Axelot WMS X5 system implemented at BioVitrum warehouse

2022: Introduction of Axelot WMS X5

AXELOT announced on August 9, 2022 the introduction of AXELOT WMS X5 into the BioVitrum warehouse.

Integration between WMS and ERP in the BioVitrum warehouse contributes not only to the prompt exchange of up-to-date product information. The use of "virtual warehouses" in ERP allows you to automatically synchronize the status of goods on the balances of the corporate information system and in the stocks of virtual zones of the warehouse management system.

BioVitrum logistics specialists process dozens of incoming deliveries from Europe, the USA and Southeast Asia every week, as well as hundreds of outbound shipments. BioVitrum Logistics includes a procurement department, a customs clearance department, a logistics department and 3 distribution centers in St. Petersburg, Moscow and Novosibirsk. The company employs more than 30 qualified employees in this area. More than 20,000 consignments of goods are shipped annually to thousands of customers across the country and abroad.  

The introduction of a specialized system, which became AXELOT WMS X5, supplemented the existing accounting in ERP with greater information and transparency of the movement of goods in the warehouse, and also made it possible to implement many useful and important functions that significantly optimized business processes and increased the efficiency of the warehouse. The implementation of WMS was carried out directly by AXELOT specialists.

The pilot project began at the BioVitrum warehouse in St. Petersburg. The warehouse area is about 2,000 square meters. m, it is equipped with front and shelf racks, as well as refrigeration chambers with shelf racks. The warehouse processes medical equipment, consumables and reagents, the number of SKUs reaches 20,000 .

Prior to automation in the warehouse, racks driveways were tied to a specific supplier. Accounting for the location of the goods in the cells was not carried out, which greatly slowed down the work and reduced the "relevance" of the information. Placement of pallets from acceptance was carried out in arbitrary cells.

The selection of goods was carried out from "paper," which was printed from ERP, and the replenishment of the selection zone took place at the request of the storekeeper directly during the selection process. The control of receipts and selection was also carried out by reconciling the quantity on paper, after which the data was manually entered into ERP. The inventory slowed down the work of the warehouse, as it happened by manually entering information into the list with subsequent manual transfer to ERP. The fact of shipment was recorded first on paper, then transferred to ERP.

The project's tasks were standard for implementing WMS in a previously unautomated warehouse. It was necessary to implement address storage in order to obtain accurate information about the amount of goods in the storage and assembly cells. It was necessary to reduce the number of errors when assembling orders and increase the speed of the task. It was important to be able to carry out a random inventory without stopping the warehouse, as well as optimize processes and implement monitoring of all operations.

After the implementation of AXELOT WMS X5, the goods are recorded in the warehouse completely in WMS with the transfer of up-to-date information to ERP. To solve this problem, online integration exchange between systems was configured - integration was performed between AXELOT WMS X5 and ERP using the DATAREON MQ message queuing service.

Storage bins are no longer attached to the article and are selected dynamically under the control of WMS logic, and pallet placement is also planned. The goods are selected using the shipping documentation along the specified bypass route. Acceptance, as well as inspection/packaging of the selected article and shipment are also carried out using shipping documentation. Inventory and balance entry are carried out for tasks arriving at the shipping documentation, all data on discrepancies are automatically transferred to ERP.

As part of the project, functionality was implemented related to the use of "virtual warehouses" in ERP to automatically monitor the movement and change in the state of goods in the warehouse without physical movements. With integration, all necessary information is synchronized between WMS and ERP and used in operations.

The movement of goods between zones takes place on the basis of standard documents of a certain type: an expense order is unloaded, then a shipment plan is loaded with subsequent conversion and planning, the goods are taken to the packaging zone with automatic write-off from the WMS and ERP balances. Further, a receipt order for the transferred goods is opened in the CIS, and an employee in WMS accepts the selected goods already in the ERP zone corresponding to the virtual warehouse.

In the final step of reflecting the actual status of the goods, the picking plan is loaded from ERP based on the document Spoilage Order. The result of picking the goods under this document is the appearance of an identical product (set) on the balances with the only difference - at the beginning of the name a postscript "limited usable" appears. This item is available for transactions in the company's specialized business processes.

Thanks to the implementation of AXELOT WMS X5 in the BioVitrum warehouse, storage cells received individual identifiers and the cell binding to a specific product or supplier ceased to be used, which made it possible to speed up the assembly of orders, since various optimization criteria began to be used during placement: grouping by frequency of access and reporting to this. The number of errors in the assembly of orders has significantly decreased, it has become possible to monitor the performance of operations and the work of warehouse employees in real time. All operations of line personnel are carried out using shipping documentation - the use of data collection terminals simplifies both navigation through the warehouse area and identification of the item in difficult cases. You can flexibly configure the routing and assembly order of an item, depending on your current needs. It is possible to carry out a full and selective inventory without stopping the warehouse operation. The management of BioVitrum decided to replicate the implemented solution in warehouses in Moscow and Novosibirsk. The replication project is completely based on the IT architecture developed as part of the pilot project.

2021: Introduction of Warehouse Management System

The pilot project began at the BioVitrum warehouse in St. Petersburg. The warehouse area is about 2,000 square meters. m, it is equipped with front and shelf racks, as well as refrigeration chambers with shelf racks.

The warehouse processes medical equipment, consumables and reagents, the number of SKUs reaches 20,000.

After the introduction of Axelot WMS X5, the goods are recorded in the warehouse completely in WMS with the transfer of up-to-date information to ERP. To solve this problem, online integration exchange between systems was configured - integration was performed between Axelot WMS X5 and ERP using the Datareon MQ message queuing service.

Storage bins are no longer attached to the article and are selected dynamically under the control of WMS logic, and pallet placement is also planned. The goods are selected using the shipping documentation along the specified bypass route. Acceptance, as well as inspection/packaging of the selected article and shipment are also carried out using shipping documentation.

Inventory and balance entry are carried out for tasks arriving at the shipping documentation, all data on discrepancies are automatically transferred to ERP.

Within the framework of the project, an interesting functionality was implemented related to the use of "virtual warehouses" in ERP to automatically control the movement and change in the state of goods in the warehouse without physical movements. With integration, all necessary information is synchronized between WMS and ERP and used in operations.