harmony - future business systems · harmony plays an active role under both scenarios. you can...

inHARMONY MARCH 2012

In this edition:

New Harmony Application

The Style Storyboard Report Warehousing with Harmony

Modules, Metrics and Management Process Spotlight

Do your processes map your ambition?

Is warehousing an art or a science? The answer is obvious; it’s a science.

Nevertheless, I’ve seen many warehousing operations look more like a

Sydney Pollock painting; inventory (like his paint drippings) strewn across

the entire length and breadth of the warehouse, seemingly without rhyme

or reason. Picking, packing and storing inventory is an act of sheer will.

Under those circumstances it is difficult to see past the chaos. In the

Autumn edition of our newsletter we offer advice on how process

mapping and utilizing a suite of Harmony modules can revamp any

warehouse.

Whilst on the subject of warehousing, a growing number of Harmony

customers are establishing warehouses or utilizing third party warehouses

in China with the objective of delivering goods direct to retail stores.

Harmony plays an active role under both scenarios. You can scan pack the

goods in China directly into Harmony or electronically exchange the data

via a third party.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing close-up

the bubble of creativity emanating from the Harmony developers working

on our new graphically rich applications. Demystifying the creative

process has been illuminating, a little surprising but largely engaging.

Inside this newsletter is a first look at our new and exciting Harmony Style

Storyboard.

For those of you who think we may have been a little quiet, I can assure

you a that great deal of progress has been made in a number of important

areas within Harmony. We have stretched our resources and our software

into new and exciting areas. In the second half of the year we will have

completed our new suite of visually pleasing and feature rich applications

for style development, merchandise planning, task-tracking and open-to-

buy, loosely called “The Fashion Canopy.”

Collaborating with our customers is an essential ingredient to our

collective success. So a special thank you to all our customers who have

embraced our industry-leading “Open Licensing” proposition.

It’s been a rewarding experience working with the many contributors to

the newsletter and I hope there is something of interest for everyone in

the ensuing pages.

Managing Director's Note

MARCH 2012

Is art a creative ingredient in business?

“Demystifying the

creative process has

been illuminating, a

little surprising but

largely engaging. “

Mark Silver

Managing Director

inHARMONY 2

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?



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.



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.



Order Picking is typically the largest cost in most warehousing operations.

Companies with highly efficient warehouses locate their most frequently picked items closest to the shipping areas to minimize picking time. Consequently warehouse layout is critically important to achieving greater efficiency and so is the need to closely monitor picking travel times and storage locations. In addition to carefully planning your warehouse geography, technology is a significant warehousing enabler. Harmony automates the picking and packing process with paperless RF and PDA devices.

Shipping

12% Receiving

13%

Storage

25%

Order Picking

50%

Typical Warehousing Cost Distribution

Product Storage

55%

Receiving, Picking,

Packing & Shipping

45%

Typical Warehousing Space Utilisation

Warehousing

Statistics

Poor utilization of available cubic space is one of the biggest culprits impinging on the optimization of any warehouse.

Options Device Mobile OnlineRequires Full

Warehouse RF

Printing of SCM

(Shipping Container

Markers)

Hardware

Requirements

1 Fixed PC O P ODirectly printed as

cartons are processedPC

2RF PDA (using a wavelink connection to

the Harmony server) P P P Motorola 3190

3Tablet PC (running windows XP or W7

with Harmony Java Scan Pack) P O OMobile Zebra Printer

mounted on trolley

Tablet & Zebra

Printer

Trolley to mount

tablet

Updates when in

RF zone

4Dumb Scanner (downloading to fixed

PC) P O O Controlled by docking PCDenso 8HT 904B

& PC

5PDA (running windows CE / Mobile with

Harmony Java Scan Pack) P O O

Pre-printing of SCM

based on carton

requirement estimates

Motorola 3190

Updates when in

RF zone or docking

station

WAREHOUSE MANAGAMENT & HARMONY SCAN PACKING EQUIPMENT OPTION

Directly printed as

cartons are processed to

a fixed printer or mobile

zebra printer

PDF Module / Batch Emailing from Harmony

Want to email purchase orders to your suppliers? Need to email copies of Invoices to your customers? Harmony’s PDF

Module interfaces with state of the art UNIX PDF conversion software. This allows any Harmony form to be automatically

converted into PDF format and sent directly to your default Email client. All you have to do is click to send.

