Modern Materials Handling - April 2010

able to make better decisions—especiallyin the case of the unexpected. “Whena shipment is held up at the port,” saysPrashant Bhatia, director of solutionsmanagement at SAP, “it can trigger logicback to say that I’ve got a problem. I canno longer allocate that inventory on thatparticular shipment as I thought I could.”3. One database, one system, onesupply chain. In the last few years, softwareproviders have been pulling all oftheir products onto a single supply chainprocess platform. “It’s fairly new,” saysLamphier. “Various components havebeen integrated into that supply chainprocess platform longer than others, butactually moving our WMS onto it hasbeen a more recent development—justwithin the last quarter or two.”SAP uses its enterprise resourceplanning (ERP) system as the centralrepository of information of supply anddemand, as well as inventory, for theentire supply chain. And the modules alltalk to each other. Transportation managementsystems (TMS) in conjunctionwith the event management moduleshelp optimize freight, determine pick-upwindows, determine carriers, keep trackof in-transit times and create ASNs.That ASN not only gets sent backto the ERP for visibility, but it alsogets sent to the WMS where the systemuses the information to plan labor,equipment and resources at the receivingdock. When the physical productarrives, logic within the WMS, basedon the receipt of goods, determinesmatches against actual demand.Smarter, speedier equipmentWith more retailers crossdockingover 50% of their items at the case levelto their stores, equipment innovationshave centered on conveyor sortationsystems, print and apply mechanisms,and automatic identification technologies.Here are three new equipmentadvances:1. Smaller gaps and self-regulatingconveyors. In the last year, thesliding shoe sorter has undergone noteworthytransformations. “By doing a paralleldivert, we can now run the packagescloser together and get a higher throughputon the same system,” reports KenRuehrdanz, manager for Dematic’s distributionand warehousing markets.The sliding shoes that used to physicallypush the cartons off the sorter atan angle can now run those shoes inparallel, enabling smaller gaps betweencartons—which were previously from 6inches to 8 inches—down to 3 inches.With more dense traffic on conveyors,crossdock operators can run their conveyorsat a lower speed while still achievingthe same throughput. Slower speedsequal less wear and tear, decreased energyusage and less maintenance.Another conveyor breakthrough isautomatic speed control. “The wholeVERSATILITY MATTERSQuality Wildeck construction and versatility make theV-lift the ultimate lifting solution.In today’s ‘green’ building designs, floor space is at a premiumand moving up, not out, is definitely preferred. Look no furtherthan the V-Lift from Wildeck – the industry leader in spaceoptimization. The single cylinder hydraulic system eliminatesall moving hoses, cables, and chains. Fewer components meanseasy installation, reduced maintenance and longer servicelife. To get more value out of your operation, contact a Wildeckrepresentative today.MEZZANINESCapacity MattersLIFT SYSTEMSEfficiency MattersGUARDING PRODUCTSSafety Matters800-325-6939 | WWW.WILDECK.COM©Wildeck, Inc 2010Required safety gates and guarding removed for clarity.m m h . c o mMODERN MATERIALS HANDLING / A P R I L 2 0 1 0 49S