The interpretations of internal (warehouse) or external (supply chain) logistics process implementation presented below are the result of the author’s reflections during work on the development of the functionality of the MaGS1 warehouse information system, carried out at the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (ILiM). The information system named MaGS1 was created in its original form between 2007 and 2009 as a model solution for the computerization of warehouse processes using global GS1 identification standards. The model WMS (Warehouse Management System) class system is intended to provide guidelines for the application of GS1 standards for potential users of this class of systems. By conducting audits and technology transfers in the field of warehouse processes, ILiM can thus provide beneficiaries with knowledge about the practical aspects of using WMS-class information systems.
The application and use of GS1 standards in the MaGS1 system were tested internally at the ILiM identification technology laboratory and under real conditions in three commercial external warehouses at selected manufacturing and trading companies. The usefulness of the system, verified under real conditions, allowed for the identification of the weak and strong aspects of using GS1 standards in warehouses, which translated into an improvement in its practical functionality. Currently, development work on the MaGS1 system is underway at ILiM, related to technological changes in the field of IT and changes in its functionality in areas examined during pilot implementations. The conclusions resulting from the research work can be summarized in two main aspects:
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GS1 standards applied in warehouse information systems significantly organize material flows, reduce warehouse handling costs at the entry (there is no need to re-label delivered material items already marked with GS1 barcodes) and at the exit (there is no need for special re-labeling of material items dispatched to recipients who require the use of GS1 standards)
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GS1 standards are not widely used or utilized in warehouses and commercial contacts, which results from a lack of basic knowledge on this subject in companies – links in supply chains – and in the information systems used there. Beneficiaries, perceiving the issues of warehouse processes only through their own warehouse, do not see the need to use GS1 standards and unconsciously incur the costs of permanent re-labeling of material items exchanged in supply chains.
Existing habits of warehouse personnel, combined with the imposition of individual ways of identifying material items by IT system providers, result in the fact that shifting the mentality of users to standard perceptions of identifying these items for the needs of the supply chain, and not just one warehouse, sometimes becomes a fundamental problem.
In the article, the author presents the issue of using GS1 identification standards through the prism of their IT perception in the conditions of automated processes, i.e., with minimal human participation. The thesis is put forward that in logistics processes of automated supply chain handling, the lack of use of GS1 standards lowers the level of automation of these processes and increases the costs of adapting them to the internal IT solutions used.
Regardless of whether we are dealing with material, production, or warehouse flows, both in universal and automated processes, similar problems always occur related to the identification of packaging containing delivered, processed, or stored and dispatched materials. Regardless of the degree of automation of the process, every package with material: for example, a box, crate, shrink-wrap, container, basket, hanger, pallet, etc., must be “seen” at every stage of the process by a WMS-class information system – if we are talking about a warehouse hall, or by an MES (Manufacturing Execution System) class system – if we are talking about a production hall.
Currently, it is difficult to imagine an enterprise that does not have an integrated ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) class management information system. The main reason for implementing ERP-type solutions is the ability to integrate information coming from many diverse departments of the enterprise along the entire logistics chain. Implementing an ERP system guarantees measurable benefits and support for the realization of the company’s strategic business goals and the improvement of the enterprise’s functioning. However, the flow of information between the production hall and the business process in the case of having only an ERP system often turns out to be insufficient. Manufacturing companies expect a much higher level of detail than that offered by an ERP system. For this reason, it is increasingly common to encounter production halls supported by MES-type systems and warehouse halls by WMS-type systems, which provide superior (ERP) systems with more detailed, current, and reliable information.
Automating physical material flows requires the use of standard packaging in their movement processes, in terms of form in the shape of moved stereometric solids (bulk packaging, pallets, etc.). Correct identification of packaging containing materials then takes on special significance, because most operations in automated processes take place without human participation. In these types of solutions, the information system handling the handling scope and the information system handling the business scope should easily and flawlessly exchange data between themselves about the moved packaging with materials. The most favorable situation then is the use of a uniform labeling model for all packaging, which can be used not only in one’s own production hall and warehouse but also in warehouses belonging to other enterprises – subsequent links in the logistics chain. However, it should always be remembered that packaging containing materials stored in an automated warehouse will be sold (business) and dispatched (handling) to other automated or universal warehouses and should also be correctly “seen” there by other information systems.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 3/2010.