Start at the Top

How to Get Your Project Moving
This is the second of seven articles that will feature a critical element to project implementation. The topic of this article is how to gain and influence sponsors.

Your project will need a mover and a shaker to get and keep the ball rolling, or it won't go anywhere. You need a fairy godparent who will communicate the business context and rationale behind your project--someone dedicated to the change your project will bring, someone willing and eager to assure its success.

A great way to start a project is to have a one-on-one with the most senior person in the company who cares about the project, and will give you his or her time. Figure out who that is; they're the person you'll need to show your work to at various points in the process. That person is putting resources on the line for it, and will probably be held accountable for its success.

The next article will feature describe how you should start at the top to communicate your project goals.

Obtain a one-on-one meeting with the sponsor and talk with him or her about several things: what she or he expects the project will accomplish, the business imperative, the decision process, which other departments should be included, and how you should include them.

Given the economic climate and the cost-cutting mentality, here are some strategies on cost-justifying projects.

Associate the project with a cost reduction initiative.
You will get past the initial cut if the project is associated with helping reduce costs. Soft savings, such as improving the efficiency of workers by 10 percent, won’t fly in these times of uncertainty.

Deliver a large percentage of the value in the current year.
When money is tight, most organizations are unwilling to take on large, multiyear initiatives that may or may not be completed. Focus on maximizing return in the current year.

Focus on low risk and high value initiatives.
Executives will be looking for a risk-value proposition in projects that are low risk, but deliver high value. Look for functional opportunities that are directly tied to a business objective and use the proposed solution to drive the value to the objective.

Always tie the projects directly to business strategies.
The project sponsor should ensure that every effort proposed ties directly to the business strategies. Alignment to the business is key in even getting the idea through the first checkpoint. To show value with relation to business strategies is key in winning supporters.

The next article will feature describe specific methods of presenting project funding solutions and payback justification.

You Do That? - Vertical Lifts

Improved Design Part of Wildeck’s New Look
If your operation can accommodate storing material on the ground plus one level, and if the lifting capacity will not exceed 2,200 lbs, then the Delta lift from Wildeck could be the solution you need. Many clients took advantage of this revolutionary design when the Delta was first introduced.

Beginning in September of 2006 Wildeck took steps to further strengthen its role as the largest U.S. manufacturer of mezzanines, vertical lifts, and safety guarding products for the safe and efficient handling, storage, and movement of materials.

A new ad campaign, new logo and more importantly product enhancements were visible at their booth at ProMat 2007. Significant improvements have been made to the popular Delta 2200 model of Vertical Reciprocating Conveyor (VRC). Also referred to as freight or material lifts, a VRC is a revolutionary way to move your material from level to level. When introduced in 2005 the Delta 2200 offered the lower cost of a hydraulic unit but incorporated all of the benefits of a mechanical VRC!

Three of the changes made to the 2007 Delta unit that will make owning one a “no-brainer” are:

• Increase in Carriage Size
  
  
• Beefier Carriage and Lift Structure
  
  
• One-Day Installation
  
  

The use of diamond plating in the perimeter guarding and on the walls and floors of the carriage enabled the 2007 Delta to retain its overall footprint. Even though the carriage size increased the Delta overall dimensions are still 92” wide by 79” deep.

The size of components used in the Delta has been reduced making it easier to maneuver. Unlike the original model, the new Delta can be installed by two men in one day.

Companies ranging from distribution centers, manufacturing and warehousing facilities, auto dealership parts rooms, retail store back rooms, and even hospital storerooms have increase their storage potential with the assistance of the Delta lift.

Operations Best Practices

Benefits of Inventory Slotting
The purpose of profiling (slotting) the inventory is more than just making sure that heavy items are not located in the back of the warehouse or on the highest shelf, but to evaluate the size, storage media, mix and velocity of product being stored in the facility.

Sizing

Profiling will evaluate product size, weight, cube, storage media, pick media, case picks, piece picks and pick frequency. Obtaining the accurate cube and weight of each product is critical. Many companies do not maintain an accurate data base that includes dimensional information and product weight.

