In today’s business environment where supply chains are extended and subject to global disruption such as the current Coronavirus situation, supply chain effectiveness plays a crucial role in a company’s profitability and customer satisfaction.

Waller & Associates Supply Chain Risk Services professionals help identify supply chain risk and develop mitigation strategies. Our risk services improve operational performance and effectiveness while reducing risks associated with globalization, outsourcing, and collaborative relationships with business partners.

Our objective is to link supply chain processes and risk controls to your strategic business objectives. We do this by working with you to identify and assess improvement opportunities that enable consistency and reliability throughout the entire supply chain process.

Our professionals deliver real world solutions and knowledge—gained from many years of hands-on, practical, operations experience working with today’s innovators in supply chain management. We bring the right people—armed with insights in business logistics and supply chain risk management to improve overall supply chain effectiveness.

We deliver services that help:

• Mitigate the risks associated with extended, global supply chains
• Enhance customer satisfaction
• Improve operational performance
• Link supply chain risk mitigating controls to your strategic business objectives

Waller & Associates Supply Chain Services

We Help Our Clients Assess, Monitor, and Enhance Risk Controls to Improve Operational Efficiency

Talk to one of our Supply Chain Risk Executives today.

How can my warehouse operations improve and be more productive? Efficient? Safe?

Our Distribution Center Assessment service will identify opportunities related to productivity, distribution center layout, processes, product slotting, inventory management, labor management and IT systems.

OUR APPROACH

A senior level consultant with over 25 years of experience will lead our team to complete a detailed analysis of your operational processes including:

• Current distribution center operational processes
• Current distribution center efficiency and effectiveness
• Current supply chain IT execution systems (WMS, LMS, TMS) assessment to support business requirements, growth and best practices
• Current distribution center capacity and space utilization assessment
• Current distribution center staffing assessment
• Current distribution center operational processes will include:
  • Labor and workload planning
  • Inbound receipts scheduling
  • Receiving
  • Put-away
  • Storage and inventory control
  • Replenishment
  • Order processing
  • Order fulfillment methods (OFM’s)
  • Quality & Inspection
  • Shipping
• Quality and process improvement programs (LEAN, Six Sigma)
• Supply Chain Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
• Assessment of the implementation of industry leading practices
• Distribution center Material Handling Equipment (MHE) and automation assessment
• Safety and OSHA compliance assessment

WHAT YOU WILL GET

We will identify and highlight areas where warehouse operational processes may not be optimal, submit our findings for your review, and assist in the development and execution of an action plan that fits your organization.

• Develop detailed Findings and Recommendations Report identifying:
  • Top process improvement opportunities and inefficiencies
  • Recommendations to improve top issues
  • Industry leading practices and benchmarking that address top issues
  • Supply chain IT execution systems gap assessment
• Executive summary report containing a summary of top process improvement opportunities with recommendations and leading practices
• High level project plan of the “Do Now”, Do Soon”, and “Do Long-term” recommendations

At the conclusion of the Warehouse Assessment project Waller & Associates will roll up our sleeves and assist you with turning the Findings and Recommendations into ROI.

FAQ’s

Q: How long does the typical Distribution Center Assessment project take?

• A: With most companies, a single-site warehouse assessment project will take 4-6 weeks.

Q: What is the typical level of improvement after the implementation of the Findings and Recommendations?

• A: On average our clients see a 15-25% increase in throughput after the implementation of our recommendations.

Q: Who will be on my Waller & Associates Project Team?

• A: The project team will consist of a Managing Director (avg. 25+ years experience), Senior Consultant (avg. 20+ years), Industrial Engineer (10+ years) and Data Analyst (3+years).

Q: Does Waller & Associates assist in the implementation of your recommendations?

• A: Absolutely! Our goal is to assist you in the execution of our recommendations so that you achieve maximum ROI and efficiency gains from our services. We do not simply give you a list of recommendations and walk away. We roll up our sleeves and assist you with the implementation. We have senior distribution operations resources that are certified Project Management Professionals (PMP) to develop formal project plans, guide/coordinate efforts and track performance.

