RT LOCATOR Radio Tracking Warehouse Management System (WMS) Designed for Tire Distributors

Transcription

1 RT LOCATOR Radio Tracking Warehouse Management System (WMS) Designed for Tire Distributors Title Table Of Contents I. Major Operational Functions of RTL... 5 Page A. Receiving... 5 B. Store Control... 5 C. Picking... 6 D. Shipping... E. Cycle Counting... F. PC Functions... G. Reporting... II. Additional Features A. Features List... 11

2 I. Major Operational Functions of RTL: A. Receiving RTL is able to receive ASN data from your host computer for purchase order validation. All products are identified via RF terminal entry, and a pallet or load "license plate" is created for warehouse tracking. This bar coded number references everything about the load being stored (including quantity, lot number, store and expiration date). All receiving is completed using a portable RF terminal. As shown in Fig. R1, the RF receiver is prompted to enter the receipt order number, which could be an ASN of a number of purchase orders on the incoming truck, or an individual purchase order. Once a valid number is entered, the user scans a load number and tire part number to place tires on (See Fig. R2), or RTL can display the parts on the ASN or purchase order, as shown in Fig. R3. Note that the bottom of this display shown the number of tires on the ASN and the quantity remaining. The RF receiver can place more than one SKU on a receiving load. Once tires are placed on a load, they are available in inventory, and can be stored at any time. Fig R1 Fig R2 Fig. R3

3 B. Store Control Product is stored automatically by scanning the previously identified bar coded license plate and being directed to the selected location, based on rules designed for your operation. Verification is achieved by scanning bar codes at locations. The following is a typical store process for those companies storing pallets of tires: Fig. S1 Once a correct load number is scanned (from the receiving dock), the Fig. S2 display below directs the material handler to the RTL selected store location. Fig. S2 The person storing the load can typically override the RTL directed store decision and manually find a store location. This also applies if there is no available location in the assigned store zone to store that part. For those tire companies who manually store tire stacks, RTL is easily configured to direct the person storing to select and store one tire stack at a time into RTL selected locations. This process continues until the pallet is emptied (and can then be reused). Fig. S3

4 C. Picking Based on ship orders received electronically from your host computer, RTL directs picking operations via RF terminals. Various pick methods are available and additional ones can be designed. Pick methods include: Pick single orders individually such as will call and customer pickup. Pick all orders in a released route, in reverse stop sequence (for simplified truck loading) or in a single batch. Either method directs pickers in storage bin sequence to retrieve tires based on FIFO, so that oldest stock is picked first, and pickers are routed in the most effective manner in the warehouse. The process starts when a ship order or route is released within RTL. At this time, a ship dock is selected by the PC user, and RTL makes all allocation decisions of inventory based on FIFO logic. RTL prints a picklist, which is provided to the picker. See the example below: The two barcodes on this example are used by the RF picker to initiate picking. The Workarea barcode is scanned if the picking is divided into more than one area, and RTL will direct the picker in the appropriate area. The second barcode represents the batch number for the released ship order or route. Once scanned, all the pick tasks associated with this picklist are assigned to that picker. The example shown below prompts for the picklist number to be scanned. Fig. S1

5 Next, as shown in the display to the right, the picker is directed to a location (A01), to pick 4 of the specified part. To confirm the pick, the picker must scan the location barcode found at the location. If the entire 4 tires cannot be picked, the picker changes the quantity to reflect the actual quantity picked, and an alert is generated in the RTL Alerts Table. The picker will be directed to pick any remaining short picked items in the current pickpath. Once all picks have been made, the picker is directed to take the tires to the assigned ship dock, and to verify delivery there. See above display for an example.

6 D. Shipping: If product is delivered to a ship dock, real time verification of truck loading can be provided by scanning tire bar cod labels into assigned trucks. Packing lists and bill of ladings can also be printed if desired. Completed ship order data is sent to your host computer for invoice processing. Fig. C1

7 E. Cycle Counting: RF directed cycle counting provides immediate exceptions when physical counts don' t match RTL quantities. Cycle counting can be manually determined or created in a cycle count function on an RTL PC. The cycle counter is first directed to a location, and must scan the location address to confirm he or she is at the right location. Fig. C2 Next, as shown above, the cycle counter is directed to scan the load number in storage (if more than one pallet or racks can be stored into a location), along with the first part found on the load. Fig. C3 Finally, the cycle counter enters the quantity for this part. This process is repeated until all parts and quantities are identified on the load. Any discrepancies are noted in the Alerts Table for supervisor follow up. If there actually is a discrepancy, the Content record containing that part is manually changed on a PC, and RTL notifies the host computer of this adjustment.

8 F. PC Functions The following is a brief description of included functions within RTL: Ship Order Release/UnRelease used to manually release (or unreleased) ship orders for picking. Cycle Count Request used to manually request a cycle count be performed (by part or location range). These requests are assigned to RF users requesting cycle count work. All cycle counts are blind, and any variances are included in an Alert Table. Delete Unassigned Task used to mass delete tasks normally associated with automatic cycle count request tasks. Export Inventory used to export inventory to a flat file. Quarantine used to set or remove quarantine code. Reset Mobile Device used to reset a specific user s login on a mobile device. Print Labels use to print labels (location labels).

