CLI’s Holistic View of Warehouse Management
Warehouse operations play a central role in an organization’s ability to efficiently and cost-effectively move products to the market. However, what’s hidden from view are the complex and dynamic underlying processes that present major challenges, including inventory inaccuracy, budget constraints, poor facility layout, redundant processes, varying demands, and high labor costs. With so much at stake, warehouse operators need a robust system that not only enables them to control and administer the operations from the time materials enter a warehouse till those move out but also allows for visibility, maintenance, and improvement of a warehouse’s overall operations and processes.
Enter Comprehensive Logistics’ proprietary warehouse management system (WMS), STREME. A game-changing supply chain intelligence technology, STREME comes with full track-and-trace capability. From inbound receipt to just-in-time/just-in-sequence final delivery, the system offers customers complete visibility into item-level information for any commodity. Developed specifically for high complexity and heavy volume OEM applications, STREME is a perfect fit for OEMs and their demanding supply chains and JIT-driven manufacturing environments. STREME coordinates all material flow movements with a high level of accuracy and provides 24/7 visibility through any web-enabled device. Steve Olender, vice president of information technology at Comprehensive Logistics, informs, “With STREME in place, our customers gain access to item-level details and complete transparency into intricate, real-time logistics processes for any commodity or service.” Apart from tracking inventory and its movement in the warehouse, the system can also monitor incoming orders, measure metrics in real time, and provide ongoing systems validation and control.
Comprehensive Logistics understands that each customer has unique circumstances and expectations, and hence, delivers proven methodologies to improve efficiency, enhance productivity, and drive out costs through STREME.
With STREME in place, our customers gain access to item-level details and complete transparency into intricate, real-time logistics processes for any commodity or service
Through an in-depth analysis of numerous factors, such as pull-signal definition, facility location and layout, material flows, work instructions, and scope changes, the firm documents and manages every part from supplier release to end-user. Another notable aspect of STREME is its Plan for Every Part (PFEP) methodology, using which Comprehensive Logistics defines and manages characteristics and information about each part, including its source, how it is purchased and received, its weight and dimensions, stackability, how it is packaged, stored, and delivered, and more. “Consequently, our OEM customers know exactly where the parts are at any given time and can be fully confident that their production schedules are being met,” adds Olender. He further explains that STREME is currently available in two versions: a web-based application and a mobile application. The platform has animated dashboards, which not only offer real-time information on incoming orders, metrics reporting, and time stamping but enable one to manage each of the core warehouse management processes: receiving, storing, picking, adding value, and shipping. The processes are carefully choreographed to control even the slightest variation. The result is a set of highly efficient, robust processes working in concert to maximize productivity and minimize the potential for non-conformance. In short, from the location of the site to facility layout to the staffing plan to how parts flow both inside and outside the warehouse, Comprehensive Logistics engineers all aspects to support an OEM’s warehouse and manufacturing operations to optimize performance.
As a recognized leader in providing highly engineered, process-driven logistics and manufacturing-support solutions for demanding and complex supply chains, the firm strives to produce consistently superior results and maximize cost savings. As a part of its plan for the future, the company is working on releasing an intelligent scanning camera system that will automate and simplify the process of checking an order. “It will eliminate the need for a warehouse operator to manually scan orders, create labels, and process them. The cameras will find the barcodes on the parts, verify the products, and figure out the inventory storage strategy through our warehouse execution system,” states Olender. With such promising technologies, Comprehensive Logistics is moving the warehouse management needle, developing and implementing innovative supply chain solutions that are raising the bar for warehouse management.