Many companies are experiencing growing pressure on their distribution operations due to several emerging trends.  The growth of the omnichannel model, increased demands for shortened order to delivery cycle windows and transparency, as well as a tightening labor market have exposed gaps in current capabilities. 

Selecting a WMS, LMS, TMS, or Voice vendor is an important decision for any distribution operation. This software is a major cog in most supply chains. Should I use my ERP? Should I select a resident or Cloud based system? Do I need a best-of-breed, Tier 1 solution or will a less costly Tier 2 solution provider meet my business requirements?

Waller & Associates warehouse technology consultants will assist you in evaluating software vendors based on a proven, objective methodology. We follow a step-by-step process  to conduct an unbiased and thorough evaluation, ensuring the recommended solutions meet your requirements and support the long-term goals of your distribution center operations.

Our proven methodology consists of:

1. Requirements Gathering and Definition
2. Vendor Identification
3. Vendor Request for Proposal (RFP) Development and Distribution
4. RFP Review and Score Card Development
5. Conference Room Demonstrations
6. Reference Checks and Site Visits
7. Vendor Contract Negotiation
8. Project Kickoff Planning

Warehouse Management System (WMS)

Selecting and implementing a new warehouse management system (WMS) or enhancing an existing one can provide required functionality, improve productivity, and reduce overall costs.  But there are inherent risks on this path because of the complexity in determining the specific needs, finding the right WMS solution provider, and implementing the system.

Waller & Associates is well positioned to support you on this journey.  With a process driven approach and experienced professionals with a breadth and depth of WMS experience, Waller can ensure that companies have disciplined methods to assess current WMS needs, to select the best WMS vendor, and to implement the required WMS solution.  Waller can provide support in several key WMS areas including:

• Assessing a Current WMS
• Defining WMS Requirements
• Identifying a Short List of Potential WMS Solution Providers
• Developing and Managing a WMS Request for Proposal (RFP)
• Selecting and Negotiating a Contract
• Implementing a WMS Solution

Are your IT resources stretched thin? Do you have the resources necessary to manage and implement your supply chain execution systems? Struggling to retain and train WMS, LMS, TMS and Voice experts to have them available when and where they are needed?

• Technical and Functional Requirements Definition
• Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Development
• Installation and Configuration
• Testing
• Go-Live Support
• Project Management

Waller & Associates IT Staff Augmentation services provide skilled personnel to help you develop, maintain, manage and support your supply chain execution systems. Our skilled application professionals can help you manage fluctuating skill needs, skills gaps and changing staffing needs to meet your aggressive project timelines. Waller & Associates resources work with you on-site or remote, and are certified in key technologies from today’s top distribution applications.

• Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
• Labor Management Systems (LMS)
• Transportation Management Systems (TMS)
• Voice Recognition Systems

With increased demand for labor and competitive labor markets, productivity and efficiency are the ultimate answers to face this ever-evolving challenge. With increased competition in markets and hubs like Memphis, Dallas, Columbus, and Atlanta, labor availability and cost are becoming extremely overwhelming that companies are trying to rely less on labor and more on automation and innovation.

To solve for this problem, our approach is improving processes through incremental type improvements that eliminates un-needed waste and improve performance in functions. This is done by, and depending on the complexity of the project, series of projects that ranges from simply “go do it” to Kaizen events to Lean Six Sigma Black belt type of projects. Once these projects are completed and desires goals are attained, the step after that would be Sea Change Projects. Typically, these projects involve evaluating technologies and innovations to replace current processes with more automated ones.

