LOG207: Continuing from Study Unit 3 Activity 2, You are the Warehouse Manager: Warehousing and Material Handling Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Question 1

Continuing from Study Unit 3 Activity 2, you are the warehouse manager for a logistics SME based in Singapore. This company has been using a paper and spreadsheet system to manage its warehouse operations. The volume of business has grown. You find it difficult to cope with the increase in transactions and keep track of inventory.

Incoming products are received and put-away in a haphazard manner. Your warehouse staff find it a challenge to retrieve items. On many occasions, order pickers find no stock when they arrive at the pick face. Productivity is low and so is staff morale. Yet, you have big plans for your warehouse. You plan to offer value-adding services to your customers such as special production, labeling, tagging, and bundling.

(a) You are looking for a warehouse management system (WMS) that can improve speed, productivity, and accuracy in the warehouse. Compile of a list of key functions that the WMS must-have. Give reasons for choosing the key criteria.

(b) Shortlist 3 WMS that can meet the needs of your warehouse. Review the features of each WMS you have shortlisted based on your criteria. Recommend the best WMS for your warehouse. Give reasons to support your recommendation.

(c) What lessons can you learn from this? How will you put what you have learned into practice (to your study, work or life)?

Question 2

You work for a third party logistics (3PL) company that is expanding its business to serve online customers of high-tech consumer electronics goods such as PCs, laptops, tablets, computer and IT accessories. The 3PL intends to build a new e-commerce fulfillment center.

This facility has to cater to large volumes of small orders of consumer electronics items. You have been tasked to design a layout for a facility with the following characteristics:

• Floor plan: 50m x 100m
• Floor-to-ceiling height: 11m
• 8 loading/unloading bays

(a) Examine the warehouse layout by developing a schematic layout of this facility. You need not come up with the architectural plans, just a concept layout will be sufficient indicating the main areas of the warehouse. You should also estimate the areas needed for receiving and dispatch, storage space, aisle width, and other spaces. State any assumptions used and give reasons to support your answer.

(b) Analyze the storage system and handling equipment for this warehouse. State any assumptions used and give reasons to support your answer.

(c) Comment on whether this proposed facility should adopt automation and/or robotics in its operations. State any assumptions used and give reasons to support your answer.