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WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION CONSULTING

Over 15 years we've been providing expert guidance to Retail, CPG, FMCG, and 3PL companies seeking to attain excellence in warehouse operations. Our expertise lies in logistics operations assessment, designing warehouses and distribution centers, implementing automated solutions, scenario simulations, creating digital-twin models, and driving digital transformation projects. 

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STRATEGY & TACTICS

  • 360° LOGISTICS ASSESSMENT

  • LOGISTICS NETWORK REVIEW

  • WAREHOUSE EFFICIENCY REVIEW

  • IMPLEMENT QUICK-WINS

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WAREHOUSE DESIGN

  • WAREHOUSE SIZING MODEL

  • STORAGE & HANDLING METHODS

  • AUTOMATION & MHE EQUIPMENT

  • ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE & KPIs

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IT TRANSFORMATION

  • IT LANDSCAPE DESIGN

  • WMS / WCS REQUIREMENTS 

  • AI & SOFTWARE INTEGRATION

  • CHANGE MANAGEMENT

WE PLAN YOUR WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION

To eliminate disbalance between increasing customer service expectations and availability/efficiency of warehouse staff modern companies step on the path of advanced warehouse automation. Often such kind of project has many unknowns to be solved including simulating future growth models, improving current operations, ensuring desired level of safety, reducing carbon footprint, combined with site/facility restrictions. 

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We offer supplier-independent expertise to plan, design, implement and maintain your warehouse automation on the target level of efficiency. Our consulting expertise blends best-practice solutions, cutting-edge ideas and innovations. We provide data-driven insights and advanced operations modeling solution to secure your business case. 

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We can help your company with two types of warehouse design / automation project:

  • Greenfield - you plan to build a new site on a private plot

  • Brownfield - you plan to move operations to a logistics park or seek to improve operations inside existing warehouse

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Our company will guide you through all stages of the project ensuring seamless integration with various equipment suppliers.

DISCOVER OUR KEY SERVICES

MASTER PLAN & CONCEPT
AUTOMATION ROAD-MAP

First, we start with Quick-Scan to shape areas of change and reveal available Quick-Wins for your current operations.

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Then, we create Data model of your operations, that represents ASIS state of your Warehouse & Manufacturing process. We will take care of gathering, cleaning and processing all necessary information. Taking into account improvement initiatives we create tailored TOBE growth/volume sizing model, consider it a dynamic Digital Twin.

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Next, we identify several variants of Concept that will fit your high-level budget and envisions your Future state business model. Each design will incorporate lean principles of flows and operations. Through evaluation and prioritizing of alternatives we will present our recommendations.

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Finally, we help you with Business case, which reflects high-level savings, investments and financial KPIs of the target solution.

DETAILED AUTOMATION DESIGN
BLUE-PRINT OF YOUR FUTURE OPERATIONS

Once the Concept is defined, it's time to deep dive into future operations, equipment arrangements and sizing. This is the second round of lean optimization bind with safety concern, ergonomics and further people/machinery movements isolation.

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Structural obstacles seamlessly blend into layout design. In a Greenfield project we also recommend facility column grid that allows best flexibility and supports possible future change.

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We deliver several blue-prints, together with technology specifications, list of suppliers and models of equipment that will fit your design. One per each phase of your project, according to automation road-map. We deal with suppliers to ensure that they provide similar solutions and compare then to help with the right choice. You also get the revised business case and project timeline.

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ORG STRUCTURE DESIGN
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY & KPIs

Implementing automation is a paradigm shift for your employees. Our goal is to make it smooth. We provide you a Transition guideline that defines the list of required positions and the headcounts, areas of responsibility, desired level of knowledge, necessary training programs, target KPI. This guideline is synched with the blue-print of your future operations.

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Additionally we help on site by coaching your staff, providing training support and conducting business games. We find it very important for Brownfield projects, as we help your mid-level management to efficiently cope with staff's resistance to change.

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If you have an existing automation and are not satisfied with the overall systems performance let us inspect your Gemba, probably we can propose organizational improvements to increase throughput. It's cheaper compared to changing equipment!

