仓库管理系统外文翻译英文文献.doc

仓库管理系统外文翻译英文文献.doc

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WarehouseManagementSystems（WMS）.

Theevolutionofwarehousemanagementsystems（WMS）isverysimilartothatofmanyothersoftwaresolutions.Initiallyasystemtocontrolmovementandstorageofmaterialswithinawarehouse,theroleofWMSisexpandingtoincludinglightmanufacturing,transportationmanagement,ordermanagement,andcompleteaccountingsystems.Tousethegrandfatherofoperations-relatedsoftware,MRP,asacomparison,materialrequirementsplanning（MRP）startedasasystemforplanningrawmaterialrequirementsinamanufacturingenvironment.SoonMRPevolvedintomanufacturingresourceplanning（MRPII）,whichtookthebasicMRPsystemandaddedschedulingandcapacityplanninglogic.EventuallyMRPIIevolvedintoenterpriseresourceplanning（ERP）,incorporatingalltheMRPIIfunctionalitywithfullfinancialsandcustomerandvendormanagementfunctionality.Now,whetherWMSevolvingintoawarehouse-focusedERPsystemisagoodthingornotisuptodebate.WhatisclearisthattheexpansionoftheoverlapinfunctionalitybetweenWarehouseManagementSystems,EnterpriseResourcePlanning,DistributionRequirementsPlanning,TransportationManagementSystems,SupplyChainPlanning,AdvancedPlanningandScheduling,andManufacturingExecutionSystemswillonlyincreasethelevelofconfusionamongcompanieslookingforsoftwaresolutionsfortheiroperations.

EventhoughWMScontinuestogainaddedfunctionality,theinitialcorefunctionalityofaWMShasnotreallychanged.TheprimarypurposeofaWMSistocontrolthemovementandstorageofmaterialswithinanoperationandprocesstheassociatedtransactions.Directedpicking,directedreplenishment,anddirectedputawayarethekeytoWMS.ThedetailedsetupandprocessingwithinaWMScanvarysignificantlyfromonesoftwarevendortoanother,howeverthebasiclogicwilluseacombinationofitem,location,quantity,unitofmeasure,andorderinformationtodeterminewheretostock,wheretopick,andinwhatsequencetoperformtheseoperations.

Atabareminimum,aWMSshould:

Haveaflexiblelocationsystem.

Utilizeuser-definedparameterstodirectwarehousetasksanduselivedocumentstoexecutethesetasks.

Havesomebuilt-inlevelofintegrationwithdatacollectiondevices.

DoYouReallyNeedWMS?

NoteverywarehouseneedsaWMS.CertainlyanywarehousecouldbenefitfromsomeofthefunctionalitybutisthebenefitgreatenoughtojustifytheinitialandongoingcostsassociatedwithWMS?

WarehouseManagementSystemsarebig,complex,dataintensive,applications.Theytendtorequirealotofinitialsetup,alotofsystemresourcestorun,andalotofongoingdatamanagementtocontinuetorun.That’sright,youneedto"manage"yourwarehouse"management"system.Oftentimes,largeoperationswillendupcreatinganewISdepartmentwiththesoleresponsibilityofmanagingtheWMS.

TheClaims:

WMSwillreduceinventory!

WMSwillreducelaborcosts!

WMSwillincreasestoragecapacity!

WMSwillincreasecustomerservice!

WMSwillincreaseinventoryaccuracy!

TheReality:

TheimplementationofaWMSalongwithautomateddatacollectionwilllikelygiveyouincreasesinaccuracy,reductioninlaborcosts（providedthelaborrequiredtomaintainthesystemislessthanthelaborsavedonthewarehousefloor）,andagreaterabilitytoservicethecustomerbyreducingcycletimes.Expectationsofinventoryreductionandincreasedstoragecapacityarelesslikely.Whileincreasedaccuracyandefficienciesinthereceivingprocessmayreducethelevelofsafetystockrequired,theimpactofthisreductionwilllikelybenegligibleincomparisontooverallinventorylevels.Thepredominantfactorsthatcontrolinventorylevelsarelotsizing,leadtimes,anddemandvariability.ItisunlikelythataWMSwillhaveasignificantimpactonanyofthesefactors.AndwhileaWMScertainlyprovidesthetoolsformoreorganizedstoragewhichmayresultinincreasedstoragecapacity,thisimprovementwillberelativetojusthowsloppyyourpre-WMSprocesseswere.

Beyondlaborefficiencies,thedeterminingfactorsindecidingtoimplementaWMStendtobemoreoftenassociatedwiththeneedtodosomethingtoserviceyourcustomersthatyourcurrentsystemdoesnotsupport（ordoesnotsupportwell）suchasfirst-in-first-out,cross-docking,automatedpickreplenishment,wavepicking,lottracking,yardmanagement,automateddatacollection,automatedmaterialhandlingequipment,etc.