At Waller and Associates, we help our clients attain this goal and solve this challenge by offering the following:

• Modelling capacity and throughputs by function in the operation
• Solving for and improving bottlenecks through line balancing techniques
• Facilitating Kaizen Events on processes to help improve efficiencies and eliminate waste in processes
• Provide ROIs and case studies for new technologies for certain applications
• Improve overall quality by reducing over processing and overhandling of the product throughput its life cycle
• Designing labor standards for every function in the operation to manage performance and offer incentives for improved productivity, in other words, pay based on performance

Engineered Labor Standards are the application of time and motion study and activity sampling techniques to determine time for a qualified work to complete a specific task at a determined level of performance.

Work Measurement has varying degrees of implementation ranging from time studies, to Lean practices, to the very detailed level of industrial engineered standards using techniques such as MOST (Maynard Operating Sequence Technique*).

Using the scientific approach of industrial engineering, organizations are able to optimize throughput by means of minimizing movement and eliminate unproductive or ineffective time.

MOST is a predetermined motion time system that is used to set the standard time in which an average worker should perform a task. Additionally, MOST has been proven globally for more than 35 years, and can be used in any type of operational environment to include administrative tasks.

Implementing Engineered Labor Standards in your warehouse operations can assist with budgeting, staff planning, scheduling, standard costing in designing worker incentive schemes, and facility capacity planning. In addition, from the workers’ standpoint, time standards provide an indication of expected output and performance.

Whether you have a Labor Management System (LMS) or not, Waller & Associates can develop specific Engineered Labor Standards for your warehouse operational processes. We have experts trained and certified in MOST that have implemented these techniques in a variety of industries. We will guide you through the techniques of engineering and optimizing your distribution

A distribution center can be complex. Only visuals convey enough information to understand the pieces, relationships, hidden waste and time-domain behavior.

Visualization brings a deep understanding and major breakthroughs in productivity and other performance. It leads to consensus on systemic problems and remedies. While finished charts communicate information about a situation, the real value is the mapping itself. This is where insights grow, paradigms shift and consensus builds.

Value Stream and Process Maps take different perspectives, but, the work they visualize is the same.

Value Stream Maps –  show major process steps and often take a broader and wider view. They may group a wide variety of products into a single “value stream.” They are developed to identify opportunities.

Process Maps – trace the sequence of events for a single work product. While they can be done at any level, the most useful charts are quite detailed. This is important because most waste is at a micro- level. They are developed to identify specific wastes and improvements.

Waller & Associates has experts in developing Value Stream and Process Maps. More importantly, we can help you draw practical warehouse process improvement performance from their application.

Need assistance with training for your:
Warehouse or Transportation Management?
Supervision?
Material Handlers?
Drivers?

We offer a variety of standard programs for:

• Warehouse Management skills
• Warehouse Supervisory skills
• Project Management skills
• OSHA Certified Powered Industrial Trucks (Forklift) Training / Material Handling Equipment Certification
• Safety Training for the distribution center and transportation

The experts at Waller & Associates will help you grow and develop your organization.

Would you choose a consultant that isn’t an expert at warehouse design? Of course not. After all, your operational success and productivity tie directly to the layout of your distribution center. Having your warehouse designed by experienced operators working side-by-side with engineers is how Waller & Associates ensures the optimal footprint to maximize productivity. Our experienced consultants and industrial engineers combine practical experience with innovative material handling technologies to develop solutions for layout, process and staffing that you can trust. We validate our designs by using the latest simulation software to test automation and process options. Whether it’s a “green-field” situation or an existing warehouse operation, we can help you analyze your data, situation, and variables; leaving you with a feeling of confidence about your optimized distribution center design.

The need has been identified. The ROI has been justified. The warehouse project has been approved. Who’s going to manage it? Organizations of all sizes struggle with professional program and project management. Most businesses simply add the project management duties to a current employee’s workload. Most of the time these individuals already have full-time responsibilities in their current role and typically posses little or no formal training in program or project management. Waller & Associates has Certified Project Management Professionals (PMP) adept at developing and implementing large-scale distribution and logistics solutions by integrating IT and operational processes to achieve best-in-class results.