Ter

m paper

I
nvent
oryManagement

1.Def
ineawar
ehouse

Alar
gebuil
dingwher
erawmat
eri
alsormanuf
act
uredgoodsar
est
oredpr
iort
othei
rdi
str
ibut
ion
f
orsale.

2.Di
scusst
ypesofwar
ehouses(
mini
mum of8)

Thev
ari
oust
ypesandwar
ehousesi
ncl
ude;

I
.Publ
i
cwar
ehouses

Thesety
peofwar
ehousesar
eownedbygov
ernment
albodi
esandmadeav
ail
abl
etopr
ivat
e
sect
ors.

Publicwar
ehousescanbelenttobothbusi
nessandper
sonal
use.Alt
houghtheyaren'
t
technol
ogi
call
yadvanced,
theyaregener
all
ythemostaf
for
dableandaccessi
bleopti
onthus
becomesolidchoi
ce.

I
I.Pr
ivat
ewar
ehouses

Thesear
ewar
ehouseownedbywhol
esal
ers,
dist
ri
but
orsandmanuf
act
urer
s.

Lar
geretai
landonli
nemar ketpl
aceshavet hei
rownpr i
vat
ely-ownedwarehouses.Al
though
moreexpensi
vethanpubli
cwar ehouses,t
heyarestil
lagreatopti
onifper
sonsneedsamaj or
l
ongter
m str
ategi
cpresenceinanimpor t
antregion.

I
II
.Bondedwar
ehouse

Thebondedwar
ehousesar
ethety
peofwar
ehousest
hatst
orei
mpor
tedgoodsbef
orecust
oms
dut
iesr
equir
edt
obepaidtothem.

Theyal sooff
erfaci
l
iti
est
ostoreitemsforextendedper i
odsofti
me.Bondedwar ehousesare
perfectfori
mporter
sastheycankeept hei
ritemsdut y-f
reeunti
ltheyfi
ndbuyersandhav e
reputati
onsassecureandsafestoragespacesf orgoodsmakingitidealf
oreCommer ce
businessthatspeci
ali
zei
ncross-bordertr
aining.

I
V.Smar
twar
ehouse

Thesearetypeofwar ehouseswherethestorageful
fi
lmentprocessandmanagementi s
automatedwithAl.Automationtypi
cal
lyi
ncludeseveryt
hingf
rom from soft
warefor
managementt orobotsanddr onesper
for
mi ngtaskli
kepackaging,
weighing,t
ranspor
ti
ngand
stori
nggoods.

V.Consol
i
dat
edwar
ehouses
Unl
iketheprev
iousl
yvi
ewedwarehouses,consol
idatedwar
ehousestakesmal
lshi
pment
sfr
om
di
ff
erentsuppl
ier
sandgroupsbef
oredist
ribut
ingthem t
othebuyer
s.

Thecatchshouldbethatal
lshi
pmentsshoul
dbeintendedforthesamegeographi
call
ocat
ion.
Thecapital
invest
mentandvolumeofinv
entor
yforconsoli
datedwarehousesi
sfai
rl
ysmall
maki
ngi tagreatopt
ion.

VI
.Cooper
ati
vewar
ehouses

Acooperat
ivewar
ehouseisawar
ehousewhi
chi
sownedandr
unbycooper
ati
veor
gani
zat
ion
l
ikeafar
merorwineryco-
op.

Bot
htheco-opmembersandthoseout
sidet
heco-
opst
oregoodsatt
hef
aci
l
ityt
hroughco-
op
membersbenef
itf
rom r
educedrat
es.

VI
I.Gov
ernmentwar
ehouses

Thesekindofwarehousesar
edi
rect
lyownedandcont
rol
byt
hegov
ernmentandsuchar
e
seapor
tstoragef
acil
it
ies.

Gov er
nmentwarehouseschar
gefair
lyaff
ordabl
erates.However
,ifabusinessi
sunablet
opay
theirr
entwi
thint
heduet i
me,thegover
nmenthast heauthor
it
ytorecoverthei
rrentby
disposi
ngofthegoods.

VI
II
.Di
str
ibut
ioncent
ers.

Adi
str
ibut
ioncent
eri
sast
oragespacewhi
chi
susual
l
ybui
l
twi
thspeci
fi
crequi
rement
sinmi
nd.

Thest
orageust
emporar
yandit
emsar eshi
ftedquickl
ywit
hinthesuppl
ychai
n.Lar
ge
i
nvent
ori
esarer
ecei
vedanddi
str
ibut
edtoresell
ersandret
ail
erswit
hinashor
tperi
odoft
ime.

3.Adv
ant
agesanddi
sadv
ant
agesofwar
ehouses(asperquest
ion2)

Adv
ant
ages

I
.Signi
fi
cant
lyloweri
nvest
ments-cont
ractwar
ehousi
ngpr
ompt
sfarsmal
l
eri
nvest
ment
son
i
dealopti
onforsmall
erbusi
ness.

