WDLS 5.0 Is On The Way!

Beginning on June 1st of this year work on the new WMS began!

It started with Rick beginning to put down the tables based upon all the changes we have encountered over the past 20+ years. These tables are designed very different then the WDLS 3.3 files as we are using the newer relational database design theories.

We have seen several trends in the logistics area and we get to play "If we knew then what we know now..." as we finalize the design of WDLS 5.0. As we look at the capabilities of our peers we find that we match up and even exceed in the functionality WDLS currently supports.

Where we are behind is in the user experience (User interface) as the labor force has changed with the invention of the smartphone and tablets. The user experience will be far more intuitive as well as based upon the most modern and stable coding practices.

We hired a new director of product development this year and until WDLS 5.0 is launched his entire focus is on architecting a stable, scalable, and best in class user experience. We have the entire team on staff to ensure the functionality as well as the usability is what our customers need and expect.

The architecture is also designed to allow the Codeworks team to move quickly and deploy rapidity. We are accustomed to getting things done in hours and days, not weeks and months. Everyone is focused on keeping our ability to stay wiggly and flexible. That is what sets us apart from our peers.

Once all the architecture is complete and we have defined the initial functionality requirements we will begin to engage with our customers. Although we are always speaking with our customers and getting their feedback we also want to make a effort to engage all areas of our business. Such as what are the needs of the accounting group as well as the needs of the sales and marketing group.

As we build the business intelligence into the new product having charts, trends, and comparisons for the sales and marketing teams should be a big help to them. As for the accounting groups what types of imports/exports/BI functionality do they need. So much has changed in the 3PL industry since Amazon became a player and the more we know about the better we can serve our customers.

Although we do not have a launch date for WDLS 5.0 yet we will keep you all informed from time to time as things move forward. I can tell you that we are putting all the resources needed to make it happen quickly.

As we approach the holiday season get ready for the surge in activity and please remain safe and healthy.

New Owner, Same Team, New Vision

As of August 31st 2020 CT Codeworks became SC Codeworks!

There has been a lot going on around the office the past 30 days!

World Vision purchased CT Codeworks and has rebranded it as SC Codeworks. The "SC" part of the name is Suresh's initials combined with the Codeworks are symbolic of two teams coming together as one. The same team is still here (Minus Rick) and everyone is excited about the renewed vision for growing not just WDLS but also growing the business.

World Vision, under Suresh's lead, specializes in "BI" which we are beginning to integrate into the existing WDLS application. This brings the data that is stored in WDLS to an interactive interface that will allow you to find trends and analyze year over year changes. All this without having to design one off views of your data - The initial work on this linkage has already started and we are all excited to share it with you soon.

During the past month we have done a fair amount of "Re-tooling" as well. SC Codeworks will soon be using Google Workspace which allows more flexibility in the Covid era. We have moved out of the office a couple of times since March and I can tell you from personal experience that having an integrated suite of products that we can access from any device and about anywhere is a good tool.

We have also started the design and development of the new "WDLS". This application is a complete re-write of WDLS and this time we get to play "If we knew then what we know now..... So WDLS 5.0 will bring all our history and knowledge of the past 20 years, merge that with a great user experience, and in the end have a well vetted BI application to show each teams information is a clear and concise manner.

We have also begun to focus on our marketing efforts. Over the years Codeworks grow by word of mouth only. In addition Codeworks has not put its best foot forward in reaching out to our customers. This is a new opportunity to hear from us on a regular basis. We truly appreciate each of our customers and the folks that we work with on a daily basis. Too often the day-to-day activities get in the way of letting everyone know what we are up to. We are making a renewed commitment to do a much better job of communicating.

I want to end this with a big "Thank you" to all of our customers for the trust, respect, and openness that have showed each of us here at Codeworks. I can say its a humbling feeling knowing the level of trust each of you give us. We may use words like "Customers", "Clients", but I think of you as much more then that as we have all been through too much to call anything other then "Friends".

Thank you all again

John Kohan

VP Of Development Services

www.sccodeworks.com

Batch/Wave Picking

In the age of Amazon size orders how can a 3PL warehouse process 25,000+ orders in a day?

One way is to automate the entire warehouse operation that looks like an Amazon Fulfillment operation. Realistically a 3PL cannot afford to put that much capital expenditure and know they will see a solid ROI.

