Just as bathroom fixture styles have changed dramatically over the years, so have the demands on Kohler Company's 1 million square foot distribution center in Sheboygan, Wisc. Now, the facility receives product from the company's 20 manufacturing plants. Unfortunately, Kohler still used a manual data entry system and was without a centralized database to manage the facility.

A change was needed. Kohler decided to build a data backbone that would not only manage the warehouse but orders and shipments coming from the manufacturing plants. Here's how the backbone works. At the highest level, an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system manages the data. Meanwhile, down at the dock doors, bar code scanners collect the needed information and pass it on up to the ERP system.

Unfortunately, the new data capture system proved to be as much an obstacle to entering data as the old manual methods. The scanners read the bar codes but the information they collected never made it to the ERP system. That meant the database was completely in the dark about inventory on the docks, both inbound and outbound.

The solution was to move to cordless scanners and decoding wedges that had a track record with Kohler's specific ERP system. Now the database reflects inventory levels in real time. Workers with cordless scanners move to the inventory rather than the other way around.

Today, big-screen overhead monitors 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 sound effects have been programmed to sound-off when correct data is entered or if data is 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's IS systems support manager. "Kohler manpower is now more productive and the savings promise a quick payback on the automation."

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