DC Velocity - September 2013

techwatch

CONTROL TOWERS ARE NO LONGER JUST FOR SUPPLY chains. Distribution centers, too, can take advantage of the visibility and responsiveness afforded by a control tower to boost operating efficiency.

As the name implies, a control tower provides visibility into shipments going into or out of plants or warehouses and DCs. Because it offers visibility across multiple locations, a supply chain control tower enables a company to respond to unforeseen events – say, a hurricane or port strike. Once alerted to the disruption, the company can take proactive measures, such as having another plant or DC ship product to a customer to avoid a delay. Although third-party logistics service providers often operate control towers for clients, a company can set up and staff its own control tower with special software.

This type of software is available from such vendors as Oracle, E2open, and Kinaxis, to name a few.

To date, most of the companies that have deployed control towers have been organizations with complex or far-flung supply chains. Capgemini consultant Rob van Doesburg cites the example of a high-tech manufacturer in Europe that has included warehouse operations in its outbound control tower. “The scope of these control tower operations is the product flow from [receipt] at port to delivery at the final customer [site] and includes monitoring warehouse operations in Western and Eastern Europe to [provide] an end-to-end view of the supply chain,” he explains.

But that’s just one example of how a control tower might be
used. Another option would be to set up a control tower specif-
ically for a distribution center as a means of better managing
workflow inside the facility, says Thomas A. Moore, a managing
partner at the software developer Transportation/Warehouse
Optimization. Moore has helped one major consumer pack-
aged goods company install such a tower at a plant with a ware-
house. In Moore’s view, DCs can benefit from a control tower
because “when you’re at a local level, you need to have some-
thing making decisions because there are so many things com-
ing at you so fast.”
In order to provide a big-picture view of the operation, a DC
control tower integrates with other applications at the site, such
as the warehouse management system (WMS), transportation
management system (TMS), order manage-
ment system (OMS), and yard management
system (YMS). That cross-application visi-
bility enables the logistics manager to do a
better job of coordinating the work that
needs to be done in the distribution center.
For instance, up-to-the-minute visibility
would allow the manager to make more-
informed decisions regarding which trailer
should be unloaded first based on dock
capacity or which products should be staged
for cross-docking versus stored for later
shipment. In the event that a truck were
delayed in traffic and
unable to meet its
appointment window, the
control tower could even
assist the logistics manager
in reassigning work.

In a dynamic world where events outside the warehouse walls can impact operations within, As more logistics managers seek ways to control costs and boost efficiency, a DC control tower may offer a solution. “Just as an airport control tower uses finite capacity scheduling—sequencing the events in a logical way and in concert with the whole air-traffic control system—distribution centers gain from a plan that is achievable and efficient and fits in with the ‘grand scheme’ of supply chain planning,” Moore contends. ;