Warehouse management system by Ehrhardt + Partner helps optimize YKK’s handling

Photo by Ehrhardt + Partner GmbH

Regardless of whether jeans, tents, bags, or coats – each item has a zipper. And almost all come from the world leader: YKK sells 83,000 different products to customers from around the world. To ensure optimal quality assurance in the future as well, the German subsidiary of the Japanese group opted for an IT-supported handling of processes at the production location Wenkbach, near Weimar. The warehouse management system “LFS” by Ehrhardt + Partner (E+P) is being used. The reason is that the software provides all the functions to easily manage the 504,000 different zipper variants, automatically control production replenishment, and organize shipments to recipients worldwide. As a result, YKK has been able to reduce the number of packages it ships and has profited from maximum inventory transparency.

YKK uses LFS to manage raw materials and finished goods in the pallet and racking system totaling 50,000 storage slots, as well as inventories in the production area. At the same time, the software controls replenishment for production. Paper-based order processing is thus a thing of the past. “The clear challenge in this project was the wide range of product variants that we manage with LFS,” explains Sven Söllner, Project Director at E+P. One product may be available in countless different colors and sizes. Then there are the different types. For example, there are waterproof zippers and special solutions for baby garments or tents. E+P solved this issue by ensuring that the zippers are always managed based on their storage location – previously, this was always carried out by variant and box number. The advantage here is that the restructuring has given YKK the opportunity to add an additional storage slot per product and ensure mixed storage. “Actually, there is no regular warehousing at YKK anymore,” says Sven Söllner. “We realized that this is the most reliable way, because the majority of orders are produced specifically for one customer. At 25 to 30 percent, the cross-dock proportion is correspondingly high.” Picking at LFS is therefore always based on the order and has been greatly simplified for employees. With the help of voice-directed warehousing, they can now manage up to 2,000 picks at the location on a daily basis.

Pick and pack – for orders across Europe

In addition to the variant handling, E+P also optimized order consolidation. In the incoming-goods department, the zippers are sealed in a poly bag. This area is located directly next to the outgoing goods area in order to save time when cross-docking. There are two pallet spaces for outgoing goods: one for export to affiliated companies in Europe and one for large customers in Germany. In the case of large orders, employees assemble their packages directly on the pallet with the new system. In this way, only one master package has to be completed on fixed shipping days – thereby streamlining the entire shipping process. Smaller orders are packed in the traditional manner, i.e., initially consolidated on a shelf and then prepared for shipment. This results in a total of between 400 and 500 packages per day. “There is a special feature for orders from Switzerland, for example,” says Sven Söllner. “These are processed from Germany and must therefore comply with Swiss customs regulations. Preferential goods are also taken into account in LFS and stored separately.” There are three fixed delivery days from the warehouse in Wenkbach, namely Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The consolidation process has allowed YKK to significantly streamline all its processes.

Managing zippers transparently

With LFS, YKK has benefited from orderly, secure, and simplified order processing workflows. Not only is maximum transparency provided for the overview of stocks and utilization of storage slots, unlike before, the inventory can be automatically processed. The number of packages shipped out daily to customers has also been significantly reduced. A further result is the implementation of UPS shipping labels. Based on the packing data, the warehouse management system automatically generates a shipping label, which also streamlines processes. Over 90 percent of the standard shipping processes are now fully automatic for UPS. The implementation of LFS at a second YKK location in Mainhausen is already being planned.

For more information, please visit http://www.ehrhardt-partner.com.

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