Case Study

Case Study: Shipping Validation

CLIENT PROFILE AND ISSUE

A large mid-west manufacturer of commercial and residential building products wanted to better validate whether the client order was complete and the product shipped to the right customer. Pallets were incorrectly identified and were shipped with other orders, or they were miscounted thus causing an incomplete shipment. Incomplete orders caused errors in the movement of other goods. Add in a reduction in the work force, human errors, and shipping validation became crucial.

DISCOVERY PROCESS

In the middle of the chaos caused by human errors and misplaced products, this company sought CDO for support. To better support them, CDO’s team first learned about the production workflow, from the raw material to the final product. CDO examined product staging and the shipping processes in order to  identify critical finished goods staging locations and shipping and receiving dock locations. From there CDO defined  the critical data that would be communicated between CDO’s Critical Asset Tracking Solution (CATS) software and the customer’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. After careful examination of the entire process, CDO outlined the issues and began to draft a solution.

SOLUTION

CDO designed a solution that utilized Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). RFID was able to assist this manufacturer with scanning items quickly and accurately. Multiple RFID automatic scan portals were located at various staging areas to provide visibility to those orders that were being prepared to ship. This allowed for increased visibility and provided information on the last known locations of goods at these checkpoints. Finally, CATS communicated with the ERP system to confirm  that the staging team has built a pallet with the right finished goods and the order is complete

RESULTS

Using RFID validation improved accuracy for multi-pallet orders. When a human error did occur, it was quickly detected and resolved. For example: when a client order was placed in the wrong staging location, it was quickly removed and transferred to the correct staging location. The percentage of completed orders rose, as did complete orders being sent on time. Search times for the missing products of incomplete orders  declined, raising efficiency of the staging area. CDO’s CATS shipping validation tool decreased human errors by up to 15%. And perhaps most importantly, the staging and shipping teams were able  to do more with less.

If you have questions or would like to further discuss your unique asset tracking challenges, please schedule an appointment.