Hi Dale!
Thanks for the information. This list is pretty quiet today - I
thought others would say something.
We rarely do same day shipping. About as fast as we get is 3 days.
Many orders come in with request dates that are 1 or 2 weeks out.
Perhaps the products are going to a job site. Therefore I think
allocation to an exact location would cause problems if done too soon.
It would not work well if the available product was in an overflow area
and the order not to be picked for a week. By then the pallet would
have been moved to the picking area.
I am contemplating making shadow SLALLOX file and adjusting screens
which report allocations to look at that file. That may simplify some
our problems. Our current WMS always ships from location SHIP.
As the order is picked the system does an issue/receipt to that
location.
The exact location to pick from could be decided when the pick list is
printed or if we decide to use a directed pick it could be done on the
scanners.
I'm also concerned about orders that get changed or cancelled. Or
when something has gone bump in the night and the order/items and
SLALLOX file do not make up correctly. Much work to be done to help
users undo things or get everything synched up.
The boss also wants to select orders to be picked by percent of items
allocated. His idea is that if an order is 95% available then ship
it.
This has been a hard nut to crack as I am the only programmer here and I
have other duties like EDI and SOX to do.
Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx
[
mailto:DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 11:25 AM
To: MAPICS ERP System Discussion
Subject: Re: [MAPICS-L] Discrete allocations
Hi Greg!
Directed question gotten! OK, here's the situation as we use it,
and it
has worked VERY well for us.
1.) We use the ITEMBL allocations, that just show there are customer
requirements. (As an FYI, we do NOT integrate COM with MRP). If
customers order a part, we show allocation, but NOT discrete
allocations
at order entry time.
2.) We use our own, in-house written pick list for COM, rather than
MAPICS' pick list. The pick list is sorted by warehouse location
(SLQNTY)
to improve picking efficiency, and has the order number and shipper
number
(sequential count of the number of times the pick list was printed)
barcoded, and each item is also barcoded. We write a record to a log
file
containing the latest order#/shipper#.
The pick lists print automatically after order entry is complete
(COM,
CSM, or COM_Net) and the order passes credit check. We do that at
end of
order user exits. If the order is on credit hold, the credit manager
manually releases the order and does a print request of the shipper.
However, the vast majority go through. This is especially cool with
COM_Net, where the 1st time anyone at our company may SEE the order
is
when it is being picked (assuming it passes credit check).
3.) The pickers pick the parts (I love that phrase!), and go to a
green
screen in the shipping area, right in front of the UPS/FedEx conveyor
belts. They scan the barcoded order/picklist# (one barcode). The
program
checks to see if there is a LATER pick list, if so, they are notified
and
can't proceed - there may be order changes. If OK, they then scan
each
item on the order, and the program shows them the SLQNTY locations
with
the inventory for them to select which they picked from and the qty
(we
actively attempt to keep stuff in a single location per item where
possible, to increase efficiency). Each records scanned is written
to a
picked log file. At the end of the order, they press F6 to complete.
The
program checks the picked log file against the order to make sure
every
item was processed. If not, they are shown a list of non-picked
items,
and are asked if they want to go back and scan more, or if they want
to
backorder those items. If they choose to backorder them, the log
file
gets zero ship records written to it for the backordered items.
When the picker confirms he is done picking, we go into the order and
change the status of each line to discretely picked, and
programmagically
write SLALLO records for each item. This discretely picks the items,
and
if a user does an inquiry, they can see what orders have been picked
for
shipment. It's a VERY useful tool for our Customer Service
department,
they can tell a caller if a part is being shipped that day because
they
know it's been picked if it shows as discretely allocated. Of
course, the
inquiries also show if it was shipped earlier, like normal. And this
works both in green screen COM or CSM (which we use).
4.) The pickers then process through UPS or FedEx's systems
(provided
free to us due to the significant volume of business each get from
us), or
they weigh and log the LTL shipments.
5.) At end of day, the pickers close out the UPS and FedEx systems,
and
those systems provide tracking numbers and freight charges for each
order. We merge their files and the picking log files, and process
each
order individually through the MAPICS Offline Shipping enhancement
(free,
in case anyone is curious).
We also programagically load the 1st tracking number to the order,
and
write ALL the tracking numbers to order comments and type 0 special
charge
records. Our customers love that, especially since we use COM_Net so
heavily. Over 90% of our customers are on COM_Net, and we get a
little
over 80% of our order thru COM_Net, and a HUGE number of inquiries
are
made that way, and COM_Net provides an automatic link to the shipping
company's tracking systems. That really reduces calls!
LTL shipments are processed separately when the BOLs are signed by
the
truckers. That is done by the shipping department clerk.
6.) After all the OFFSHIP processing is complete, we run invoices.
The
invoice shows all the freight charges and tracking numbers also, and
since
we archive all the invoices to optical storage (LaserVault, from
Electronic Storage Corporation), we can retrieve
anything that way also.
By the way, the 1st year we used this process, we picked 30% more
items
with 33% fewer people, maintaining over 95% of all orders picked
complete
within one business day. (That, of course, excludes our special
make-to-order items). Our policy is to process each order complete
(shipped or backordered) within one business day. We want the
customers
to know the status of their orders ASAP. And that works quite well
for
us.
I can share the source listings for these programs if you want.
Dale Gindlesperger
IT Manager/Special Projects Leader
Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Inc.
258 Beacon Street
Somerset, PA 15501
midrange.com
