Kohler cuts data capture time 80%

Cordless scanners keep receipts and shipments from slipping down the drain at the bathroom fixture maker.

By -- Modern Materials Handling, 11/1/2000

Just as bathroom fixture styles have changed dramatically over the years, so have the demands on Kohler Company's 1 million sq. ft. distribution center in Sheboygan, Wisc. Now, the facility receives product from the company's 20 manufacturing plants around the country. At the same time, customer demands for product have become even more complex, placing additional requirements on the DC's operation. Unfortunately, Kohler still used a manual data entry system and was without a centralized database to manage the facility.

Kohler decided to build a data backbone to manage the warehouse and orders and shipments from the manufacturing plants. At the highest level, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system would manage the data. At the dock, bar code scanners would collect information and pass it on to the ERP system.

Thirty-three loading dock doors handle incoming and outgoing shipments. Trucks off-load stock onto conveyors, where workers "check in" stock into the ERP system. Unfortunately, the new data capture system proved to be as much of an obstacle to entering data as the manual methods. The scanners read the bar codes but the information they collected never made it to the ERP system. The database was completely in the dark about inventory on the docks.

The solution was to move to cordless scanners and decoding wedges that had a track record with the specific ERP system Kohler was using. Now the database reflects inventory levels in real time. Also, worker mobility and productivity increased because the cordless scanners now move to the inventory rather than the other way around.

Previously at the unloading docks, workers scanned data, walked several steps to a computer terminal and manually tabbed down to key-in "quantity," "product-type," and "enter." It was a time-consuming process taking a few minutes each skid.

Today, big-screen overhead televisions displaying the ERP screens are installed at the docks, assisting workers by allowing them to visually follow the data capture process. In addition, audio speakers and distinctive sound effects were programmed to sound-off when correct data is entered or if data is entered in the wrong sequence.

"The combination of cordless scanners, big overhead computer screens and sound effects has cut the data entry work from an average of 2 minutes per skid to 20 seconds each," says Gene Dana, Kohler IS systems support manager. "Kohler manpower is now more productive and the savings promise a quick payback on the automation."

Perhaps more importantly, receiving and shipping at Kohler's warehouse has greatly improved.

Hand Held Products, a WelchAllyn affiliate
315-685-8945
www.handheld.com
www.welchallyn.com