I
I.Safet
y,securi
tyandinsur
ance-l
eav i
ngy ourproduct
sunderthewatchful
eyeofyourcont
ract
warehousingwil
lensureminimum securi
tyespecial
lywhenyouarenottheownerofyour
warehouse,youdon'thavet
oworryboutsecur i
ty.

II
I.Locat
ionanddist
ri
buti
on-st
ori
ngy
ouri
temsi
nanon-
hand,
avai
l
abl
ewar
ehousei
scr
it
ical
andcontactwarehousi
ngall
owsyout
odoso.

I
V.Flexi
bil
i
tyandstabil
i
t y-anothergr
eatbenefi
tyofut
il
izi
ngcont
ractwarehousi
ngwi
thi
nyour
busi
nessisthati
tsscalabil
i
tyisonperwithit
'sfl
exi
bil
i
ty.Youcanonlyuseasmuchspaceas
y
ouneed.

V.Lowerr
isk-Runni
ngabusi
nessisalwaysatur
bul
entt
hingtodo.Noonecanknowwhat
tomorr
owbr i
ngsforsur
eandyourbusi
nessseemstobegri
nding.

Di
sadv
ant
ages

I
.Determini
ngthetypeofwarehouseyouneed-it
'snotaneasytaskt
odo.You'
llneedtohav
e
tosuperknowledgeofyourbusi
nessoper
ati
ons,yourgoodsandtheamountofstoragey
ou
needtodeterminewhichty
peofwarehouseisr
ightforyou.

II
.Lesscont rol-withcontractwar
ehousi
ngmanywaryduet othebeli
efthatthey'
l
lhaveless
control
ov ertheiroperati
ons.Whil
ethi
scanbetruewit
hthewrongpr ovi
der,choosingtheri
ght
provi
der,clearl
ydef i
ningneedsandunderst
andi
ngtheser
vicesoffer
edcanhel pbusinesses
attai
ngreatercont r
ol.

4.Cr
it
eri
aofsel
ect
inghandl
i
ngmat
eri
als.

Thesei
ncl
udes;

I
.Vol
umest
obehandl
ed.

I
I.Pr
oduct
ivi
ty.

I
II
.Nat
ureofpr
oductandi
tspr
ofi
tabi
l
ity
.

I
V.Shapeandsi
zeofpr
oduct
.

V.Sequenceoft
heoper
ati
on.

VI
.Met
hodsofpr
oduct
ion.

VI
I.Val
ueofpr
oduct
ion.

VI
II
.Nat
ureoft
hepr
oduct(
hazar
dous,
per
ishabl
e).

I
X.Pr
oductchar
act
eri
sti
cs(wei
ght
,si
ze,
shape)
.

X.Power(enoughpowershoul
dbeav
ail
abl
etodot
hej
ob)
.

XI
.Spaceav
ail
abi
l
ityandt
ypeofl
ayoutused.

5.
Typesofmat
eri
alshandl
i
ngsy
stems(
incl
udepi
ctur
es)
.

Ther
ear
efourmai
nty
pesofmat
eri
alhandl
i
ngequi
pment
sandt
heyar
easf
oll
ows:

I
.Mat
eri
alhandl
i
ngequi
pment
-isanyt
ool
usedt
oai
dint
hemov
ement
,pr
otect
ion,
stor
age,
and
cont
rolofmaterial
sandpr oduct
s.Theequi
pmentusedt odosocanbebr okendowni
ntofour
maincategor
ies.Eachcategoryhasawidevar
ietyofusefulequi
pmentt
hatmakessaf
ely
movingheavymat eri
alsorlar
gevolumesofmateri
alseasier
.

I
I.Bul
kmateri
alhandli
ngequi
pments-
itdealswit
hbul
khandli
ngai
dsint
hecont
rol
and
t
ranspor
tat
ionoflar
gev ol
umesofmat
erialeit
heri
nbul
korloosef
orm.

Bul
kMater
ial
Handli
ngSystemscanal sout
il
izeconv
eyorbel
tsforhori
zont
altr
anspor
tat
ionand
el
evat
orsf
orver
ti
calt
ranspor
tat
ion.Examplesofbul
kmateri
alhandli
ngequipmentar
e:

•Conv
eyorbel
ts;

•St
acker
s–Simi
l
art
ofor
kli
ft
s,st
acker
shel
ptol
i
ftandst
ackheav
yloadsont
hedockori
nthe
war
ehouse.

•Recl
aimer
s–Thesear
elar
gemachi
nesusedt
orecov
erbul
kmat
eri
alsf
rom ast
ockpi
l
e.