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
DRIVE AUTOMATION WITH RIGHT IT-SOLUTIONS

Efficient automation solution is the combination of lean Logistics flow and lean IT flows. Therefore, you will require solid IT foundation. We have integration background of advanced IT systems to streamline Supply Chain Execution workflows. This fact guarantees that we provide full scope of services to deliver complex projects. We can help your company:

  • to develop IT strategy, gather business requirements, select systems such as ERP, PLM, WMS, WCS, TMS, YMS...

  • create multi-systems process logic

  • integrate equipment automation software

  • orchestrate automation from multiple vendors

  • optimize your EDI & ETL process

  • integrate AI solutions

  • manage and supervise IT-implementation project

  • support during Go-Live

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ADDITIONAL SERVICES

360° LOGISTICS ASSESMENT
DISCOVER YOUR LOGISTICS QUICK-WINS

We assess key areas of your logistics against best-practices to determine misalignments in your operations. This involves Gemba review, management interviews and operation scoring. Our assessment covers:

  • General Supply Chain Profile

  • Safety and 5S

  • Receiving and Inspection

  • Material Handling and Put-Away

  • Slotting

  • Storage & Inventory Control

  • Picking & Packing

  • Load Consolidation & Shipping

  • Shipping Documentation

  • Warehouse management systems (WMS, WCS, MES)

  • Manufacturing

  • KPIs and Metrics

  • Master data management

OPTIMIZE WAREHOUSE LAYOUT
PLAN > IMPLEMENT > REFINE > REPEAT

Layout planning is a critical aspect of supply chain management that involves the systematic arrangement of storage areas, picking zones, and operational spaces within a facility. Efficient warehouse design aims to minimize travel times, streamline order fulfillment processes, and enhance overall operational productivity.

 

Integrating conveyors and other automation technologies further optimizes material handling by automating the movement of goods, reducing manual labor, and increasing throughput, ultimately contributing to a more agile and responsive warehouse system.

BIG-DATA LOGISTICS INSIGHTS
STOP REACTING, START TRANSFORMING

We build tools using data models that allow you to better understand and transform logistics activities. One of the most demanded tools is the warehouse activity-based costing that allows you to handle peaks by assigning correct number of equipment and employees to process desired volume of work. Another popular tool is the slotting optimization model that allocates the right SKU to the right picking/storage location.

 

Data-project will have the next steps:

  • Collect data from multiple sources and systems

  • Explore, clean and structure your data

  • Apply various modeling algorithms to extract insights

  • Communicate in a simple manner actions required

  • Assist during process transformation and track KPIs

  • Create tools that will become part of your process

  • Prepare user-guides and training materials

  • Handover tools together will all necessary documentation

OPTIMIZE LOGISTICS NETWORK
CAPACITY AVAILABILITY & STOCK ALLOCATION

Supply chain network design involves strategically organizing the interconnected nodes, such as suppliers, manufacturers, warehouses, and distribution centers, to optimize efficiency and meet business objectives. It encompasses the strategic decisions related to the location, capacity, and flow of goods within the supply chain. Effective supply chain network design can lead to cost reductions, improved customer service, and increased overall competitiveness for businesses in a dynamic global market.

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We review your network structure, flows and volumes, constrains of each individual warehouse. Then we create flow simulation data model powered by cost factor analysis. We range our recommendations and provide implementation guideline. As a result you have complete network optimization road map.

WAREHOUSE BUSINESS GAMES
COMPARE REPORTING DATA WITH GEMBA

We often find that your staff can surprise you in a positive way by revealing their true efficiency. During warehouse business game we split people into teams and create sense of competition. Then they perform normal warehouse operations and try new approaches to solve daily task. The goal of the game is to capture information about stock accuracy, productivity, equipment malfunctions, facility constrains, and labor ergonomics issues. We assess key warehouse activities, such as:

  • Goods receiving

  • Put-away

  • Replenishment

  • Picking & Packing

  • Inventory control

  • Shipping

OUR CUSTOMERS

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