON we have cut operations down to two shifts, says Tosco. "The system has created a great safety zone for us, too. We now know that, should we experience a spike in demand, we can bring in an extra shift to help us service customers. This is something we could not have done without the efficiency gains that RADIO BEACON helped us realize." RADIO BEACON’s integration with Microsoft Great Plains also allows DNTC to track their inventory from the moment it arrives at the dock doors to the moment it is shipped to the customer. The ability to accurately track product has translated into tremendous inventory control improvements and significant reduction in costs associated with missing product. In addition, this real-time inventory system assists DNTC Customer Service Representatives translate accurate information when their customers request it. In a "Just-in Time" delivery business climate, this feature has increased out outbound product efficiencies. The RADIO BEACON Web Dispatch tool is also helping warehouse managers do their jobs more effectively by giving them easy access to real-time warehouse productivity data and reports on all warehouse processes. The software’s Web interface allows for remote access to warehouse data, meaning concerns or bottlenecks can be addressed even if the required manager is out of the office. "We are thrilled with the functionality and performance of RADIO BEACON 5.3 in our warehouse," says Tosco. "We are confident that this system will be able to support us as our business continues to grow. It’s great to know that we have a system in place that we can grow into rather than grow out of."
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