Design a system for success

You've chosen a materials handling consultant. Now, it's time to design and implement your new system.

By Bob Trebilcock, Editor at Large -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/3/2008

In his best practices column for this month, John Hill describes for Modern readers the best practices for deploying and going live with a warehouse management system (WMS).

Those same practices apply to deploying a new materials handling system or even a new facility. But, there’s a step in between selecting a consultant and going live that can’t be overlooked: That’s putting together the in-house team. This group will work with the consultant, collect your historical operating data, forecast what your business might look like in the future, and design the system you’re going to implement.

Teamwork counts: Even though the consultant is going to design the system and manage the implementation, your personnel are still crucial to the success of the project, especially the designated hitter from your staff who will act as a liaison between your company and the consulting firm. “We believe that all our customers need to have a lead project manager who is technical, or detailed, enough to understand their business rules and processes as well as the functional specifications of a new design,” says Dan Hanrahan, president of The Numina Group. “That person also has to be involved in making sure that both sides are doing what they need to do to meet the schedule.”

Create a schedule: Even though you don’t have a formal design in place at this point, a consultant should be able to provide a rough schedule with milestones and deliverables. The fine points and details can be penciled in later, once a design is in place.

Supply the data: Before a consultant can give you the best design, they’ll need the best historical data you can provide, as well as a forecast of what you expect your business to look like in the future. That will involve more than just your operational data; it may also involve talking to sales and marketing about their plans for the future or corporate executives about their strategic goals.

Create a design: When Numina does an initial design, they compare the data analysis provided by the customer against the customer’s strategic goals. They then also create an initial functional specification that details items like throughput rates, how the data exchange will occur between an enterprise resource planning (ERP), WMS and warehouse control system, and what the layout of the solution may look like. “This will probably not be the final as-built blueprint,” says Hanrahan. “But it provides a starting point for the customer to review and comment on.” That may also include site visits with the customer so they can see how other users are deploying similar technology or solving similar problems.

Choosing equipment: With a design in hand, Numina provides its customers with a best-of-breed analysis of the hardware and equipment available. “We have close relationships,” says Hanrahan. “But we also recognize that many large clients already have relationships with specific equipment manufacturers. Our goal is to match the best equipment for the customer and the design.”

Implementation plan: This is the last step before deploying the system. With a design in hand, including equipment requirements, Numina creates an implementation plan. This will include detailed design drawings, a detailed equipment list, the timetable for implementing the system (including milestones), and the projected cost of the system. “This is now the blueprint for the project, and it’s the document that the client signs off on,” says Hanrahan.

With the plan in hand, it’s now time to follow John Hill’s steps for a deployment.