The best solution is to collect data electronically using a CubiScan manufactured by Quantronix based in Utah. This device accurately collects cubic data and weight of each item. An easy to use software package is included to speed up the process of capturing and recording cubic data and weight.

Storage

Now that the cube and weight of the product has been acquired, you need to determine the storage media. This discussion is based on the more common storage media found in a typical operation, such as shelving, pallet racking, decked rack and pallet and carton flow modules.

When selecting storage media and types of product to be stored within, there are simple rules that apply. When utilizing shelving with your facility, locate fast movers closer to the main aisle or conveyor systems and slower items further away or on second levels of mezzanines. Pallet flow is utilized for high cube fast movers of case pick quantities. Carton flow modules are well used for fast to medium inner pack picks or each picks from cartons. For medium movers of high cube product, decked racking is a good candidate.

Velocity

By looking at the inventory over a 3-month 6-month, or even better a 12-month period of time, develop the inventory movement analysis. If your business has a large seasonal impact, it is recommended you evaluate the inventory based on those seasonal times of change in inventory.

When this analysis has been completed, determine the amount of inventory that is to be dedicated to each of the storage media types located within the facility. This can be broken down further based on the family groupings of the inventory. Knowing the total pieces moved in a 3, 6 or 12-month period of time, convert total pieces to total daily piece movement.

Product Mix

Your operation may require keeping like family groups together, allowing for ease of picking for those items that are often sold together. Some items may need to be grouped in a particular storage area because of a kitting operation.

There are many combinations of solutions for product mix and storage rules. Many times working along side a picker for the day provides insight into how product is moved through the facility. Understand the order filling requirements of the product to reduce problems of incorrect product mixing.

Completing the Task

With the daily piece movement completed, convert the movement to the number of inner pack and pallet quantities moved in a day. This will help identify the number of storage locations required. Determine the percentage of inventory to allocate to each of the storage media types. To gain efficiency from slotting the inventory, decide on the number of days of product to be held in a pick location. This will help minimize the amount of replenishments that will be required on a day-to-day process.

Once you have established the cube of the inventory, you can determine the amount of space the inventory will occupy within the storage media.

In Conclusion

Slotting will increase productivity, order accuracy and customer service. Profiling your inventory should be given top priority. Profiling your inventory should not be considered a one-time process, but an ongoing inventory control operation. Make sure that all of your project team members understand the need to properly profile your inventory and the rules to follow.

The preceding was a synopsis of a discussion was with Steve Trommer, Vice President at Trommer and Associates, a facility planning company located in Akron, OH.

Material Handling Case Study

Record Storage
Companies from the world over that provide archive storage services will be converging on Savannah, GA beginning May 9 to gain more knowledge, network and seek ways to obtain a competitive edge.

Whether your archive storage needs are best served by outsourcing that service or you are in that business, much can be learned from the PRISM association. Since records storage became a key component of asset protection for companies, the [Professional Records and Information Services Management] association is the leader in training professionals and influencing legislation.

From our experience, no two archive storage projects are the same. At a recent presentation a prospective client asked, “I suppose you guys are used to designing rack in new buildings with little obstructions.” Later we were able to demonstrate our ability to place rack systems in obscure places as a cave dug out of a mountain! Check out specific case studies at www.morrisoncompany.com/casestudy.html

Regardless of whom the customer is Morrison Company has helped companies all across the US equip themselves with shelving, catwalk or warehouse storage racking. Most of the time companies want to start small by erecting shelving or a few bays of rack.

Making it simple to plan for growth is what Morrison Company offers clients. “Even if clients want to start small we’ll prepare a layout of how their facility can grow with their needs”, indicates Barney Rowe of the Morrison Company. Mr. Rowe is a published author, speaker and expert in the records storage industry. This approach has enabled many clients to prepare business plans, seek external funding and retain building permits.

You can read more about this explosive industry at www.prismintl.org