www.eltrun.gr

ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΚΟ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟ ΑΘΗΝΩΝΤΜΗΜΑ ΔΙΟΙΚΗΤΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑΣ

Angeliki KaragiannakiSmartRFID Unit of the

ELTRUN E-Business Research Centerhttp://www.eltrun.gr; akaragianaki@aueb.gr

Empowering Distribution Center operations with RFID

The Diakinisis Case

•Diakinisis- a 3PL operatorCompany

•DistributionSector

•2008Year

•Passive UHF RFIDFormat•Storage and ShipmentApplication

•Alien TechnologyTag/Reader Supplier

•Business EffectivenessSystem Integrator

•Roll-outStatus

•PalletLabeling

•GreeceCountry

Inefficiencies before RFID

• Time –consuming and unreliable stock taking • Remarkable variances between accounting and physical

stocks • Overstated or understated inventory levels• Difficulty in locating the pallets on storage racks during order

assembly• Mistakes during loading• Product obsolescence due to overstocked inventory. • No establishment of unforgiving rules for pallet storage

RFID Solution ComponentsFLOOR TAG

RFID PORTALS

RFID PRINTER

LOCATION TAG

RFID-ENABLED FLTS

RFID TAGGED PALLETS

TRUCK TAG

RFID-enabled processes

Storage Picking Shipping Inventory Physical Count

RFID-enabled Storage Process1. Attach RFID

labels on pallets

1

2

2. Link Pallet Barcodes with Pallet RFID Label – Update

WMS

3. Forklift Truck reach Pallet RFID Label

4. The Storage Location is shown on the terminal via WMS

5. Reading of Storage Rack RFID Label – Confirmation

of correct storage location

RFID-enabled Full Pallets Picking1. FLT Driver reads on the

terminal Pallets & Location to retrieve

3. Pallet pickup

2. Confirmation of correct Pallet

pickup ΕπιβεβαίωσηΕξαγωγήςΠαλέτας

4. Automatic Loading Control (Correct pallet, carrier, order)

ORDER 3 ΟΚ

RFID-enabled Shipping Process

ORDER 3 ΟΚ

2. Automatic Loading Control (Pallet, carrier, order) – Loading

1. Move assembled orders to the loading area

RFID-enabled Inventory Physical Count

Stock Taking by moving properly

equipped FLT through the aisles

Remarkable Benefits

• Achieved near 100% pallet traceability of pallets through the distribution center

• Improved correct storage location of pallets by more than 25%• Expedited stock taking improved by 40%• Faster pallets movement by 30% – The FLT operator completes

pallet storage and retrieval on his driver’s seat – no need to get off for pallet – rack scanning etc

• 80% reduction in shipment errors• Overall process improvement of 20%

An interesting outcome of the Diakinisis Case

• Alternative RFID implementations– Numerous possible ways of implementing RFID within an warehouse

processes

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NEW Process(RFID LABELING)

Process C (Picking)

Process D (Shipping)

Process B (Storage)

Process A (Receiving)

…is not supported by RFID…

RFID IMPLEMENTATION of DIAKINISIS CASE

SHIPPINGRECEIVING

AN ALTERNATIVE RFID IMPLEMENTATION

STORAGE ORDER PICKING

…is not supported by RFID…

…is not supported by RFID…

• RFID process redesign problem • Different implementation different value of RFID• no clear cut answer as to which RFID implementation is

the best– IT IS IMPORTANT TO

– design differently configured to-be implementations and– decide on a specific one based on a credible evaluation of

the alternatives

A generic warehouse simulation model• Video (SIMUL8 software)

Simulation Results

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pallets cases0.00

10.00

20.00

30.00

40.00

50.00

60.00

70.00

80.00

Labor Utilisation

as-istagging inhousetagging by all the supplierstagging by the large supplierstagging inhouse & by the large suppliers

DIAKINISIS CASEImplementation 2

Implementation 3

As-is

Implementation 4

Implementation 5

Implementation 6Implementation7

Implementation 8

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Thank you for your attention!

akaragianaki@aueb.grwww.smart-rfid.eu