{"id":22702,"date":"2020-04-15T16:54:27","date_gmt":"2020-04-15T16:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/msi-automate.com\/?page_id=22702"},"modified":"2020-04-15T16:54:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T16:54:31","slug":"distribution-center-best-practices-at-work","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/msi-automate.com\/distribution-center-best-practices-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Studies: Distribution Center Best Practices at Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

Distribution Center
Best Practices at Work <\/h1>\n

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Overview<\/span><\/h1><\/div><\/div>

Distribution center best practices<\/a> provided the foundation for MSI Automate\u2019 design and build out of new distribution center for a blood management company.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

A global leader in blood management solutions, this client offers solutions for each facet of the blood supply chain, including blood and plasma component collection, the surgical suite, and hospital transfusion services.<\/p>\n

Their products include a comprehensive portfolio of blood collection and management devices and consumable blood products, information management, and consulting services.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

MSI Automate’s distribution center best practices included a warehouse within the warehouse to create a temperature controlled area for temperature sensitive phamaceutical products.<\/em><\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Located in Tennessee, the 145,000 square foot distribution center facility was designed to receive, process, and ship blood management devices and consumables for national distribution to hospitals, surgical suites, and blood collection organizations. The distribution operation, while simple in nature, relies upon distribution center best practices<\/b> to ensure and maintain the quality of the product line from receiving through shipment.<\/p>\n

The facility has been set up to handle processing of everything from an individual carton of blood bags to an entire pallet of consumable products and machinery.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Situation<\/span><\/h1><\/div><\/div>

Prior to the creation of this facility, this MSI Automate client utilized several distribution facilities located in areas either adjacent to manufacturing plants or in 3PL\u2019s around the country. Having concluded it would be advantageous to bring their distribution operation under one roof, the company decided to move their operations to a larger facility. The questions were how large a facility would the new operation require, and what kind of systems would best satisfy the needs of the combined operations?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

Inside the near 28,000 sq. ft. temperature controlled area is both pallet racking and deep lane storage.<\/em><\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div>

Processes had to be designed for receiving, put away, replenishment, order selection, and outbound shipping. In addition, whatever distribution center best practices were put in place in the facility had to be compatible with the capabilities of the ERP\/WMS system already in use within the company and be compliant with the lot control\/serialization methodology utilized in the company\u2019s storage and order selection strategies.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

The company also wanted to minimize labor requirements wherever possible in the distribution center operation.<\/p>\n

A key requirement of the new system was to find ways to store goods in an efficient and highly accessible manner. That meant dealing with numerous high volume items that would be received in large serialization lots and dealing with lower volume items, such as machines, which were individually serialized. All products would need to be accessible at any time. Other requirements included products that could not be stacked as well as products that would require a temperature-controlled environment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Opportunity<\/span><\/h1><\/div><\/div>

Before a determination could be made on how big the new facility needed to be, a consensus had to reached on which distribution center best practices would be followed, including the kind of storage systems, inventory handling methods, climate control measures, and security measures that would be used in the facility.<\/p>\n

Once consensus was reached, MSI Automate was given data on existing sales and inventory levels as well as a list of the company\u2019 s objectives for the new operation. These objectives included:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>