In the warehouse management the Production Link plays a primary role and, together with the shipment to the customers, justifies the existence and the utility of the warehouse.
Compared to the outgoing flow for the shipping, the goods (mainly raw material and semi-finished products) are transferred from the warehouse to the production through specific times and methods.
Generally speaking, one can affirm that a system is efficient if the warehouse is “driven” by the production thus re-affirming the organisational principle of “kanban”.

EASYKBAN module

“Kanban” is a Japanese word whose meaning is “piece of paper”.

This word is associated to a production linked organisational technique capable of guaranteeing timely supplies of the production departments without overloading the so-called W.I.P. (Work In Progress). In practice, the kanban-paper follows the container that has been transferred to the production area for a job order: this paper, printed on a matrix with counterfoils depending on the need defined for the job, allows detaching them upon reaching the under-stock level. The counterfoil goes back to the warehouse to inform the operators that a new container must be sent to the production, exactly knowing which is the department to be supplied, the article and the quantity required, the actual job. All this data is stated on the kanban.

The “kanban” method is applied to EasyStor warehouses using the radio-frequency system in the place of the paper piece: the “call” for material upon reaching the under-stock is directly made by the operator through the special industrial terminal (series DAT) on line board.

Such call can be automated when the production “outputs” are known in real time: this can be determined through the use of Incas systems (either ANTARA or ENKA) or systems of third parties (as well as using the Company Management System itself).

Functions:

• Mapping of WIP areas (work in progress)
• Monitoring of stock levels/measuring of consumption via terminal
• Automatic call to Manager for resetting