9 G. Reporting RTL provides many reports for supervisor analysis. Most reports can be exported to Excel spreadsheets. The following is a brief summary of some of the key management reports: Summary Report This report provides summary information for each part number, including the total quantity on-hand, allocated, and available. Load Aging Report This report lists part content information based on the received date of that content, and is initially sorted from oldest loads to newest loads. Part UOM Report This report provides cross referenced unit of measure values for part numbers, along with other Part Table data. Inventory Differences Report This report provides the differences in total on-hand quantity between RTL maintained values and the host computer maintained values. These host values are imported into RTL periodically, and are used for this comparison. Receiver After entering an order ID for a specified Receipt Order, the report shown is displayed. This report includes a bar code for each part number on the receipt, and can be used to scan in this number when receiving in the event the received part number does not include a bar code label. Ship Order Short Allocation Report This report provides detailed information for any ship order which was released to pick and cannot be fully allocated. It shows detail at the ship item level. Return Report Once a reference number is entered (optionally entered when completing RF returns), this report displays all details concerning that return. Empty Locations Report This report displays empty locations. Transaction Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays all transactions recorded between these two dates. Specific filters and queries can then be made.

10 Performance Summary Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays summary information by RF user and RF function for the requested period of time. For each completed RF operation, RTL displays the total time the user was in that function over the requested period, along with the number of transactions, the computed transactions per hour, the number of tires associated with that transaction, and the computer tires/hour, if applicable for that transaction type. Work Completed Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays detailed transaction level data for each RF user. Specific filters and queries can then be made. Parts Retrieved Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays all parts retrieved during this period (picking and RF retrieve). Specific filters and queries can then be made. Parts Received Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays all parts received during this period (RF receive and RF return). Specific filters and queries can then be made. Shift Report After entering a starting and ending date, RTL displays summary totals for the displayed items.

11 II. Additional Features RTL.NET system includes multi-language support (currently available in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese) for PC user and RF communications, and flexible filtering capabilities when analyzing data. RTL.NET can be hosted remotely, thus eliminating the need to install and maintain a PC server at the customer's facility. Options are available to purchase the system outright or in a Software as a Service (SaaS) model with a monthly service fee. Workarea control allows you to assign picking and cycle counting activity by a designated workarea in your warehouse (such as a room or section of storage aisles). For example, picklists can be created by workarea in order to minimize pick times in larger warehouse areas. An Alerts Table provides exceptions, such as unexpected bin full and empty alerts and cycle count variances. Supervisor personal can then review these alarms and take appropriate action. A Permissions Table maintains all PC and RF user passwords and permissions. In the case of RF users, this allows you to assign specific work which can be completed on an RF terminal for a specific user. For PC users, this provides a means for full, view only, or no access to selected tables and functions based on the logon and password. A Zone Table which is linked to the Locations Table provides the characteristics of each location. For example, parts to be stored in a specified aisle are assigned to a specific user defined zone. The zone table also defines the type of location. For example, a given location could be used to store pallets, or could be used to store tire stacks, or perhaps be a floor location. These decisions are completely user maintained and do not require any programming effort. Part Cross Reference Capability- RTL is able to maintain multiple cross reference part numbers to the assigned root part number. This means, for example, that when scanning the bar code found on a tire (which is that tire s UPC number), RTL is able to recognize and verify that this is a valid number. These cross referenced numbers can be easily captured during RF receiving and initial inventory set up operations. Initial Physical Inventory Functionality is provided. When you start up your RTL system, a complete physical inventory must be taken and reported to RTL (either from your host computer or taken directly using RTL). An easy to use RF function (Inventory), is used to record the exact part number and quantity for all tires by location, and cross referenced part numbers can also be recorded during this function. Once this function is completed, you can start operations immediately since all inventory is available and visible within RTL.

12 RTL Grid Navigation Fig G1 Many screens in RTL are grids. These grids are highly customizable and settings can be saved for future use. Grids can also be exported to native Microsoft Excel. Fig G1 above is an example of a Zone table grid. On the right side of a grid are options such as Copy and Delete. Buttons to add a new record or Export the grid (to Excel) are located towards the upper right of the grid. Grid Sorting You can sort a grid on a column by clicking on the column heading. In the above example, you could click on the Zone Description column heading to sort the data in ascending order. Clicking it a second time will sort it in descending order. Grid Filtering You can filter a grid in order to display desired data elements each time the table is opened (based on your password). Column Sizing You can make a column wider or narrower. To change the size of a column hover the mouse over the line between columns until the Drag to resize message appears as shown in Fig G2. Then click and drag the line to make the column the desired size Fig. G2

13 Column Order You can change the order of grid columns. For example, you can move the Zone Type to appear before the Zone Description. To do this click on the column to move and drag it to the position you wish to place it. You will see the Drop here to reorder appear (as shown in Fig G3) when you have dragged it to a valid position. Fig. G3