•Bucketel
evat
ors–Al
soknownasagr
ainl
eg.Theseel
evat
orshaul
flowabl
ebul
kmat
eri
als
ver
ti
call
y.
I
II
.Industr
ial
trucks-Poweredi
ndustr
ialt
rucks,suchasf
orkli
ft
s,areusedtomov
elar
ge
materi
alsorlargequant
it
iesofmateri
alsaroundthemanufactur
ingfl
oor.

Theyarealsouti
l
izedtoeffi
cient
lyl
oadheavyobj
ectsontodeliver
ytr
ucksandtheexampl
esar
e
:•Handtrucks–Alsoknownasadol ly
,orboxcar
t.Handtrucksarel-
shapedbox-movi
ng
handcar
tswi t
hhandlesatoneend,wheel
satthebase,andal edgetosetobj
ectson.

•Pall
etj
acks–Thesearet ool
sar
ethemostbasi
cfor
m ofaf
orkl
i
ftandusedt
oli
ftandmov
e
pal
let
swithi
nawar ehouse.

•Pal
l
ett
rucks–Manual
oper
atedorpower
edi
ndust
ri
alf
orkl
i
fts.

•Wal
ki
est
acker
s–Apedest
ri
anwal
k-behi
ndst
ackerwi
thamastf
orl
i
fti
ngpal
l
etst
ohei
ght
s.
I
V.Engi
neeredSystems-Thi
stypeofmat eri
alhandli
ngequipmentar
etypi
cal
l
yautomat
edunit
s
t
hatworktoget
hertoenableeff
ici
entstorageandtransport
ati
onofl
argemater
ial
sorl
arge
v
olumesofmat er
ialsar
oundtheproductionfl
oor.Examplesare:

.AS/RS:AutomatedStor
ageandRetr
iev
alSystems(abbrevi
atedasAS/RS)ar
elar
geautomated
str
uctur
esthati
nv ol
vesr
acks,
aisl
esandshelv
esthatareaccessibl
ebyatypeofmechani
zed
shutt
lesyst
em (l
i
keacher r
ypi
cker)f
orthequi
ckret
rievalofi
tems.

•Conveyorsy
stems:Automat
edconveyorsyst
emscar r
yheavymat
erialstospeci
fi
ed
dest
inat
ionsusi
ngbelt
s,fl
exi
blechai
n,orl
i
veroll
ers.I
tisahi
ghl
yef
ficientequi
pmenttomov
e
l
argevol
umesofmat eri
alqui
ckly
.

•Robot
icdel
iv
erysystems–Theseautomatedsystemsar ei
dealformovi
ngpr
oduct
sonan
assembl
yli
neortranspor
ti
nggoodsthroughoutaplantorwarehouse.

•Automaticguidedvehi
cles–Thesev
ehicl
esaremobi
ler
obotsthatfol
lowspeci
ficmarker
sor
wir
esinthefloortomov elar
gemater
ial
saroundamanuf
acturi
ngfacil
i
tyorwarehouse.Vi
sion,
magnets,orlaserscanal
sobeusedasmet hodsf
orAGVnavigat
ion.

6.
Typesoft
echnol
ogi
esusedi
ninv
ent
orymanagement(
e.gi
fisRFI
D-def
ine,
usepi
ctur
es)
.

Thesei
ncl
ude:

I
.War
ehouseManagementSy
stem (
WMS)
-War
ehousemanagementsy
stemscomei
nav
ari
ety
oftypesandimplementati
onmet hods,andt
het y
pet
y pi
cal
l
ydependsonthesizeandnatur
eof
theorgani
zat
ion.Theycanbest and-
alonesyst
emsormodul esi
nalar
gerent
erpri
seresour
ce
planni
ng(ERP)system orsuppl
ychainexecuti
onsui
te.

I
I.Radi
oFrequencyIdenti
fi
cati
on(RFI
D)Technology
-RFIDisanacrony
mf or“
radio-
fr
equency
i
denti
fi
cati
on”andreferstoatechnol
ogywherebydigi
taldat
aencodedinRFI
Dt agsorsmart
l
abelsar
ecapturedbyar eadervi
aradi
owaves.

RFI
Dbelongst
oagr
oupoft
echnol
ogi
esr
efer
redt
oasAut
omat
icI
dent
if
icat
ionandDat
a
Capt
ure.

RFI
Dsy stemsconsi stofthreecomponent s:anRFI Dt agorsmar tl
abel,anRFIDreader,
andan
ant
enna.RFIDt agscont ai
nani nt
egrat
edci r
cuitandanant enna,whichareusedtot r
ansmit
dat
atot heRFIDr eader(alsocall
edaninterr
ogator) .Thereaderthenconv er
tstheradi
owav es
toamor eusablef orm ofdata.I
nfor
mationcollectedf rom t
het agsi
st hentr
ansferr
edthrougha
communi cat
ionsinterfacetoahostcomput ersy stem, wherethedatacanbest oredina
dat
abaseandanal yzedatal at
erti
me.