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The Competitive Weapon for Valin's Distribution Center

Sunnyvale, CA -- For Valin Corporation - distributor of fluid handling, measurement and control products - the Latitude warehouse management system (WMS) from PathGuide is an invaluable companion to its new Prophet 21 CommerceCenter system.

According to Mark Tomalonis, Director of Operations, Valin had specific design goals for warehouse automation. It needed to increase inventory accuracy, shorten the time it takes for a new warehouse employee to be productive, and leverage its investment as a marketing tool for prospective suppliers and customers.

The warehouse is often one of the most neglected areas of a company. Not so at Valin. Its warehouse, like its entire facility, is an open space, visible from the lobby, and significantly contributes to a visitor's positive impression. Although the inventory is quarantined and access to the warehouse is controlled with electronic pass cards, a six-foot wall (with glass windows along the top two feet) is all that separates the office area from the warehouse racking. The company has, however, developed procedures to accommodate its traditional needs while maintaining the disciplined organization that the warehouse system requires. For example, the company has set up special accounts and processes to enable sales people to quickly acquire "sales samples" without adversely affecting inventory accuracy.

Warehouse productivity is designed into the automated system through a simple, but elegant method of "velocity class" put away and paperless order picking. Valin's 20,000 square foot warehouse is divided into eight zones to accommodate different item size and storage needs. Included is a "cross docking" area to accommodate items purchased for backorder. The warehouse has no permanent primary bin locations. The "velocity class" methodology consists of a two-digit number corresponding to a unique range of item pick frequency and item storage capacity requirements. Each one of Valin's 6,000-plus stocked items and each one of its locations is assigned a velocity class number. During the put away process, the Latitude WMS simply assigns each item to an available storage location by matching "velocity class" numbers. This system places the most popular items at the most convenient storage locations and the slowest moving items at the most remote locations. "Since the velocity class system was employed, our warehouse people are going up and down the ladders (to pick items on higher shelving) much less often," Tomalonis said. "And they don't even go down the aisles as deep as they used to. It all works that well."

What's more, each tote type is a different color so material status is easily recognized. For example, red totes are used exclusively in dedicated racking assigned to a virtual "quarantine" location in Commerce Center, and contain returned items which could be defective. Green totes are used for handling production orders. Blue totes are used on shelf racking and contain sellable inventory. Color legends posted throughout the warehouse clearly define each tote function.

Warehouse productivity is also achieved through WMS-directed process standardization. This greatly simplifies the training requirement of warehouse personnel. In this way, workers can be "generalists", performing any warehouse function, as demand requires. Still, critical events such as "hot" orders, kitting and supporting the "will call" area are done efficiently and accurately.

"All warehouse staff members do all things," Tomalonis explained. "People have to be interchangeable, and the Latitude system enables this. We've eliminated the dependency on 'specialists'"

The company moves product through receiving, put away, and picking using FIFO lot control.

As items are received they are labeled with a "license plate" bar code. This license plate serves as an internal lot number that is associated with the date of receipt and the original purchase order.

As items are picked for a given sales order, the operator is directed to pick the oldest material first. The company serves an industry demanding rapid product evolution, and needs to ensure that old product designs are "cleaned out of inventory." "We sell engineered items with brief product lives, made from exotic materials, that go into critical applications. That's why we need lot control," according to Tomalonis.

Asked what sets Valin apart from its competition, Tomalonis said it's "excellence of execution - providing what customers want, when they want it, accurately." Accuracy of material flow is the biggest contribution from the Latitude Warehouse Management System. "It's hard to do, but it's what customers expect. We need to be flawless. Customers have more choices today - they think like consumers."

Since the implementation of Latitude, Valin has reduced its warehouse staff by 30 percent. "With the Latitude system, we've virtually eliminated the age-old tradition of searching for "lost treasure" in the warehouse. To locate inventory, we rely on the WMS, not 'tribal knowledge'."

To discover how a Latitude can greatly enhance your warehouse operations call PathGuide toll free 1-888-627-9797 or see us on-line at www.pathguide.com.

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