One of our customers pick over 16,000 per day during normal times and come black Friday/Cyber Monday they can expect to see over 25,000-30,000 orders in one and and yes - they still need to be shipped same day.

Faced with these types of volumes we teamed up and built a solid Batch/Wave picking process in WDLS (Our WMS). As orders are received they are queued up and when the operations team is ready we sort through the orders using a waterfall approach on how best to sort them.

For example we first sort off all the single line orders with the same SKU so those can get bulk picked. Then we will sort through based upon the carrier, the mode of transport, the first warehouse picking zone, as well as a host of other criteria.

Although WDLS supports a full range of RF and even voice interfaces they found that the best practice is to pick using the packing list (Yes on paper) and let a process we call "Order Validation" catch any mis-picks that may have occurred.

They have all the pickers pick into a tote and then place the tote on a conveyor that brings they to a verification station. Since WDLS has the order verification process built in, they simply scan the packing list and then all the product using a supermarket type of scale and scanning system. If there are any errors in the picking process they are captured here before heading to the packing and then shipping station.

By having all the work processes supported within the same WMS from the production of the packing list all the way to the shipping station order accuracy is maintained at over 99% as well as the labor allocation is well balanced and there are no bottlenecks in the process.

You do not need to invest in a large amount of hardware and automation to address large volumes on B2C orders. What you need is a well thought out layout, an integrated WMS, and an operations team that knock out the orders.

John Khan

V.P. Of Product Development

jkohan@sccodeworks.com

www.ctcodeworks.com

Layer Picking

A while back a customer had a heavy case pick account that was struggling with their pick line setup. The account was primary in storage racking and with 60% of the outbound being case picked a pick line made sense.

The pick line contained 2 pallets and it seemed like no matter what they did to allocate resources the case pickers were only picking around 60 cases per hour. The account needed a case pick rate of roughly 120 cases per hour to be profitable.

We worked together and analyzed the picking data, the pick path (Travel time), as well as the order make up. What we found was the average order contained just over a third of a pallets worth of case pick per order. In other words, 2 pallets would only satisfy 5-6 orders before requiring a replenishment.

During the review of all the data we found that most of the case picks could be satisfied by adding a "Layer pick" area thus creating a secondary pick line.

The operations team was apprehensive as they were currently struggling with 1 pick line and now, we suggested a 2nd pick line area. We agreed to take 10 SKU's and do a trail run on the evening picking shift.

We came in the next morning, pulled the picking data (RF account so we had great stats) and we found that on those 10 times they averaged over 600 cases per hour! We knew that number was real, but we also picked the 10 "Best" SKU's based upon the current order makeup, but it confirmed we were on to something great.

Over the next few weeks, the account added all the higher picking SKU's to the layer pick area. They also setup the layer pick area on the floor (No special equipment) so they could put 15+ pallets in the area.

Once all was set and the staff was fully trained the following results were realized:

- Cases per hour across the account are now over 240 per hour (All SKU's!)

- The less then layer pick line (Cases) now hold a couple of days’ worth of stock

- Order accuracy increased as its easier to count layers then it is case ties.

So, for a few minor changes to the warehouse, a simple change to the WMS allocation process, and some training the account was turned around and is now a "Star" account within the building... And yes, they have replicated this strategy to other accounts across the organization.

Cloud Services

We have all heard about the newer cloud services offerings that out out there and at a high level does it make sense to look into them.

Going to the "Cloud" when the buzz word first came out was nothing more then really just renting computing capacity and storage from an entity that had extra to share. Back in my high school days we used a computer that The Ohio State University had. Since those days its developed into an opportunity that many companies should look at.

Some of the main advantages of moving your business to the cloud centers around the hardware management component. In a traditional "In-House" computing center the IT team manages not just the software but the hardware as well. They have to evaluate and procure the equipment, manage operation system updates, backup and recovery strategies, as well as all training and hiring staff to maintain it all.

Imagine if all the computing infrastructure requirement was removed and instead of all the lease payments, labor requirements, and backup activities where outsourced to a knowledgeable team on how much additional time, money, and overall resources the IT team would have o focus on the business.

Going to the cloud does have its risks that cannot be ignored. If your computer is physically located on the same network as where it is accessed from in the event of an internet disruption you can still support those users. Since most 3PL's have multiple buildings that rely on the internet these days, the old "Dedicated" phone lines are not needed as they once were.

Each organization will have different needs thus every IT group should do their due diligence on what the risk/benefit analysis.