Konshurt

Implementation of warehouse management system in Konshurt.

KONSHURT is a producer and distributor operating in the food industry. The company has been operating on the market for 30 years. It specializes in supplying customers with extended shelf life, such as canned poultry, meat and fish. The company is a leader on the Polish market in its category.

A modern central warehouse is located in Częstochowa. moreover, the company has two branches – in Koszalin and Jarosław. For efficient customer service, Konshurt uses its own specialized transport fleet and cooperates with shipping companies.

KONSHURT in numbers:

• The company has acquired over 1500 recipients so far
• Sells about 500 thousand. pieces of all kinds of canned products daily
• Throughout Poland, brands are distributed by over 20 companies
• There are almost 180 indices which KONSHURT owns or has exclusive distribution in Poland
• It has been operating on the market for 20 years with its own brand “MK”, and for 4 years – with the brand “MK ANIMALS”
• Extension of the central warehouse in Częstochowa increased the warehouse space by another 5,000 sq m (already about 9,000 sq m with 13 loading ramps, and two more reloading stations from zero level)

Goals and challenges:

• Improvement and automation of logistics processes at KONSHURT – with particular emphasis on warehouse services
• Improving the organization of warehouse area
• Integration with ERP system
• Improvement of efficiency and effectiveness and reduction of errors in the picking process through the use of pick-by-voice technology
• Increasing work comfort

The variety of the assortment is a huge challenge. The extensive offer of KONSHURT is proven, for example, by the fact that a significant number of items of various types of products are sold daily, which means the need to handle many orders of this type.

Another challenge is the release process, especially pallet building stage, as hard and heavy goods must end up in the bottom layer of the pallet, and light, fragile and irregularly shaped goods at the top.

In order to cope with these challenges, author solutions proposed by a team of IBCS Poland experts – WMS ibcsTiger system and ibcsVoicevoice system – were implemented.

WMS ibcsTiger at KONSHURT:

The implementation of technological solutions proposed by the IBCS Poland team was divided into three main stages:

• Analysis of KONSHURT expectations and project of the system along with its extension with a voice solution
• Implementation according to the developed system design; this range has been divided into phases:
  – installation of the basic version
  – implementation (voice system, installation of the Honeywell Voice system, software modifications)
  – implementation of the interface
  – implementation and start-up (training, assistance during the production launch and software stabilization)
• maintenance of correct system operation and switching to the service care mode

Automation of logistics processes

WMS ibcsTiger is connected via an interface with an external ERP system, with which it cooperates and exchanges messages on-line (i.e. in real time). To manage the work of the warehouse, it uses mobile terminals and label printers. An office user can use the www panel here.

• Receipt of goods into the warehouse – they are planned (based on orders from the ERP system) or unplanned
• Internal transfers – the system proposes a place for storing the goods, but the warehouseman has the option to put it elsewhere in the warehouse. Internal movements allow you to change the location of goods and carriers in the warehouse without changing its general condition
• Goods issue – for each individual picking order there may be more than one collection (depending on the established division criteria related to the zone (location of the goods) and / or the size of the order)
• Warehouse management – storage is carried out by dividing the warehouse into zones, serving various groups of goods. For each assortment, the system designates dedicated collection points and completes them according to the established minimum condition

Application of GS1 standard for warehouse processes

During the implementation, a method of labeling goods was designed in accordance with GS1 standard, which allowed to track each pallet of goods along with its batch. GS1 labels containing the SSCC code are generated during the receipt of goods and the system uses them in every process carried out in the warehouse, i.e. storage, transfers, picking, etc. : 02, 37, 10, etc.) so that we can track the flow of goods in the warehouse along with its attributes. Logistic labels are used for shipments of homogeneous pallets, especially to contractors (including retail chains) who require pallet marking using this standard, as well as have a specific template for such a label. In the case of deliveries to Biedronka network, a label is used in accordance with the requirements of this network and containing, in addition to the SSCC number, also IZ: 02, 37, 10, 17 (15).

Comprehensive and modern solution

Thanks to the application of the solutions described here, KONSHURT manages its warehouse area in real time, and the work of the warehouse itself has been optimized. Full control of all processes is carried out – from the moment of accepting the goods to loading them onto the means of transport. As a result: the comfort of work has improved – as has the quality of activities and the safety of employees themselves.

When we look at the current logistics services of our entire company, it can be seen that the implementation of solutions proposed by IBCS Poland resulted in significant time savings. As assumed, the ergonomics of work improved, the number of errors was reduced, and warehouse processes were optimized. Pick-by-voice technology has also contributed to speeding up the collection and release stage, as well as increasing picking efficiency and effectiveness

– emphasizes Mr. Łukasz Szecówka from KONSHURT