But wait... there’s more… We have now extended this facility to allow for the batch emailing of various Harmony forms.

Seeing that some forms are preferably sent in batches as opposed to one by one, with the appropriate setup, your

Harmony Server can be configured to communicate with various Email servers to allow for the “silent” emailing of batches

of Harmony forms behind the scene. Batch emailing is available for Creditor Remittance Advice, Debtor Statements and

Employee Payslips.



Special offer: for the Month of April 2012 any FBS customer can trial the PDF

module at no charge for one month with the option to purchase at the end of this

period. Speak with your Account Manager to find out more about this special

offer.

There are currently four discrete methods to perform a stock-take or cycle-count within Harmony.

Whilst there is a significant body of literature on the pros and cons of cycle-counting versus stock-taking, Harmony provides an efficient and automated process for performing both.

An Ounce of Prevention

Reducing transactional or input error rates still remains the best ways to

improve inventory accuracy. So a focus on clear SOPs, work simplification

processes and root cause analysis is essential.

Warehouse Stocktakes & Cycle Counts Utilising Harmony

Options Device Stock-taking

1 Fixed PC

Scanning directly into Harmony

Backend Stock-taking program

with connecting scanner

2RF PDA (using a wavelink connection to

the Harmony server)

Scanning directly into Stock-

taking program

3Dumb Scanner (downloading to fixed

PC)

Upload stock-take information

from dumb scanner to Harmony


4PDA (running windows CE / Mobile with

Harmony)

Batch stock scanning

downloaded into Harmony


WAREHOUSE STOCK-TAKING UTILISING HARMONY EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

FBS has a suite of Harmony modules that automate key warehousing functions. The

visual workflow diagram makes a distinction between

a warehouse operation working with (automated

process) and without (manual process)

Harmony. In the following pages we summarize the benefits of utilizing these modules in your working

environment.



A highly effective enterprise is one where

every business process is working at peak efficiency and perfectly aligned to the company’s strategic goals. The purpose of this vision is to drive the products and services developed, and how they engage with customers.

Man Vs.

MACHINE

Stock

Replenishment Harmony has a sophisticated

replenishment system which

produces either paper or electronic

picking slips for the warehouse to

replenish shop stock based on sales,

transfers, orders, and laybys. It can

also apply customisable rules that

take into account shop rankings when

there is insufficient stock in the

warehouse to fulfil the shop

requirements. Where items are being

promoted, the replenishment

templates can be temporarily

increased to ensure additional stock is

sent out to the shops.

There are various methods of stock

replenishment within the Harmony

system.

In shop replenishment from an on-site storeroom;

Replenishment from a central company warehouse;

Replenishment from suppliers directly into the shop via purchase order creation, which takes into account current stock levels, current rates of sale, supplier lead time, order cycle time and units already on order.

Advanced

Warehousing The Advanced Warehousing Module

provides full warehouse management

with location tracking for pick bins

and bulk stock. Extensive use of RF

equipment allows for efficient stock

receiving, put-away, movements and

stock-take. Pick slips can be

generated by releasing sales orders,

or via the auto creation of transfer

orders for shop replenishment.

Other features include:

Full warehouse bin/stock location management;

Either paper pick slips or paperless RF PDA based picking;

Full RF scan pick or scan pack processing of outgoing stock

RF Stock Take; Automated shortest route pick

path; Automated allocation of stock

based on customisable rules; Advanced Stock receipt/put away

management desktop Full freight system integration; Supports multiple distribution

centres Real-time RF Stock / Bin level

enquiry.

