RFID in Warehouse and Inventory Management

Transcription

1 Preconference Seminar RFID in Warehouse and Inventory Management Harold Boeck Ygal Bendavid (UQAM, Academia RFID) 1

2 Preconference seminar Agenda RFID in Warehouse & Inventory Mgt 9:00 RFID Best Practices for Inventory Management 10:00 Is RFID the Right Choice for Your Business? 11:00 How to Build Your Own Inventory-Management RFID Portal 13:00 Getting Your Project Started & Initiate Your RFID Business Case 13:30 Developing an RFID Business Case and Calculating the ROI 14:15 Preconference Seminar Ends RFID in Warehouse & Inventory Mgt Contextual issues US Companies carry $1.1 trillion in inventory spread along the supply chain with $450 billion at manufacturers, $290 billion at wholesalers and distributors, and $400 billion at retailers It is estimated that the average holding cost of manufacturing goods in inventory in the US in appreciatively 30% of the total value of the inventory Inventory is an obvious candidate for cost reduction Source: Us department of Commerce in Russel & Taylor, Operation management 5 th ed.,

3 RFID Best Practices for Inventory Management Harold Boeck Ygal Bendavid UQAM, Academia RFID Your presenter Harold Boeck Ygal Bendavid Professor at the UQAM Co-Founder & Academic Director of ACADEMIA RFID BAA, MSc.A., Ph.D. 3

4 About RFID Centre of Excellence Professional Training & Certification Vendor-Neutral Consulting Feasibility Studies & Applied Research RFID Custom Solution Development RFID Project Management 4

5 Our Lab in Montréal RFID Lab Source: Academia RFID Lab. Objective of the presentation Understand how RFID ties in with inventory-management Understand how RFID enables organizations to redesign their processes Identify how RFID facilitates warehouse best practices 5

6 Warehousing is an integral part of every logistics system. It plays a vital role in providing a desired level of customer service at the lowest possible total cost Over the years, warehousing has developed from a relatively minor facet of a firm's logistics system to one of its most important functions. Warehousing: part of a firm's logistics system that stores products (raw materials, parts, goods-in- process, finished i goods) Provides information to management on the status, condition, and disposition of items being stored. Source: Source : Lambert D. and Stock J (2001). Strategic Logistics Management, chap 5. Financial Impact of Inventory What is Inventory Management Inventory is the stored accumulation of transformed resources (e.g. materials, information, and money) Inventory management is the activity of planning and controlling accumulation of the resources that flow through supply networks, operations and processes Slack et al., Operations and Process Management, Principles and practice for strategic impact,

7 Why Have Inventory? Insurance against uncertainty/demand fluctuations A mean to counteract the lack of flexibility Allows to take advantage of short term opportunities Can increase in value Fills the processing pipeline Etc. Slack et al. (2006), Operations and Process Management, Principles and practice for strategic impact, 2006) but there is a cost to inventory Ties up money (working capital) Can become obsolete Can be damaged or deteriorate over time Can be lost or expansive to retrieve Can take up excessive storage space (vs. its value) Can involve high admin. & insurance costs Etc. 7

8 Inventory Management & RFID The underlying objective of inventory management is to minimize inventory while maintaining acceptable customer service THEN HOW CAN RFID HELP? Inventory Management & RFID or RFID Visibility! end users do not want to buy RFID; they want to buy either a solution to a problem or a system that delivers benefits they can't achieve any other way ( ) Business people simply want information they can use to improve the way they do business, and they don't care where it comes from ( ) need to understand that RFID can be employed to create visibility across their entire business (Roberti, 2009) 8

9 What is visibility Data is captured & translated into information Information is a resource Visibility is the access to this resource RFID as a enabler & Visibility is a mean manage mobile assets, tools & vehicles, inventory, in ways that were never before possible What data might be useful to collect & analyze? How it could be used? Value of information What is (EPCIS) Visibility Data? Visibility on events dimensions EPCIS Data consists of events, each of which records something that happened in the real world. Often, though not necessarily, triggered by reading an RFID tag. What: what physical objects were involved (EPC or other identifier) When: when the event took place (timestamp) Where: where the event took place (location identifier) Why: what business process step was being carried out Source, Using EPCIS Data Sharing for Full Supply Chain Visibility Kenneth R. Traub, Ken Traub Consulting LLC, RFID Live, 27 April

10 From data capture to information management From (inventory) data capture to (inventory) information management What: When: 10h30 AM Where: (X, Y) Why:Shipping to XX How: 17 deg. Cel With RFID data, it's not just what you know; it's what you do with what you know priate RFID pecific case? ect the approp logy for your sp 3 Sele technol A RFID system A mu ultilayer Architec cture ERP WMS Other AIDC devices & network infrastructure 802.1x access points Other Mobile devices Barcode readers Other AIDC technologies Barcode labels Products IR USID TMS Networks (Wi Fi, UWB, USID, 802.1x access points) Enterprise Information Systems Mobile RFID readers Active and semi passive RFID Tags IOS EPC Network (& emp) Middleware (&EPCIS) RFID readers Ancillary devices Fixed RFID readers RFID tags Passive RFID tags RFID tagged products Source, Ygal Bendavid,

