New ‘TouchWMS’ features help companies optimise shift performance and productivity
International supply chain solutions provider TouchPath (www.touchpath.com) is launching the latest version of its ‘TouchWMS’ warehouse management system, which includes a number of new features.
The TouchWMS power-picking Control Centre, which delivers proven productivity increases of 50% is now supported by real time graphical KPI screens that display the progress and performance of individual pickers against the picks that have been assigned to them: a bar chart shows how many picks have been assigned and how many remain. Other KPI screens show overall picking and put-away progress.
A series of sequential tasks can now be assigned to each individual at the beginning of each shift (for example picking in one zone followed by put-aways in another followed by cycle counting). When a warehouse worker logs onto the system via a handheld, mobile terminal or desktop they are automatically presented with instructions for the tasks that have been assigned to them.
The system tracks every team member’s activity throughout their shift, in real time while the system’s KPI screens allow supervisors to spot bottlenecks and reallocate resources across zones to optimise shift performance. With this latest version of TouchWMS they can now analyse productivity across an entire shift, as well as compare individual productivity levels.
The cycle count (or perpetual inventory, PI) has now been enhanced to enable the pre-definition of a variance value above which a regular warehouse supervisor is not permitted to post adjustments without senior management sign-off. The system now also provides full analysis of cycle count progress annually to ensure that audit targets are reached.
TouchWMS allows warehouse zoning, location and item storage types to be pre-defined, is RFID-enabled for greater speed and accuracy and allows picking routes to be optimised to speed customer order fulfilment. Goods are registered on arrival at the warehouse and are visible in the system before passing Quality Inspection if required, after which they are placed in inventory. Items can be tracked internally and throughout the supply chain, for full traceability: all inventory movements are automatically logged including order and document numbers to identify shipments and deliveries. Enquiries allow the user to track serial and batch numbers, determine the exact location of specific items in the warehouse and get a clear view of their inventory.
TouchWMS supports the full range of warehouse processes, from goods receipt and guided put-away to task management, stock allocation to orders with automatic replenishment of pick locations if required, single-order pick and pack, multi-zone wave picking, sortation and pack or bulk pick to pallet with pallet consolidation. Other processes supported by the system include load management, the generation of multi-lingual dispatch notes, and shipping pallet labels, plus integration with most carriers, who receive automated end-of-day consignment details.
TouchWMS can be integrated with all mainstream ERP and other supply chain and legacy systems or run as a complete stand-alone solution. It is multi-lingual for both user interface and shipping documentation and currently supports 12 languages.
TouchPath systems’ technology captures more supply chain information for better business performance and faster ROI. Its unique custom-off-the-shelf (COTS) systems use building blocks that allow TouchPath software to be fully tailored with no limits, in line with user-defined business rules and processes, at a lower price and with faster deployment, according to the company.
TouchPath has operations in the UK (Halifax HX1 5ER) and the USA (High Point, NC 27265).
