Warehousing and distribution: WERC talks RFID and green
WERC's four-day conference provided an opportunity for learning and discussions of pressing topics for warehouse and distribution professionals.
By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 5/1/2009
Atlanta — Warehousing professionals returned to work after the Warehousing Education and Research Council (WERC, www.werc.org) annual conference in Atlanta, Ga., last month with the benefit of seven local facility tours, more than 45 presentations, 27 roundtable discussions, several mega-roundtables and special mealtime presentations.
The 32nd annual WERC conference remained true to its mission of providing valuable educational opportunities for professionals in warehousing and distribution management. This year's four-day conference also included a two-day WIRE (WERC's Industry Resource Event) reception during which 62 exhibitors showcased products and services.
WERC meeting topics covered issues ranging from choosing the right site for your business to managing relationships, from RFID asset tracking to effectively implementing software systems, as well as lean and green strategies. The challenging economy and the heightened demands placed on businesses to do more with less impacted the discussions.
The WERC conference included four days of education, networking and entertainment. From left: Patti Satterfield, Fortna’s vice president of marketing and business development; incoming WERC president Tim Feemster, senior vice president and director of global logistics for Grubb & Ellis; motivational speaker and musician Mike Rayburn; one of several mega-roundtable sessions; guest speaker David Abney, CEO for UPS.
Distribution center tours in Atlanta
A tour of the NCR customer fulfillment center in nearby Suwanee, Ga., exemplified the importance of lean thinking and employee involvement. Employees are invited to kaizen events, which are forums for workers at all levels of the organization to share ideas. Productivity and efficiency have been impressive and measurable. Over the past few months, the NCR facility and 3PL partner Menlo have implemented a color-coded cone system that enables workers to literally see where materials are in the handling process. The floor has been marked to create a place for everything, which cuts down on time-wasting actions and speeds productivity. As a result, on-time deliveries went from a 65% low point in 2006 to a consistently high 99% since the beginning of 2008.
The Avon Atlanta distribution center, a 350,000-square-foot facility, is the company's third-largest DC in Avon's global network, processing 5 million orders, shipping 9 million packages, and picking 300 million pieces annually. Order processing areas include mechanical assembly for high volume items (55%); cart picking for low-volume items (7%); station lighting for high volume non-dispensable products (38%); and off-line bulk for high cube (large container) units. While this is a highly automated facility using A-frame technology, manual quality control is still important for order accuracy and customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is key, considering Avon representatives function as independent businesses. Avon Atlanta supports 23 sales divisions, 423 sales districts that support 250,000 representatives in 13 U.S. states and 14 Caribbean Islands.
“Using Metrics in the DC” was a well-attended presentation at the WERC conference.
Rountables
Roundtable sessions provided an opportunity for attendees to compare notes on a number of topics. Patti Satterfield, vice president of marketing and business development for Fortna (www.fortna.com), lead a lively discussion comparing warehouse management systems, the pros and cons of best of breed vs. enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems vs. on-demand options.
James Stock, professor of marketing and logistics at the University of South Florida (www.usf.edu), focused on reverse logistics. He highlighted the importance of optimizing the returns process and the potential for future legislation regarding supply chain recycling and waste disposal regulations.
Many of the discussions centered around green. Participants seemed to agree that the easiest, most common and cost-effective greening of a facility comes with simple changes like replacing lighting fixtures, installing motion controls on lights and timers on thermostats. But the real challenges come with bigger ticket items like solar panels and green roofs. While these solutions are environmentally friendly, they are expensive.
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