11 Top Pressures Affecting WM Source: Aberdeen Group, 2009 Achieving Corporate goals through effective WM There are limits to warehouse management improvement if you work in isolation ( ) There are limits to RFID ( ) if proper sustaining infrastructure is not in place RFID is not a Magic Bullet, it is one tool among a broader portfolio of tools Source: PACE Model from Aberdeen Group,

12 Top Strategic Actions and RFID Q: How RFID can contribute to a more efficient OFP? Q: How RFID can be used among Supply chain members? Individual & Collective benefits Q: How RFID can enable service differentiation? Source: Graph from Aberdeen Group, 2009 Warehouse and inventory management best practices & RFID potential application - Obtain ASN for inbound deliveries - Reject unplanned receipts - Directly enter receipt into computers - Put away items immediately after receipt - Eliminate the receiving function (direct delivery to prod.) - Repackage incoming items into increments ordered by customers - Assign docks on the minimum warehouse travel time - etc Source: Adapted from Bragg, S. Inventory best practices,

13 Warehouse Management strategies & RFID potential application Labor Management Task Management Slotting Load Building/Cubing Advanced Picking Advanced replenishment ( ) ability to track real time activities by worker ( ) productivity! LMS Software (module) ( ) ability to interleave tasks cycle counting with day to day job! E.g. in/out combined cycles ( ) ability to find optimal mix of storage medium / ideal location ( ) re-profiling the W ( ) determine the ideal shipping container for items ( ) Pick to ship pallet or box level! Zone Picking, Cluster picking, batch Picking, put systems, Automated Min/Max replenishment, demand demand based replenishment, Top Top off off repl.; repl.; etc etc level of granularity Auto Data collection Talking inventory? Ability to adapt on Seasonal adjustment Be careful when building the pallet!!! Auto Data collection! Reduce errors! Alternatives? Smart shelves! ekanban Source: Adapted from Aberdeen, High Performance strategies for Optimizing the warehouse, 2007 Inventory Management strategies & RFID potential in advanced replenishment 1. WHO opened the cabinet 2. WHAT item has been removed 3. At WHAT time 4. (For WHICH patient it is intended) 5. Trigger a Replenishment! Source: Mobile Aspects Source: Terso ( ) real-time data improves service, streamlines inventory, improves expiration & recall management and eliminates the need to maintain excess inventory no reporting required! 13

14 Inventory Management strategies & RFID-enabled 2Bin Kanban system RFID 2Bin Replenishment System ERP/WMS Source: Inventory Management strategies & RFID-enabled 2Bin Kanban system Stock rotation assured Needs evaluation activity eliminated Organized inventory and fixed stock locations ( searching time) Real time information flow (based on actual consumption) Etc. Source: 14

15 Warehouse management design RFID smart Shelves!... Warehouse management design The Smart Container A mobile warehouse "The SMART Container has the ability to always know not only the location but the contents of containers, down to the unit level, at any point in transit ( ) It's like a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] for logisticians" Patrick Sweeney, ODIN's founder and CEO. Source: ODIN technologies on 15

16 Inventory/Warehouse Management on RFID Journal Wi-Fi based tags to locate components for its tire-assembly plant incorporating passive RFID tags into their products I&WM in 2011 RFID Journal Awards Best RFID Implementation Gerry Weber International ( )Clothing items can be tracked from factories to multiple warehouses and on to 200 stores John Deere, ( ) visibility of work-in-process and finished goods inventory 16

17 Look at existing projects (LTC -Logistics and Traffic Center Italian 3PL) Track individual fashion items (tagged by various producers) whose goods move through its facilities Using an RFID portal surrounded by a metal RF shield to ensure selective EPC tags reads. LTC has reduced the time needed to process received goods by 97 % ( ) & by 30% the time it takes employees to generate packing lists " Meredith Lamborn LCT. Source: Adapted from Rhea Wessel (Nov. 4, 2010), RFID Journal Look at existing projects Horticultural Supply Chain - From Plant to Customer RFID portal where trolleys are repacked with plants to match retailers' specific orders RFID tags on Metal trolleys RFID portal (outgoing dock door) to verifies that the trolley is loaded correctly. Source: Adapted from Claire Swedberg (Oct. 28, 2010 ), RFID Journal 17

18 RFID as an enabler of more efficient Inventory Management Provide information to support key decisions (e.g. order quantity) Ensure better inventory management (e.g. FIFO, inventory turnover, etc.) Facilitate physical counting Reduce the impact of probabilistic demand Facilitate reordering approaches Harold Boeck Ygal Bendavid Thank you! UQAM, Management & technology Department, School of business 315 Ste-Catherine est Local R-3570 Montréal (Québec) Canada H2X 3X2 Tel: (x 2429) Web site: Academia RFID 9916 Côte de liesse, Montréal QC Canada H8T 1A1 Tel: Fax: Web site: 18

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