Focus on Warehousing

inHARMONY 3 MARCH 2012

Today’s global economy is dependent on efficient supply chains that ensure the timely flow of

products. The flow occurs through a network of facilities and transportation systems that

carry product to their final destination, the consumer. Warehouse facilities are complex

operations requiring the integration of people, systems and technology to work effectively and

achieve optimum performance.

An important tool to evaluate

warehouse performance, and indeed

organisational performance, is

business process mapping.

Process mapping is a visual depiction

of the accumulated activities that

take place in each business process.

These activities ultimately determine

the company’s value proposition to

customers and its overall success. So

processes must be analyzed to

ensure they’re streamlined, meet

operating standards and cost

structures and, support key business

objectives. Process analysis is

particularly useful in identifying any

disconnection between business

activities and business objectives

relating to customer service,

efficiency, effectiveness, and

profitability.

Typical process mapping steps

include:

Process identification, meaning

document and map existing

processes, (AS IS Stage);

Benchmark performance and

establish business KPIs. Measure

performance to identify

performance gaps, business risks

and key controls in a process;

Discuss with personnel their

involvement in the process to

obtain each individual’s point of

view;

Determine required performance,

identifying areas of improvement

Document required processes,

including flow charts.

Is continuous improvement part of your

company culture? Is it a struggle to improve

your warehouse processes?

Do your employees wrestle with processes that fall short of best

practice?

How many non-value activities are you currently

performing?

Focus on Warehousing

inHARMONY 4 MARCH 2012

SWIM LANE

DIAGRAM The primary advantage of a swim lane diagram is the ability to clearly illustrate which department, function or person is responsible for performing the activity or making the decision. This approach is very useful for cross-functional mapping such as in the case of sales order fulfillment.

TIP—As a general rule, high level process maps

should contain no more than 7 steps. The

objective is to over simplify the process so it can be

easily understood.

SIPOC MAPPING SIPOC Mapping - SIPOC is an

abbreviation of – Suppliers, Inputs,

Process, Outputs & Customers

The purpose of a SIPOC Map:

Good process management or

continuous improvement activities

should commence with a high level

understanding of the scope of the

process first. A SIPOC Map or Chart

should define the boundary of the

process, and provide a structured

way to discuss the process, and

reach consensus before a detailed

mapping exercise begins.

Focus on Warehousing

inHARMONY 5 MARCH 2012

services from order intake to final delivery, identifying waste within and between processes. The objective is to visually present all the material and information flows across and throughout all the processes. Practitioners can drill down to discover bottlenecks and identify all value-adding and non-value-adding processes. Key metrics captured are cycle times, defect rates, wait times, headcount, inventory levels, changeover times, etc.

VALUE STREAM MAPPING Value stream mapping is a method of creating a “one page picture” or a high level look at a company’s flow of goods or

DETAILED PROCESS

MAPPING

Detailed process mapping provides a more thorough

picture of a process, capturing the inputs and outputs of

each step in a process and allowing you to classify them

as critical, noise, standard operating procedure or

controllable.

By controlling inputs and measuring outputs you can improve performance and

process efficiency. Detailed process mapping also helps

document decision points within a process.