The Satellite Review Magazine 2017 Satellite Review Magazine_pages hi res | Page 22
(FEFO) inventory management to
minimize product waste due to expira-
tion dates. Also, the AS/RS eliminates
the need for multiple fork trucks and
lessens opportunities for product
damage/waste. Without forklifts, there
is no need for battery charging stations
and fewer batteries end up in landfills.
With Westfalia’s “Go Green with
High Density” warehouse automation
solutions, customers across various
industries have obtained significant
savings. Many have been able to reduce
their overall building footprint by up
to 50% (versus conventional warehous-
es), while simultaneously expanding
their storage capacity by 30-50%.
These savings often result in an average
reduction of energy costs up to 40%.
Additionally, Westfalia’s AS/RS has
seen a lifespan of 25 or more years, so
the savings are also sustainable, as the
technology lasts well into the future,
often yielding ROI’s of 15% to 30%.
Industry challenges—just
in time orders, SKUs and
regulations
There have been many changes within
the warehousing industry over the past
25 years, from the explosion in the
number of SKUs, to consumer behav-
ior and the decline of brand loyalty.
This results in businesses having to
manage more diverse inventories,
while also decreasing the time to mar-
ket for its brands. Increased regulatory
pressures and traceability requirements
also continue to push the industry
toward the automation of many of its
processes.
Seeing the need, Westfalia developed
its Savanna.NET® WES to help busi-
nesses better manage their inventory
by providing accurate, real-time infor-
mation on goods moving through the
warehouse. The WES includes a tightly
22
The Satellite Review
integrated warehouse management
system (WMS) and warehouse control
system (WCS) helping manufacturers
and distributors direct, control and op-
timize material flow and order picking.
This two-in-one solution performs the
tasks of both systems through a single
interface. Its modular design enables
companies to use only the functions
needed to handle their immediate
warehousing needs—ranging from full
traceability of inventory to fully auto-
mating the warehouse with an AS/RS.
butes) throughout the product’s lifecy-
cle. The system logs every move of the
product until it is loaded on the truck,
creating an audit trail of every per-
son/piece of equipment that touched
that inventory, and every adjustment
made. This is one of biggest benefits of
Savanna.NET®—the software reliably
captures the required data, so that
customers can quickly and efficiently
access that information.
Westfalia today—ever-
evolving industry leader
With higher inventory levels and more
SKUs on hand, many warehouses have Westfalia continues its commitment to
begun to adopt just-in-time (JIT) or-
finding ways to improve upon existing
der fulfillment strategies, where orders solutions’ designs and functional-
are prepared when the truck arrives.
ities. Most recently, this has led to the
Westfalia’s automation technology pro- creation of the latest product in the
vides the flexibility for organizations to Savanna.NET application suite—the
employ JIT strategies. Now, when the
truck arrives on site, oper-
ators release the order via
With the ability to gain insight
the Savanna.NET® interface.
into its operations in real time,
Then, the S/RM picks and
companies will be able to
delivers the order to the
appropriate area for load-
quickly respond to problems
ing onto the truck. Because
within the manufacturing process
of the speed of the system,
it is not necessary to stage
as well as improve operations
orders on or near the loading
efficiency—saving both time
dock, and products are only
and money.
brought out when needed.
This frees up a great deal of
warehouse space and keeps everything Firefly fault recovery visualization
flowing.
tool—as well as the launch of Westfalia
Another challenge Savanna.NET is
helping customers meet is the need to
ensure consumer safety. With federal
regulations like the Food Safety Mod-
ernization Act (FSMA) and a growing
number of recalls, companies are look-
ing for viable ways to track and trace
products throughout the supply chain
– from the manufacturing process to
the time of delivery. With Savanna.
NET®, users can track inventory or raw
materials (and any number of attri-
Parking Solutions.
The Firefly fault recovery visualization
tool provides users with a three-di-
mensional (3D) augmented view of
the warehouse, inventory and auto-
mated systems managed within the
Savanna.NET® application to help
facilities manage their inventory and
recover from automation faults more
efficiently.
By utilizing 3D visualizations instead
www. WestfaliaUSA.com