The premise at Julius Blum in Stanley, N.C., is quite simple. One warehouse should manage all types of inventory for this manufacturer of kitchen cabinet hinges and drawer runners. That includes everything from components and assemblies to finished goods.

Today, the company's six-aisle automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) does just that, feeding production lines and shipping docks simultaneously. 'The warehouse is our heartbeat,' says vice president of production Michael Geis. And it doesn't miss a beat in this facility that runs three shifts, five days a week just to keep pace with strong demand in the new construction and remodeling markets.

The company's move from lift truck putaway and retrieval in racks to a fully automated system (Siemens Dematic, www.rapistan.com) 'was one of the biggest changes in the history of Blum in the U.S.,' says Geis. The dividends from the change have been equally big.

To begin, Blum accommodated 30% growth over the two years since the AS/RS startup without adding people to manage increased inventory volumes and throughput. In addition, the automated system has reduced inventory levels on the shop floor to just 4 hours from more than a full day before. Order shipment accuracy has increased to 99.5%, and overall product quality is still improving.

In the same building as the AS/RS are nine dock doors that handle both receiving and shipping. The former is primarily during the third shift while shipping is during shifts one and two.

Receipts that come through those doors include everything needed to make the company's hinges and drawer runners except for large coils of steel. Those are received at three dock doors in the stamping building and floor stacked there until needed.

Blum's largest single supplier is Blum in Austria (see next story - Beating the Space Squeeze). Those receipts include components and assemblies as well as a small quantity of finished goods made in Austria for niche markets in the U.S.

As many as 20 ocean going containers a week, or four to five a day, arrive in Stanley. Each has 40 pallet loads.

Receipts from Austria arrive on wooden pallets of two sizes, full size Euro and specialized one-way pallets. Known as Blum pallets, the one-way pallets are basically thinned down Euro pallets, explains Geis. Slightly less wide than a Euro pallet, three fit across in the ocean going containers, maximizing space usage.

'We spent more time up front determining pallet size for this facility than on anything else,' explains Geis. That included testing of pallets at the Sardo Pallet and Container Research Laboratory at Virginia Tech. 'Ultimately, we needed to go with the Blum pallet because everything we receive from Austria fits that footprint.'

Across the company, Blum pallets are looked on as one-way since they never return to Austria, saving the costs of shipping them back. However, Stanley uses them in the facility for all loads and then to ship finished goods to customers.

Geis also points out that this arrangement saves time and costs. If slave pallets were used, Blum would need more than 12,500 of them to fill all locations in the AS/RS. Furthermore, all receipts would have to be transferred from the pallets they arrive on to slave pallets.

By using Blum pallets, only a small percentage of receipts from Austria need to be transferred. Some transferring is unavoidable, says Geis, because Blum in Austria consolidates pallets to make best use of space in the ocean-going containers to minimize shipping costs. That results in mixed stock keeping units (SKUs) on some pallets. Those pallets need to be deconsolidated and rebuilt prior to putaway in the AS/RS, ensuring only one SKU is on a pallet.

Each Blum pallet carries a standard bar coded label, known as the serial shipping container code label. It identifies the contents including item number and quantity. By hand scanning the bar code label on each pallet, workers check actual receipts against expected as logged into the warehouse management system (WMS). The software also guides workers in rebuilding any pallets for putaway. When completed, the pallet receives a load unit identifier. This bar coded label identifies the pallet while it is in the AS/RS.

Loads received from outside suppliers are processed much the same way. However, few arrive with standard bar coded labels and all must be transferred to Blum pallets prior to putaway.

Received loads are then delivered by lift truck to one of two input conveyor lines. Each load passes through a cubing system to ensure it is squared up for storage. A fixed-position scanner reads the bar coded label. In addition, a checkweigher confirms that the load's weight matches the expected weight. Then the WMS assigns a storage location.

The automated conveyor system delivers pallets to input stations at the end of each of the system's six aisles. The WMS directs putaway in the 86-feet tall, 250-feet deep system.

While storage locations in most AS/RS are a single size, Blum's system has three — half size, full size and oversize. The half-size locations, which are two-feet high, constitute the first five levels of storage locations in each aisle. The next 11 levels are four-feet high. In addition to pallet loads, these locations can store four Blum crates stacked two-high, side-by-side. The top locations of the system are for seven-feet tall oversize loads.

'Normally, we start with full-size loads but as we pick down a pallet for manufacturing they are moved to the half-size locations,' explains Geis.

With putaway completed on third shift, picking for production and shipping dominates first and second shifts. The trick is to balance the two so manufacturing workstations are never starved of parts and customers receive their orders on time. That's where the disposition planner comes into the picture, explains software engineer Stephen Sims.

The disposition planner is a person, not a software package, who consults three software management systems — order, warehouse and logistics. The planner then determines what should be worked on and when. This judgement call prioritizes activities for the WMS, which directs retrieval of required stored loads.

Full pallet loads travel from the AS/RS by transfer car to a conveyor that feeds two interim destinations directly in front of the automated system. Full pallet loads destined for shipping travel to one retrieval point. Meanwhile, full pallet loads needed in production go to a second retrieval point.

Before pickup by lift truck for delivery to a selected location, a bar coded transport unit label is automatically applied to the load. The label, which is identical to the one used in Austria, identifies the SKU on the pallet and its destination — either a specific workstation on the shop floor or a shipping lane near the docks. Lift truck drivers are informed of the load's destination by a message on a lighted sign above the retrieval point.

A third destination for loads coming out of the AS/RS is for pallets that require picking. These pallets are delivered to one of three picking stations. At each station, a single worker, following instructions from a terminal, builds a customer pallet with multiple SKUs. Designated boxes of product are selected from a pallet load in the staging lane behind the worker who transfers them to the new pallet. Boxes of the smallest parts are typically placed in totes. Pallet loads are built on ergonomic tables that automatically adjust their height for easiest handling by that person.

Prior to release of the load to either production or shipping, a bar coded transport unit label is applied to the pallet. A transfer car moves picked pallets to a conveyor spur that mixes them in with pallet retrievals traveling to the shipment retrieval point. A lift truck driver picks up the load and precedes to the destination point posted on a light board.

All loads of components and assemblies delivered to workstations are specifically requested by production people through the WMS to replenish inventory levels and keep production uninterrupted. Maximum inventory levels are kept to four hours at most locations.

Some bulk items such as screws, certain raw materials as well as steel coils are stored in larger quantities at any of 12 small staging locations scattered across the production buildings. Lift trucks deliver them to workstations as needed. In addition, lift trucks move work-in-process loads as needed on the shop floor.

As finished goods are completed, they are boxed and manually palletized. Load unit identifier labels used to track loads in the AS/RS are printed and applied to palletized loads prior to delivery by lift truck to the warehouse.

There, staging conveyors deliver the pallets to the transfer car that deposits the load at the end of the aisle where it will be stored. Only when the load is putaway and that action recorded by the WMS is production considered complete and the inventory available for shipment.

Loads called out of the AS/RS and placed by lift truck in staging lanes are shipped that day either by common carrier or by over-the-road truck fleets of Blum's customers. While less-than-truckload quantities are typical of common carriers, Blum's customer fleets are usually full truck loads optimized to fill the trailer and route delivery. Prior to shipment, all pallet loads are stretchwrapped.


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