Distribution Future Business Systems has

identified the importance and need to

provide Integrated Solutions along

the Total Supply Chain. Harmony’s

distribution module allows companies

to calculate freight costs, generate

consignment notes and print truck

run reports. Carton stickers are

generated at the time of packing or

scanning, thus removing the need for

double handling. Multiple orders for

the same destination can be merged

into a single invoice and/or

consignment to cut costs and increase

efficiency. Electronic manifests can be

generated for all the leading freight

companies. This allows for easy

tracking of shipment progress, and

reconciliation between freight bills

and estimates. Toll IPEC, Star Track

Express, TNT, NQX, and Fashion

Movers are just a few of the logistics

companies that Harmony has

integrated its Scan Packing and

Dispatch modules with.

Harmony Advanced Harmony is currently operated by companies using either internal warehouses and/or external third party warehouses in

it is with the utilisation of various other integrated Harmony applications and modules, that even greater business

Scan Packing 'Scan Pick' allows goods to be

scanned as they are picked or 'Scan

Pack' whilst packing to ensure the

correct items are dispatched.

Wireless devices can be used with

'Scan Pick', which interfaces directly

into the Harmony system, even if

there is no PC nearby.

Carton stickers are produced providing SCM's for all major retailers and consignment stickers for freight companies.

Instantly generated invoices allowing

for dispatch without re-handling.

Delivery The Delivery Module acts as a centralised point for receiving and processing an Order Delivery of Inventory. An “Order Delivery” can be either a “Purchase Order Delivery Receipt” or a “Container Delivery Receipt”.

The module includes various programs that allow staff to mark and track the progress of an order from the time the stock arrives and a delivery receipt record is created.

Some of those features include:

The Invoice Status and Count Status of a delivery can be seen and are immediately updated as users work through the different stages of processing a delivery.

Priorities can be set against deliveries for preferential unpacking and distribution. This can be done before or after the stock physically arrives in the warehouse.

Distribution methods can be set for orders on a line by line (i.e. Stock item by stock item) basis (either direct to store (using replenishment rules), via an internal method of distribution (usually by replenishment rules) or just put away in the warehouse.

Inventory This module provides for efficient

management of all stock inventory

activities such as stock control,

stocktakes, warehouse control, price

updating, re-order, purchase and

sales analysis.

Handles standard stock types and,

special stock types. Including

serialised, batch, colour, sizing, linear/

square meter and pricing-by-a per

quantity.

Warehousing Modules both Australia and overseas. Whilst Harmony’s “standard” Inventory system can perform many basic warehousing functions,

efficiencies are being achieved.

EDI Harmony allows for the efficient

receipt of EDI orders from major

retailers, and imports them into the

system, thus eliminating the need for

manual data entry. By processing

data generated by the Scan Pack

Module, Advanced Shipping Notices

are then transmitted back to

customers, using EDI communication

software.

Advanced Shipping Notices from

suppliers can be used as part of the

receiving process in a warehouse or

store.


inHARMONY 11

Measure Everything That Results In Customer Satisfaction

Below is a list of warehousing metrics that could be deployed to evaluate operational performance. The metrics selected should be aligned with the strategic objectives of the organization.

Each metric should be simple to articulate so employees understand it, recognize how they can influence it and what is expected of them.

For customer focused organisations the number one business metric is Delivery In-Full and On-Time (DlFOT). This metric is a good indicator of your inventory management, demand planning and fulfillment processes.

Rearrange your pick faces as often as necessary. Almost 60% of a picker’s daily activity can

involve travel time. So it’s an excellent idea to reduce that unnecessary travel time wherever

possible. Good product positioning can decrease travel time thus reducing picking labor.

