When a regional fast-food restaurant on the West Coast sought out two of its warehouses for a newly built facility in Chino, California, it was faced with the challenge of streamlining its operations. Control and governance of the project, implementation of production practices and construction of mandatory requirements. IT functions are just a few of the issues that have arisen.
The chain also wanted to implement Körber’s Warehouse Advantage warehouse control formula (WMS) in the new location, as it knew the formula and worked in two other locations. However, more was needed to make this a reality.
“Every assignment we get is different. That said, over the last 22 years that we’ve done that, we’ve identified that it’s vital to have a focus and make sure that when we take on those assignments, there’s a focus on The Procedure and I all love it and the T is crossed.
Enter enVista. La end-to-end source chain consulting company has been working with Körber, as well as many other solution providers, for a long time and is the best user to carry out the task. enVista would get testing and documentation, start-up support, and overall product management.
“Every task we get is different,” said Amit Kirpalani, vice president of source chain responses at enVista. “That being said, over the last 22 years that we’ve done that, we’ve recognized that it’s vital to have a focus and to make sure that when we take those assignments, there’s a focus on the procedure and all the I’s are passionate and the T is crossed.
The fast-food chain had already completed an initial WMS design for the facility, which enVista reviewed. The consumer was looking for confirmation that their design complied with organizational and industry practices and that it would meet the desires of members in the warehouse and throughout the business environment. .
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enVista worked with the client’s warehouse employees, looking for any gaps in the design. A review of the generation and automation that would be implemented (and what was already in place) was carried out to ensure a graceful integration, and a review of the existing state of the process was carried out to ensure that the new WMS could help them.
“We’re in the current state, the painful issues and the spaces [that need to be addressed],” Kirpalani said. “We need to be able to work with the visitor to design that long-term state. And this long-term state is part of the current state, but it also responds to problems. We determine what the long-term condition will look like, and then we communicate with the seller to make sure the formula can meet the needs.
Once the general desires were identified, enVista analyzed the WMS design to verify that it met the desires and provided feedback to the client. This allowed changes to be made before implementation.
Once the design and research were complete, enVista set to work creating technical documentation and a “description of operations” document, the latter of which was intended for a high-level audience within the warehouse and detailed how the WMS would be leveraged from an operational perspective.
End-to-end RegressionArray user acceptance and box acceptance followed.
“If you haven’t locked the design in the design phase, there will never be success in the testing phase,” Kirpalani said. “We’re very picky about making sure we follow the process. “
Once all tests were completed, enVista controlled the migration of the master knowledge and provided 24/7 operational support for the implementation of the plan. enVista has continued to offer its expertise to complement Körber’s support team in the future.
“The workforce adapts better if it comes from one’s own and that allows it to be sustainable in the long term. We’re there when the real exercise happens. The teacher we exercise is the one who provides the exercise, but we are in the classroom. This allows us to assess [the teacher’s skills]. “
This is a component of the process, though Kirpalani says it’s not a long-term process. In fact, enVista uses a “train the trainer” approach.
“The workforce is better suited if it comes from one of their own and that allows it to be sustainable in the long term,” Kirpalani said. “We’re there when the real exercise happens. The teacher we exercise is the one who provides the exercise, but we are in the classroom. This allows us to assess [the teacher’s skills]. “
First, the testing procedure is vital, but it’s not about making sure everything works, it’s about testing enVista “to break the system, not to make it happen. “
“I think it’s a feeling of appreciation for that point of due diligence, because anything you come across during testing is 10 times more painful at the time of commissioning,” Kirpalani said.
Second, the design procedure will have to meet long-term needs. In the case of this fast food company, it has several facilities. Once the formula is up and running, if the design were well managed, the company would most likely be able to handle the deployment to other facilities. Of course, Vista can be made available when needed.
The ultimate goal is to standardize as much as possible and many consumers are not standardized, making it difficult to scale.
“When we design techniques, we don’t just take a look at this first site, but an overall design that works at all sites,” Kirpalani said. “By the time we were done with sites one and two, a lot of other people had the [experience] to [move to other sites]. “
Brian Straight is the editor-in-chief of Supply Chain Management Review. He has been covering trucking, logistics, and the supply chain in general for over 15 years. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children. He can be reached at [email protected], @TruckingTalk, on LinkedIn, or by phone at 774-440-3870.
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