
All for One Connected Logistics
A future-proof warehouse includes technologies such as barcode or RFID-integrated shipping options, global standards for data exchange, real-time evaluations & KPIs with increased transparency for all goods movements and activities that take place in the warehouse. But reality is often still far from that.
The starting point
In many intralogistics processes today, there are still process breaks that are associated with efficiency losses and represent potential sources of error. One example that is still often found is the use of paper in intralogistics: transport and picking orders come from SAP and are printed out. Whether on the forklift, during picking, packing or loading: the lists are processed manually, and goods movements are recorded for the respective order and, in the best case, booked individually by barcode scanning through the hand scanner.
Such processes, which are common practice in many medium-sized companies, work well per se. However, they are suboptimal, and the more items, inbound goods, withdrawals, etc. there are, the more weight carry the process breaks. In any case, capacity and motivation limits with regard to warehouse employees are reached sooner or later.
The solution
With All for One Connected Logistics, an efficient, agile warehouse is just a few steps away: Always-on! The introduction of new technologies enables real-time transparency of inventories and processes while enhancing employee motivation - this is achieved, among other things, through
- Sensor-to-action processes that simplify exception-based acting in the warehouse
- Track & trace solutions that ensure a new level of transparency: from a proper control of inflowing goods to container management, movement of goods in warehouse and shopfloor, all the way to outbound goods and shipping
- Real-time KPIs which, in conjunction with S/4HANA, can be accessed without time-consuming queries
- Push notifications that not only provide employees with the current status of warehouse orders and tasks, but also with the status of the respective warehouse hardware
All for One Connected Logistics for...
1) Optimized processes in goods receipt
2) Smart goods and inventory processes
3) Improved picking processes
4) Higher performance in goods issue
An example: The optimized packing table
An optimized packing table process with our KEP-SAP Add-on can look like this: The employee in charge of dispatching gets the order displayed on his screen. He packs the goods in a box, using a scanner on the back of his hand to confirm the receipt. This means that he has both hands free for the packing process and can pack more effectively. The weight of the box is continuously monitored by a scale. The older scale is connected to the SAP system via the IoT Hardware Adapter and logs the shipping weight at the end of the packing process. Before closing the box, the employee takes a photo of the contents with Visio Trace for the internal documentation in SAP - without paper and any process breaks.
Smart and automated processes
This exemplary customer scenario illustrates the potential of All for One Connected Logistics: you can automate (intra-)logistic processes with mid-sized investments and make them smart by linking them to SAP. So, smart end-to-end processes can be established.