Setup

ThesetuprequirementsofWMScanbeextensive.Thecharacteristicsofeachitemandlocationmustbemaintainedeitheratthedetaillevelorbygroupingsimilaritemsandlocationsintocategories.Anexampleofitemcharacteristicsatthedetaillevelwouldincludeexactdimensionsandweightofeachitemineachunitofmeasuretheitemisstocked（each,cases,pallets,etc）aswellasinformationsuchaswhetheritcanbemixedwithotheritemsinalocation,whetheritisrackable,maxstackheight,maxquantityperlocation,hazardclassifications,finishedgoodsorrawmaterial,fastversusslowmover,etc.Althoughsomeoperationswillneedtosetupeachitemthisway,mostoperationswillbenefitbycreatinggroupsofsimilarproducts.Forexample,ifyouareadistributorofmusicCDsyouwouldcreategroupsforsingleCDs,anddoubleCDs,maintainingthedetaileddimensionandweightinformationatthegrouplevelandonlyneedingtoattachthegroupcodetoeachitem.YouwouldlikelyneedtomaintaindetailedinformationonspecialitemssuchasboxedsetsorCDsinspecialpackaging.Youwouldalsocreategroupsforthedifferenttypesoflocationswithinyourwarehouse.Anexamplewouldbetocreatethreedifferentgroups（P1,P2,P3）forthethreedifferentsizedforwardpickinglocationsyouuseforyourCDpicking.YouthensetupthequantityofsingleCDsthatwillfitinaP1,P2,andP3location,quantityofdoubleCDsthatfitinaP1,P2,P3locationetc.Youwouldlikelyalsobesettingupcasequantities,andpalletquantitiesofeachCDgroupandquantitiesofcasesandpalletspereachreservestoragelocationgroup.

Ifthissoundssimple,itis…well…sortof.Inrealitymostoperationshaveamuchmorediverseproductmixandwillrequiremuchmoresystemsetup.Andsettingupthephysicalcharacteristicsoftheproductandlocationsisonlypartofthepicture.Youhavesetupenoughsothatthesystemknowswhereaproductcanfitandhowmanywillfitinthatlocation.Younowneedtosetuptheinformationneededtoletthesystemdecideexactlywhichlocationtopickfrom,replenishfrom/to,andputawayto,andinwhatsequencetheseeventsshouldoccur（rememberWMSisallabout“directed”movement）.Youdothisbyassigningspecificlogictothevariouscombinationsofitem/order/quantity/locationinformationthatwilloccur.

BelowIhavelistedsomeofthelogicusedindeterminingactuallocationsandsequences.

LocationSequence.Thisisthesimplestlogic;yousimplydefineaflowthroughyourwarehouseandassignasequencenumbertoeachlocation.Inorderpickingthisisusedtosequenceyourpickstoflowthroughthewarehouse,inputawaythelogicwouldlookforthefirstlocationinthesequenceinwhichtheproductwouldfit.

ZoneLogic.Bybreakingdownyourstoragelocationsintozonesyoucandirectpicking,putaway,orreplenishmenttoorfromspecificareasofyourwarehouse.Sincezonelogiconlydesignatesanarea,youwillneedtocombinethiswithsomeothertypeoflogictodetermineexactlocationwithinthezone.

FixedLocation.Logicusespredeterminedfixedlocationsperiteminpicking,putaway,andreplenishment.Fixedlocationsaremostoftenusedastheprimarypickinglocationinpiecepickandcase-pickoperations,however,theycanalsobeusedforsecondarystorage.

RandomLocation.Sincecomputerscannotbetrulyrandom（norwouldyouwantthemtobe）thetermrandomlocationisalittlemisleading.Randomlocationsgenerallyrefertoareaswhereproductsarenotstoredindesignatedfixedlocations.Likezonelogic,youwillneedsomeadditionallogictodetermineexactlocations.

First-in-first-out（FIFO）.Directspickingfromtheoldestinventoryfirst.

Last-in-first-out（LIFO）.OppositeofFIFO.Ididn'tthinktherewereanyrealapplicationsforthislogicuntilavisitortomysitesentanemaildescribingtheiroperationthatdistributesperishablegoodsdomesticallyandoverseas.TheyuseLIFOfortheiroverseascustomers（becauseoflongerin-transittimes）andFIFOfortheirdomesticcustomers.

Pick-to-clear.Logicdirectspickingtothelocationswiththesmallestquantitiesonhand.Thislogicisgreatforspaceutilization.

ReservedLocations.Thisisusedwhenyouwanttopredeterminespecificlocationstoputawaytoorpickfrom.Anapplicationforreservedlocationswouldbecross-docking,whereyoumayspecifycertainquantitiesofaninboundshipmentbemovedtospecificoutboundstaginglocationsordirectlytoanawaitingoutboundtrailer.

MaximizeCube.CubelogicisfoundinmostWMSsystemshoweveritisseldomused.Cubelogicbasicallyusesunitdimensionstocalculatecube（cubicinchesperunit）andthencomparesthistothecubecapacityofthelocationtodeterminehowmuchwillfit.Nowiftheunitsarecapableofbeingstackedintothelocationinamannerthatfillseverycubicinchofspaceinthelocation,cubelogicwillwork.Sincethisrarelyhappensintherealworld,cubelogictendstobeimpractical.

Consolidate.Lookstoseeifthereisalreadyalocationwiththesameproductstoredinitwithavailablecapacity.Mayalsocreateadditionalmovestoconsolidatelikeproductstoredinmultiplelocations.