SMC Corporation Case Material Handling Case Study

Key Technology

• ASAP Automation's Exacta Warehouse Management System (WMS)
• Rockwell RSView Human Machine Interface (HMI)
• Beckhoff Distributed I/O over a profibus fieldbus network
• 19 Accusort Line Scanners and 1 Overhead Omni-Directional Scanner
• Over 3 miles of Hytrol and Ambaflex conveyor
• 900,000 pallet locations
• 2500 bays of Lyon shelving

Business Challenges

• Consolidate two buildings into one 796,000 square foot facility housing distribution and production operations
• Increase efficiency in picking, packaging, and consolidation operations
• Add flexibility and additional capacity for future growth opportunities
• Implement a real time WMS in Noblesville, Indiana and at multiple regional Distribution Centers across the US and Canada

Results

• The system has provided a 20% increase in throughput
• SMC was able to reduce the number of operators needed per shift by 22%

Case Study Video- Script

Over the past 30 years, SMC's products have become established as a recognized international brand. Their sales have grown to make them the world's largest manufacturer of pneumatic automation parts. SMC Corporation of America is the US subsidiary of SMC Corporation which is based in Japan. They have factories located in 8 countries including the US and Canada. In addition, a sales network is extends throughout 49 countries, and is one of the largest in the US.

SMC has over 8,900 Basic Products with over 520,000 Variations. Categories of products include: Actuators, Electronics, Fittings andTubings, Airline Equipment, Chillers, Valves and Vacuum.

The new corporate office, DC and factory for SMC were located in Noblesville, IN to serve their North American Regional Distribution Centers and direct customer base.

SMC has been a BMH customer for 8 years and they have built a beautiful structure, to house their distribution and production operations. The total square footage of the building measures 796k square feet. The actual Distribution floor space occupies 322,000 feet, and the 3 level concrete floored mezzanine contributes an addn'l 39k sq feet. This floor space allowed BMH the opportunity to squeeze in 3 miles of Hytrol conveyor, 900,000 lbs of pallet rack, 500 bays of High Bay shelving, and over 2,000 bays of standard shelving The Factory side was afforded 203,000 square feet of space and BMH installed over 1,800 feet of Hytrol conveyor that was retrofitted from the old facility.

SMC's goals were to consolidate operations under one roof, add flexibility and additional capacity to provide increased future opportunities, Increase efficiency, And to Implement a real time WMS.

SMC performs receiving on their AS/400 as many products come from Japan pre-labeled with essentially an ASN available. Exacta automatically creates putaways for each product to the appropriate zone in the warehouse and AOR routes appropriately using the PLD label (license plate). AOR routes putaways to the proper zone for put away, if there is no room in the primary zone they are diverted off and get putaway into secondary locations not serviced by the conveyor system. Using an RF gun, (1) the operator scans the PLD label on the container and is shown the location for putaway. The operator puts the container into the location and scan confirms. Operators are able (2) to make changes such as changing the quantity or location and can also flag the location for a cycle count if they determine there is an issue.

Orders are imported to Exacta from the SMC host system via web services interfaces. After being imported,(picture with guy running POA) orders process through POA to determine pick location for the items on the orders. SMC uses a RF parallel picking process to pick orders. Operators are shown an order to pick and are prompted to scan a container (tote).

If the order is a single line item order flagged by import for Sandwich Pack, the operator will have the opportunity to click a new button (not shown in mockup) to continue adding related orders to the container. Operators continue to add orders and associate totes to form a batch. (RF picking) Operators are directed to a pick location where they pick and confirm the pick. Messages are passed from the host system to inform the operator if they are picking a Shikomi product and are displayed before the batch pick complete screen. If the product being picked is flagged for serial number capture, the operator will be prompted after completing the pick.

Depending on the type of order, a label may be printed on the mobile printer the pick operator has: RDC Consolidation Label – this label is printed for any line item belonging to an order that has an RDC consolidation code Inventory Requisition for a Work Order Label – this label is printed for any line item belonging to an order that has a work order number and a routing code. Factory Replenishment Label – this label is printed for any line item belonging to an order that has a routing code but not a work order number

Picked totes are placed on the takeaway conveyor and routed to one of many areas accessorization, sandwich pack (priority pack), single line pack, multi line consolidation, RDC consolidation, or the factory.

Totes for orders needing to be consolidated are routed to the multi line consolidation area. ASAP created a custom RF consolidation module for SMC. The operator scans totes to be consolidated (1) (either 1 or creates a batch) and clicks to begin consolidation. If there is already a location in progress for the order and it is not marked as full yet, the new container will join its brothers and sisters in that location otherwise, a new location is started. The operator is directed to the consolidation location and either places the tote into the location or combines the contents into a tote already in the location based on a scan of the location or tote. The consolidation complete screen (2) is displayed. A container consolidation label (3) is printed on a mobile printer as each container is closed in the put phase.

Once an order (multi line or RDC) has been consolidated and is ready to be packed, operators use the consolidation pull module. Exacta locates the containers to pull (1) and directs the operator to the pull location. The Operator scans the pull location to verify they are in the correct place. (2) Exacta displays the container to pull from that location and the operator scans either the container or the pallet to which it is associated to indicate the pull is complete. The operator repeats for all containers/pallets at the location. The operator may be directed to other locations, if they also contain items for the order being pulled.

The order is taken to a pack station where SMC uses their Varsity system to pack the order, generate shipping labels and pack lists.

Sealed boxes from multi line consolidation are placed on the takeaway conveyor and sent to the shipping sorter. Pallets of product for RDCs are manually moved and staged.

The Controls system archite We utilized a PC based controls architecture using entivities Steeplchase platform. We also used our standard Rockwell RSView Human Machine Interface. For the field wiring we used Beckhoff Distributed I/O over a profibus fieldbus network. The scanning system was provided by Accusort and included 19 line scanners and 1 Omni directional scanner

This project began with the RFP being sent out in the fall of 2008. The official contract was awarded to BMH in November of 2008, with design discussions following along for approximately 2 weeks. Installation took place Jan through April of 2009 with Beneficial use starting in May and Final Acceptance being received in June.

BMH utilized the following subcontractors for the project: The conveyor, The pallet rack, The electrical control.

Although BMH had a very good relationship with SMC, it was a highly competitive bidding process with 8 other bidders included. In the end BMH won by presenting a unified front between ASAP and BMH. For being such a large project it progressed very quickly – This allowed the project manager to shine with his attention to detail and diligence delivering on time, under budget, and great customer reviews Perhaps the greatest testament to the success of this project is that we were able to obtain a customer that loves to show off their facility and is a fantastic reference that will lead to future BMH business opportunities.

It speaks volumes that both teams were awarded "project team of the year", and I am honored to have been a part of it with so many fantastic individuals. I truly believe that when you put a great team of people together and a great customer, your project will be a success.