Raising the Bar - July 2003
Barcode scanning has been an integral part of warehouse management for years. Recently, however, consumer goods companies are upgrading their systems -- and reaping the rewards of increased efficiency and decreased operational costs.
Painless Upgrade
"Upgrade" might be too simple a word for the ongoing improvement taking place at Bayer Corporation, the U.S. holding company of worldwide chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG.
Tom Pearce, staff analyst for Bayer Corporate and Business Services, says Bayer uses barcodes and hand-held scanners in conjunction with a Web-based raw materials tracking system implemented nine months ago in its Hebron, Ohio, facilit, and in conjunction with an upgraded finished-goods tracking system in its Addyston, Ohio, facility. The company uses scanners from Intermec Technologies Corp., a leading provider of wireless automated data collection systems.
"We're had a good relationship with Intermec over the years," says Pearce. "Intermec is knowledgeable and more than willing to work with us to solve our problems."
Barcode Benefits
Barcodes on products are scanned as materials are received and sent to production and also as finished goods move through the warehouse. The new system has many benefits, according to Pearce, but the greatest reward has been the accuracy of materials tracking.
"Many paperwork steps, like re-keying data, have been eliminated, along with errors," says Pearce.
The ongoing upgrade includes a transition from legacy systems to an SAP ERP solution and an SAP warehouse management system. When the implementation is complete, Bayer will have centralized real-time visibility into inventory levels. Completion is expected by mid 2004.
Into the Lab
Del Laboratories, Inc. markets and manufactures cosmetics, including the Sally Hansen line of nail products, as well as Naturistics cosmetics and New York Color cosmetics. With sales of $350.7 million in 2002, Del also markets and manufactures over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceuticals under such brand names as Orajel, Arthicare, Pronto, Dermarest, Auro-Dri, Tanac, and Propa pH.
To meet growing demand for its products, Del Laboratories of Canada recently upgraded its barcode scanning program in all three of its distribution centers.
The DC systems use software from Radio Beacon Inc., a leading developer of warehouse management solutions, and scanners from Symbol Technologies, a global leader in secure mobile information systems for barcode data capture.
Derek Rafuse, information technologies manager for Del Laboratories (Canada), says that the company installed the newest version of Radio Beacon to provide applications at the enterprise level that would grow with the business and allow the company to ship more product.
The Radio Beacon system is integrated with the company's ERP solution. The host system manages incoming sales orders and/or inventory levels then transfers product information to Radio Beacon where products are picked and shipped. Radio Beacon sends the pick and ship information back to the host.
Tight Fit
Charleston Hosiery is putting its best foot forward and upgrading its use of barcoding throughout the company. Founded in 1939, Charleston Hosiery is a privately held manufacturer of hosiery products including casual, athletic, fashion socks and tights.
"We're enhancing the use of barcode technology in our enterprise and utilizing it in all facets of our business to track product through the manufacturing lifecycle from start to finish," says Mitchel Laman, senior software architect at Charleston Hosiery. "We recently began using wireless scanners to facilitate our customer-driven pick/pack operation to simplify and speed processing. We've increased visibility into our warehouse and inventory systems."
Flawless Support
The company began implementing the new system, which involved changing from a manual, paper-based processes, in February 2003. Unified Barcode & RFID, Inc., a provider of new, used and refurbished barcode systems, is supplying the technology, including wearable scanners from Symbol.
"We had a flawless, textbook implementation," Laman reports. "Unified Barcode & RFID provided outstanding support and helped with site surveys and configuration issues. The company is very in touch with our needs."
Benefits of the new system include better customer service, fewer errors, streamlined processes and cost savings through improved order accuracy, according to Laman. The company's performance on its customer's scorecards has edged up from 99.66 percent accuracy to 99.99 percent.
"That seems small, but statistically, we're nearly error free," says Laman.