Inbound Processing: Wholesale distributors and their warehouse management systems rely on ASN 856 standard to streamline inbound processing as part of an adaptive supply chain networks. ASN, of course, stands for advanced shipping notification, the electronic record attached to incoming orders that includes all order information as well as product SKUs. Unloading personnel don’t have to be detectives, tracking down which order is which before they scan incoming product into inventory. The incoming order can be scanned with a mobile device that includes an RFID reader and in seconds and discrepancies between the order and shipment are discovered.  If the two are in sync, the order stills needs to be visually inspected to check for damage. But then, warehouse inventory levels can be adjusted and the sender can be electronically notified and respond instantly with an invoice. Labor costs are reduced, inventory accuracy is improved and both shipper and distributor have timely, collaborative processes in place streamlining the hand off of goods one step up the supply chain.

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Wholesale Distributors Embrace - Adaptive Supply Chain Networks (Part 4)

Cross docking is a more frequent occurrence thanks to streamlined inbound processing and smarter warehouse management systems.  Now, inbound goods can avoid going into storage at all, being directed from receipt to issue in consecutive steps. It is the ultimate Lean process, including shortened movement through the warehouse, fewer touches by personnel and lower inventory, as well as delivering value to the customer with more rapid fulfillment of the right product and the right time. The system directs unloading personnel in how to stage goods for cross docking, ensures that they get to the right outgoing dock at the right time and reconciles all electronic records.

Replenishment is a process that especially benefits from the adaptive supply chain paradigm of combining demand-driven pull processes with forecast-driven push methodologies. Demand has a tendency to ebb from peak to valley in more rapid cycles that can confound the savviest pull-driven processes. In the warehouse, it comes down to balancing inbound put-away with outbound pick operations. If the right quantities of goods are not getting to the right location in the warehouse at the right time, outgoing orders are held up and filling the order becomes a repetitive, labor-intensive process. Too much product, on the other hand, is the very definition of waste. Warehouse management systems automatically balance the inbound and outbound sides of the equation. Minimum and maximum quantities that trigger replenishment orders are combined with incoming data on real customer demand. Yes, the customer still pulls product through the distribution, but inventory quantities are still guard banded with min/max levels, though in a much narrower range. Now, though, these levels are informed by product velocity trends and customer order history. The adaptive supply chain optimizes the process. For example, if maximum levels of any given product are set too low, replenishment takes place too often, wasting labor and clogging up the warehouse with put-away operations. If the min level is set too low, pick operations become inefficient and customer service suffers.

In the next chapter in this series, we’ll review outbound processes in the adaptive supply chain network.