Customer focus: telecom logistics

For an internet service provider who wanted to reduce the costs of preparing its 2.5 million orders, we set up a dedicated site and a mechanized chain managed by 40 people when 70 were needed at the previous service provider.

We integrated the serial number manufacturer files with their corresponding article references as soon as the pallets were received. As the serial numbers were scanned during order preparation, a check of the associated reference made it possible to detect picking errors and to direct them to an error strand at the end of the chain. With this security in place, the pickers were able to significantly increase throughput.

Scheduling was organized into homogeneous order types for strapped orders and into order series of the same packaging size for packed series. The order portfolio was analyzed for predictive purposes to allow for advance preparations at the end of the week in anticipation of the Monday activity peaks.

The strapping machines have been automated, freeing the operators from sealing the packages. This has also made it possible to circulate the same order between several pickers on the line, thus making it possible to create smaller picking stations instead of having to make the entire assortment available to each picker.

The generation of transport labels was programmed at night by web service as orders were transmitted, allowing the labelling machines to double their output during the day.

A "decapitation" module helpedspeed up pallet picks for B2B. For orders that were slightly less than full pallets, our operators only needed to scan the serial numbers of the equipment removed from the pallet. By subtraction, the IS reconstitutes the file of SNs remaining on the pallet instead of forcing operators to scan all the equipment shipped in the order.