MARCH 2012

MEASURE CALCULATION

Orders picked & packed

Total warehouse labour hours

Lines picked & packed

Total warehouse labour hours

Total warehouse costs

Total orders shipped

Total warehouse cost

Total revenue

PRODUCTIVITY

Orders per Hour

Lines per hour

Cost per order

Cost as % of sales

MEASURE CALCULATION

Orders shipped on-time


Completed orders filled


Error free orders


ORDER FULFILLMENT

On-Time Delivery

Order Fill Rate

Order Accuracy

Order Cycle TimeActual ship date minus

Customers order date

MEASURE CALCULATION

Physical count per SKU

System recorded per SKU

Total damaged inventory ($)

Total value of inventory ($)

Cost of goods sold

Average inventory level

Number of units sold

Average number of units

Average occupied space (sqm2)

Total storage space (sqm2)

INVENTORY

Inventory Accuracy

Damaged Inventory

Inventory Turnover

Inventory Turns

Storage Utilisation

Interaction A major key to an efficient logistics solution is a quality scanner that is capable of completing multiple tasks

without the user needing to continually return to a workstation. Motorola’s MC3190 and MC3190-Z have become Harmony’s preferred flagship devices over the past 8 months, with over 220 units passing through FBS to our customers. This highly versatile device is at home in the retail storefront, the carpeted business office as well as the warehouse and manufacturing production line. ‘The MC3190 series scanners have the same signature rugged design and high performance found in all Motorola industrial handheld Radio Frequency products, and adds the ergonomics required for all day comfort and ease of use.’ ‘It has a well-balanced, gun-style grip that brings comfort to the most read-intensive applications. And the advanced, high efficiency Motorola RFID reader engine increases workforce productivity with faster read rates

that increase throughput.’ Harmony applications have been designed to seamlessly run on the 3190 series scanners. Dedicated Harmony user accounts allow you to login and complete most warehouse tasks from scanning a stocktake, scan packing an order, or scanning a stock transfer. On top of this, there are many other Harmony programs that can be run directly on the device. *Article content extracted from www.motorola.com

Focus on

Hardware

Over the last five years, the most popular barcode

scanner that stores running WinPOS use is the Metrologic Voyager 9535. This scanner did a great job handling transaction scanning as well as store stocktake scanning. However, after five years in operation, the Voyager is being succeeded by the Honeywell Voyager 1202g. FBS has been extensively testing it over the last few weeks and can now recommend it as our preferred model.

The new model will also double up as a transaction scanner and store stocktake scanner, however there were two major issues that surfaced with the older Voyager 9535 models. Their batteries, in busy environments, tended to last two to three years, at which point the whole scanner would have to go back to the supplier for replacement. The other issue was with the power cable, where again, the scanner had to go back to the supplier for the part to be replaced. Out of warranty scanners became very expensive to get back into operation. These issues have been addressed in the new Voyager. It has an easy to replace battery so a replacement can be purchased in the

event of a fault. This is easy enough for store staff to handle, allowing the scanner to remain in store. The standard battery is lithium ion that can last 12.5 hours and 45,000 scans off-charge. A full recharge takes approximately 4 hours. The 1202g is powered through a USB cable connected to the PC, meaning that there is now no need for a power cable. Finally, there is a paging function to easily find your misplaced scanner with a simple press of a button.

Just Released


WEB WATCH

Dissh - New Website Launch

Overview

Dissh Girls is a Queensland based

young women’s fashion retailer with

9 outlets across Brisbane and the

Gold Coast In 2011 Dissh selected

Future Business Systems for their full

retail solution from the POS to

accounts and of course their website.

The first phase of the electronic

boutique was strategically developed

to launch in preparation for the

Christmas 2011 period. With nearly

15,000 Facebook followers and a

demographic born into online

shopping, a streamlined e-commerce

solution was imperative.

Requirements

Develop an e-commerce site to suit a

market where trends and styles

change as rapidly as the weather. The

primary requirements were that the

website needed to be dynamic,

flexible and exciting. Sleek form and

speedy functionality were also

imperatives for shoppers that may

view several other sites before

actually making a purchase. FBS built

the functionality into Dissh’s web

design layouts that would capture

those sales and ensure repeat

customer visits. The website needed

to be easily controlled and

maintained by the client. The fully

integrated solution ensures that no

time is wasted from manually

handling orders or stock on hand

levels. Furthermore the new

Umbraco CMS platform has made it

even easier to import and manage

non Harmony related content.

