Heppivear South warehouse logistics processes upgraded with Axelot WMS X5

2021: Warehouse Upgrade

The Heppivear South warehouse logistics processes have been upgraded on the basis of the Axelot WMS X5. This was announced on July 9, 2021 by Axelot.

The project implemented a number of tasks directly related to the specifics of the online store warehouse.

The company's warehouse is located in the city of Volgograd. The total area of ​ ​ 10,000 sq.m. is divided into 4 rooms.

An important goal of the project was the optimization of warehouse processes, the transition from paper technology of selection and placement, in which up-to-date information was not provided to the website of the online store.

Of particular interest is the process of collective selection of goods with subsequent sorting. When multiple orders are selected at the same time, the system sorts tasks from different orders in the walk order and combines them by number into one common pool when selecting from a cell. You can go to sort the selected item by order either at the collector's initiative when the packaging is physically filled, or automatically when the task pool for a specific collector is completed. In the selection process, double correctness control is used - at the stage of taking the goods from the cell, the collector checks its image on the TSD screen and scans the selected goods, and at the sorting stage, a piece-by-piece scan of each unit of the goods and a scan of the box in which the scanned goods must be placed. If the collector is wrong at the selection stage from the storage location, it will find an error in the sorting and the system will return it for the missing item. An important limitation in the planning of such selections was the ban on the separation of orders between executors, as this led to a multiple increase in the number of boxes involved in the execution of the order and, accordingly, to additional financial and physical labor.

During the project, 20 stationary workplaces were automated to monitor the collected orders. An image of the item is available to the employee on the PM of control of collected orders, the system notifies if an extra item is scanned or the item for the order is not scanned. In case of detection of selection error, the person performing the inspection can form a task with the PM for inspection of collected orders to eliminate the error, pack the order from several boxes into one or, conversely, make several boxes from one.

For individual orders it is required to print packing lists with barcodes of a special sample - for this purpose, AXELOT WMS X5 on RM Shipment Control implements the process of interaction with the corporate information system through the API service.

In addition to automating basic process operations and addressing issues related to mandatory labeling, a number of specific solutions have been introduced in the warehouse.

For example, a single document is accepted by different employees. The receiver independently distributes specific items among employees working on the same line (up to 8 people, packers), who during the acceptance process sort goods by articles, sizes and colors. When you make an acceptance, the employee with the TSD prints labels on the article and the accepted storage places and labels them.

The system also implemented a mechanism for calculating motivation to warehouse employees and their foremen. The principle of payroll and calculation of the applied coefficients has been transferred from the motivational scheme previously implemented in the company. Employees in the warehouse work in teams, while a subordinate employee performs work at the TSD, and the work is fixed to him and the foreman. Each employee has motivational indicators, a shift plan and a plan for the month. The development of employees is also taken into account for the assignment of orders after 18:00.

AXELOT WMS X5 is integrated with the corporate information system using DATAREON ESB service bus. In addition to 20 shipping control workstations, 35 WMS operator workstations and 113 mobile workstations are automated.

In the future, the management of Heppivear South plans to develop the functionality of the implemented system, and the possibility of further replication is also being considered. Other plans include the implementation of the TMS system and its integration into the company information loop.