What changes would you make to this casestudy and why?
As the WH Manager you realize there are some things you can do to make inventory wrap-up earlier than 2am. You’ve talked to your DC Manager, Ernie, and he’s given you the authority to make changes to the process, as long as everything gets counted on Friday, and as long as accuracy doesn’t suffer.
Please explain/discuss an assumptions you make about the process. For example, a fair assumption is everyone waits while you enter the first counts from 10:30 to 11:00 PM. If you decide to delay cleaning until that time, in order to start counting a bit earlier, you have to state the assumption in your paper.
Beibler’s Cookies, Crackers and ChipsIt’s 1994. You are the new Warehouse Manager at The Beibler Company, at their distribution center in Washington DC. Your name is Justin. You have five WH employees reporting to you. Beibler is a national manufacturer of cookies, crackers and chips. They have 50 distribution centers (DCs) in the US and are in all grocery stores nationwide. They are the 2nd largest company in their segment. Each Beibler DC operates the same way. All product is delivered daily by full truckload directly from Beibler bakeries. Deliveries happen every day and exact delivery times are scheduled by each DC independently. All product (minus a few odds and ends) comes in full pallet quantities. The product each DC receives is determined by the corporate Sales Department. Your WH has two primary storage methods: in bulk and on racks. The bulk areas are for the high volume products in full-pallet quantities, including when placed on the pick-line. Pickers pick right off the pallets. The bulk areas are generally 50-75% full. There is no specific locations for any item. The pallet racks are for slower moving products. These don’t get stored in the bulk area. For picking purposes these products are loaded into case pick “Gravity Flow” racks at the end of each pick line. The pallets in the rack may be full or partial pallets. The daily process is also the same for all facilities. Each day Sales Reps key in orders from their stores. These orders consolidate every morning at the corresponding DC and are picked by the Warehouse crew. Picking is by case, onto a conveyor, and loaded by hand directly onto a truck. The next day the Beibler drivers make deliveries to each store. These three functions happen daily, Monday-Friday. The driver’s routes (and corresponding deliveries) are determined by the local DC Warehouse Manager (you). Your drivers start work as early as they need in order to make all deliveries. Your WH crew starts at 8am and works until they are done. They are guaranteed 8 hours, so they work fast to get done before then if possible, since they still get paid. Overtime is mandatory, especially for inventory. As the new WH manager, you are responsible for taking a physical inventory of the entire facility every fourth week on Friday. Your available count team consists of five warehouse workers and yourself. Currently inventory begins when all loads are picked, which is usually around 4PM. Inventory usually concludes around 2AM. No one leaves until it’s completed. This currently is a huge morale issue. Your WH workers consist of one unloader, two pickers and two loaders. Your unloader, Selena, also restocks the pick-lines (see attached facility layout). The trucks she unloads are scheduled by you. On most days she has two trucks to unload. It takes two hours to unload a truck (with a forklift) and when she is done she restocks the pick-lines and does other projects as you see fit. The orders to be picked each day are organized by you, the WH manager. Each morning every store needing an order has a computer-printed paper with the product they need and an order number. You take all the store orders and combine them into each driver’s “trip” for the next day. The sooner they are organized into their respective “trips,” the sooner they can be picked. Once each separate “trip” is organized, the order numbers are entered into the computer and verified. Once verified, the inventory is removed from your DC inventory. Once all the “trips” are confirmed, you can print the inventory that is in your DC. That is the inventory that SHOULD be in your WH after all picking is completed. SCM-2111, The WH workers run both pick-lines until all orders are completed. They try, on their own, to balance the picking so they both finish about the same time. Daily Timeline (approximate times): 5:30 am: All orders are received and printed.7:30 am: WH Manager completes organization of the “trips.” All trips are confirmed in the computer. 8:00 am: The paperwork is given to the WH workers to begin picking. 12:00-12:30: LUNCH!12:30 pm: All receiving is completed. 3:30 pm: Picking is complete and the WH crew cleans up. 4:30 pm: WH crew goes home. The inventory process is mostly manual. The computer will print the entire inventory. Once a count is completed, it’s entered into the computer. Counts for each item can be entered separately; it does not have to be done at one time. The WH manager enters a first count and if it matches the computer’s amount, the item is OK and needs no more counting. If it’s not OK, a second count will be required. If the count never matches, the WH manager will decide what the correct count should be, and try to figure out why inventory is off. An “override” is done to post the final count if it doesn’t match the computer. Once this is done for all items, the inventory is complete. Each item has only one quantity. There are no locations assigned in the computer (it doesn’t have the capability to track a location…it’s an OLD computer program!) For example, the best-selling product, the Beliber Chocolate Chip Cookie “Chips Amazing!” could have skids in a few separate bulk locations, and on each pick line. However the computer only has one number for the total quantity of “Chips Amazing!” on-hand. Inventory Timeline (approximate times): 8:00 am: WH Manager prints inventory sheets. 12:30 pm: Selena begins her final stocking of the pick lines. 2:30 pm: Pick-lines are stocked. Selena organizes bulk areas for easier counting until picking is done. 3:30 pm: Picking is complete and the WH crew cleans up. 4:30 pm: Counting begins in teams of two. 10:30 pm: 1st counts completed. WH Manger enters counts into computer.11:00 pm: Data Entry complete. Second counts determined. 1:00 am: Second counts completed. Additional counts determined. Causative research conducted. (At this time depending on how much work is left, people can be sent home)
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