E-parcel

An integrated parcel solution was

imperative for a smooth transition

from Harmony invoicing to customer

delivery. Dissh invested in an

Australia Post e-Parcel solution that

enabled Harmony to create shipping

labels and electronic manifests to


http://www.dissh.com.au/Home.aspx

make freight tasks a breeze. This

solution eliminated manual double

handling and re-keying of data,

significantly reducing any margin for

error.

Stand out feature

Customer promotions drive retail

today, both online and in store. It is

nearly impossible to walk through a

shopping centre without being

bombarded with an array of “Sale”

messages. No matter what time of

year it is, a bargain is to be had

wherever you go, and customers

expect to snare a good deal. With

online shopping the trend still exists;

however it has the added benefit for

the retailer to build a loyal customer

database for direct marketing

purposes. The FBS Web promotion

engine was implemented to keep these

sales/specials fresh and varied for the

customer, whilst still keeping pinpoint

accountability and reporting for Dissh.

Promo codes have been used so that

valid discount reasons are passed back

through to Harmony and allow for full

reporting functionality. The promotion

engine has a variety of options

including: percentage off discount,

dollar off discount, bonus item

discount, buy one get one free discount

and free shipping. Each promotion is

controlled by a client specified set of

rules such as: minimum spend, product

eligibility and duration of promotion.

The Promotion engine’s flexibility and

diversity greatly assists in the

implementation of a truly successful

marketing campaign.

Future developments

Like all great businesses, websites are a

constant work in progress. Dissh’s

website requirements far exceed the

current implementation. Further plans

to develop the site are already in

motion, such as the ‘look book’ feature

which will allow customers to view an

entire stylised `look/hero’ image, and

to purchase the whole `look’ at a set

discounted rate. This kind of user

interactive feature will enhance the

functionality and exuberance of the

site, making for a more exciting and

rewarding shopping experience. With

the addition of an integrated customer

loyalty and rewards system for the

website and in store, the retainment of

repeat shoppers and loyal customers

will be maximised.

Hosting

Dissh has opted to host their site with

FBS’ secure hosting package that

provides a constant connection using a

dedicated hi-speed fibre optic line.

With hard disk arrays and off site

backup redundancy, down time is at a

minimum, and site speed is at an

optimum level. Expert support from

the web development team is just a

phone call away, guaranteeing piece of

mind.

www.dissh.com.au

WEB WATCH

Dissh - New Website Launch







The Style Story Board Working with styles just became a lot easier.

A Visual Planning Tool

The Style Story Board provides a convenient means to work with the

business of styles visually.

By combining the pictures and drawings of a style along with relevant style information, the Style Story Board will help your staff to quickly:

Compare Styles Recognise Styles Associate product information with a style ( unit and cost pricing, manufacturer ) Verify important dates ( design, pre-production, production, delivery and shipping )

Track the status of a Style Align associated Styles into "Stories"

The Style Story Board also allows you to filter the display based on name, price, delivery dates, manufacturers, cost etc.

The screenshot below shows an example of the story board application in action.



The Style Story Board - Working with Styles just became a lot easier

Presentation –

Dynamic Sizing

Whether you need to print your

story board onto A4 sized paper or

posters, project it onto the

warehouse wall or in the boardroom

presentation your story board will

instantly resize to fit any purpose.

The Style Story Board is an optional

extra for the Harmony Style

Development module, please

contact your account manager for

details.

Design Flexibility

The application has been

designed in a way to allow

you to customise all

aspects of the story board

including pictures,

colours, fonts and layouts.

See only what you want to see

Using the style story board filter and

groups you can display only the styles

that you want to see, in the order that

you want to see them.

Some of the options to filter and group

by include; product name, product type,

category, season, fabric type,

department, supplier, cost price, retail

price, total units and many more.

A wider viewing lens


A HISTORY OF

BIG BUSINESS

IDEAS This timeline is a collection of big

business ideas that have had popular

acceptance at some point over the

last one hundred years. It is not a

definitive list and certainly some of

the business ideas have waned in

popularity in the ensuing years.

Never-the-less it is interesting to

reflect on the decade and the

circumstances that may have

necessitated the birth of each idea.

harmony - future business systems · harmony plays an active role under both scenarios. you can...

Documents