DC Velocity - IdeaBook 2016

identify wasteful forklift travel patterns. Whether the facility runs lift trucks powered by propane or by batteries, it will save money and energy by finding shorter, more efficient routes, Kozenski says.

Another approach is to calculate the smallest number of forklifts a facility needs to get the job done. A surefire way to avoid rising fuel bills—and emissions—is to avoid buying that extra forklift in the first place.

“That could allow a user to use eight forklifts, whereas if you didn’t have a WMS, you might need 10

or 12 forklifts to get the work done,” Kozenski says.

3 Cut packaging waste. A WMS application can also shrink warehouse costs by cutting waste in packaging. If you’re running a high-volume fulfillment and shipping operation, chances are, you’re shipping part of your profits out the door every day.

“Part of sustainability is fig-
uring out how you can use
less material to get the job
done,” says Kozenski. “You
get boxes at home delivered
by UPS, filled with popcorn,
white Styrofoam, or shredded
newspaper.”
Many WMS platforms can calculate the optimal
“package profile,” that is, the minimum size box
and smallest amount of packing material needed to
prevent damage to the package’s contents during
shipping. The result is an instant reduction in mate-
rial costs and environmental impact, but there are
additional benefits.

Thanks to the compact design, those smaller boxes can be packed more densely onto a truck, while reducing the potential for damage during transport. This approach can also save money on shipping costs at a time when both UPS Inc. and FedEx Corp. have adopted dimensional weight pricing for ground shipments, charging more for packages with greater volume.

4 Boost labor efficiency. Workers cost money, whether it’s measured in salaries or the cost of
keeping a workspace warm, well lit, and ventilated.
That means DCs can cut costs by helping pickers do
their jobs more efficiently, using an approach called
“system-directed work.”
Built into many WMS applications, this function
identifies ways to avoid unnecessary travel between
racks, shelves, and pick stations. Instead of requiring
pickers to return to a central location after finishing
each task, a warehouse can use radio-frequency (RF)
equipment or voice technology headsets to immedi-
ately direct them to the next task.

“We tell the operator what to
do, then what to do next, then
what to do next, then what to
do next,” Kozenski says. “The
workers love it—they can just
do their job, and at the end of
the day, they get to go home
and have a beer.”
This approach is also help-
ful for training new hires, a
task that can be a full-time job
in an industry where employee
turnover runs as high as 20
percent per year, he says. Once
a client has loaded a detailed
warehouse map into its WMS,
the system can easily direct new
hires to the location of a certain
aisle, row, or shelf.

A PAYOFF ON SEVERAL LEVELS

Cutting warehouse costs by reducing fuel consumption, electric bills, and greenhouse gas emissions is an investment that pays off both in more sustainable operations and in bottom-line profits. However a company justifies the decision to run a more efficient distribution center, it will see a payback on several levels.

“Some companies are more interested in green operations and sustainability than others, but everybody is interested in cost savings,” Kozenski says. “Efficiency is not a separate application.

“We’re in a world where all our customers are in continuous process improvement (mode),” he adds. “They are always looking for an additional way to save a little more money.” c