Streamlining Trade, Logistics, and Production modules, physical handling of warehouse receipt operations, batch registration, execution of internal warehouse transfers and production transfers, receipts from production, picking and shipping, as well as labeling of raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished goods – these are the main features of this vertical solution.
The Polish branch of Microsoft has announced the completion of work on a new vertical solution called “Execution System” – a system for registering production operations. The application supports Microsoft Business Solutions–Axapta in the area of three modules: Trade, Logistics, and Production. The implementation process is fast and usually closes within a few months. This allows for minimizing the risk associated with implementing an IT system and achieving a high return on investment.
The appearance of this new profiled application is a continuation of the company’s strategy, within which one will be able to observe the progressive verticalization of partners. Verticalization aims to maximize the adaptation of systems to client companies, which often have diametrically different needs and requirements.
This application is Microsoft Business Solutions’ response to requests from clients who clearly lacked a solution integrating production control, logistics, and sales systems. “Execution System” can monitor products, sub-assemblies, semi-finished products, and raw materials by serial numbers, containers, pallets, and batches. It can also streamline data entry by combining serial and batch numbers as well as containers and pallets during a single barcode scan. This solution is extremely important especially for industries such as: automotive, aerospace, defense, pharmaceutical, or food.
The open architecture of “Execution System” allows for the selection of data collection hardware appropriate for a given task, including handheld, wireless, radio equipment, barcode scanners, and label printers. It has extensive analysis and reporting capabilities at various levels of detail. The software also coordinates production reports with time and service logs, performs complex work distribution tasks, resolves material shortage problems, and generates shipping documentation.
1. Features of the Execution System
- Possibility of performing warehouse and production operations via radio terminals using barcodes (based on the SSCC standard or other) or radio tags (RFID)
- Full and continuous data update in the Microsoft Business Solutions-Axapta system – the system operates based on current and reliable data
- Ensuring access to current information for all employees via radio terminals (graphic or text) or personal computers.
- Automation of entered data
- Immediate validation of the correctness of all entered data
- Immediate update of inventory levels
- Calculation of key performance indicators (KPI).
2. Features of the Execution System in the area of warehousing.
- Verification of the actual content of deliveries against the order and the loading list
- Automatic generation of instructions:
- put-away to the warehouse (using an appropriate layout planning algorithm)
- directly to production (considering current production demand)
- transfer to the shipping picking zone (including cross-docking)
- Automatic allocation of specific product storage units for production demand or for shipping orders
- Execution of all warehouse operations with automatic consideration of:
- status control, product, quantity, expiration date, allocation for individual storage units (pallets, containers, bins)
- warehouse location control (maximum location capacity by weight/volume, storing different types of products together)
- demand data control (verified against specific production or shipping orders)
- Providing information on the content of individual warehouse locations, pallets, location of specific products and batches
- Optimization of shipping picking and grouping of shipments on vehicles
- Control of shipment status, progress reporting, assignment of specific shipping units, printing of shipping documents and labels
- Dynamic and configurable view of warehouse contents according to various filter criteria, order, and level of detail.
3. Features of the Execution System in the area of production and quality control
- Automatic assignment of production orders to specific machines/employees with immediate notification of interested persons
- Automatic verification of the correctness of components used with the product BOM (Bill of Material)
- Reporting of the actual and accurate quantity of consumed components based on data automatically retrieved from machines
- Automatic printing of identification labels for storage units, batches, or serial numbers (including data of a specific recipient)
- Full product genealogy – linking specific batches of used components with batches of finished goods, the possibility of detailing the genealogy down to individual pallets or containers (of any size)
- Detailed control of machine parameters during production – automatic sending of notifications to appropriate persons via email, SMS, or in the Execution System in case of potentially dangerous trends (e.g., temperature rise, machine performance drop)
- Continuous and ongoing control of production execution (for both continuous and discrete production)
- Reports on production efficiency and working time
- Handling of returnable packaging.
4. Quality Control in Execution System :
- Linking detailed quality control results with specific batches, containers, pallets, or serial numbers
- Possibility of tracking the use of specific batches of components in various finished goods, as well as all components used for the production of specific finished goods (back and forward genealogy tracing). Linking this data with specific deliveries and shipments, which is important, e.g., in the case of a call back campaign.
- Quality level control for individual machines (taking into account parameters set on machines), employees, production orders, time intervals (shifts, days of the week, etc.)
- Quality level reports according to various criteria and in various cross-sections, analysis of causes of quality problems (Pareto chart).