Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

John T Young
door. Interviews with management and staff revealed that <strong>the</strong> second warehouse had eased storage
problems but had not eased delivery problems. Stock control was fur<strong>the</strong>r exacerbated at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong>
<strong>the</strong> study by shortcomings in <strong>the</strong> computer network between <strong>the</strong> main warehouse and <strong>the</strong> secondary
one.
Manufacturing lead times were relatively short, usually a matter <strong>of</strong> days, however, not all products
were manufacturer simultaneously. Some stock was seasonal; some was bulk orders from large
customers, and o<strong>the</strong>rs were continuous demand. With continuous demand stock, various styles were
made in batch quantities and stock carried in <strong>the</strong> warehouse until sold or <strong>the</strong> next batch was
scheduled. This meant that a manufacturing cycle <strong>of</strong> many items occurred every three months. The
result was that <strong>the</strong> warehouse had to accommodate large quantities <strong>of</strong> finished goods in addition to
<strong>the</strong> regular merchandise stock. Contracts with large work-wear customers such as mining companies
required stocking <strong>of</strong> a wide range <strong>of</strong> sizes and fittings to accommodate all <strong>the</strong>ir employees. This
generated an abnormal number <strong>of</strong> slow moving items that had to be accommodated. Orders placed
on suppliers for finished goods also have to be accommodated. These consisted <strong>of</strong> large orders that
were typically three months supply.
These demands and constraints resulted in an overcrowded warehouse facility, which limited retrieval
and storage flexibility. Within this crowed environment, some space was poorly utilised by storing
slow moving items in standard sized stock keeping units (SKUs). In some case <strong>the</strong> quantities were
only one or two items. S<strong>of</strong>t systems methodology was applied to identify information and knowledge
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> logistical problems <strong>of</strong> storage, stock control and materials handling. A rich picture <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
problem situation is presented in <strong>the</strong> following diagram (Fig 6). The rich picture was established from
interview and observation with <strong>the</strong> management and <strong>the</strong> employees.
Figure 6: Rich Picture <strong>of</strong> Industrial clothing Manufacturer Logistics Problem – Unstructured
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