To perform world leading supply chain execution demands for aligned processes and a will to improve continuously. Hence, the key to success is not only to invest in an IT-solution. But the right WMS does contribute to the organisation’s development. On an operational level it minimises waste and boosts efficiency. On a strategic level this management tool can be used as a crystal ball converting historical data to well grounded recommendations for the future. If the data is easily accessible, that is.
Hand on heart; does your organisation really suffer from lack of DATA or is it your ability to USE the data that is missing?
What would you benefit the most from in your every day work:
- More data on your current status, processes and output
- The data you already have being presented as information to you in a way that is easy to overlook, understand and use for decision making?
When asked, 450 managers from leading companies in the Nordic region rates visualisation as one of top three focus areas for the next three upcoming years. Everyone is asking for symbols, charts and dashboards to present facts and figures related to existing objectives. The ambition is clearly to get a tool that supports the manager in his or her leadership. Can the WMS generate such graphics and add also this kind of value in the warehouse? How does Consafe Logistics responds to this trend?
Visualise to effect employee performance
Symbol is the Greek word for "sign". Today road signs are among the most frequently used symbols worldwide. Traffic lights have spread far away from the British Houses of Parliament in London, where the first example was installed in the late 19th Century. In addition it is a common understanding that organisations benefit from motivated employees working on clear goals, and given feedback while they do so. But what has this to do with WMS?
"Quite a lot", Product Director Mikael Holmqvist says. "In fact this is for example exactly what we had in mind when we initiated the development of our "operational dashboard". We wanted to give the worker and operational leaders instant feedback in realtime on his/hers and the team’s performance, using also graphics.
Of course we need to recognize that visual presentation as such is of no value what so ever if the information being presented is not the desired one. The process of understanding who needs what information in what way and when is thus a critical and sometimes cumbersome process required before doing the actual visualization.
One trick in achieving operational excellence is in focusing on few targets that are efficiently tracked and have an organisation with the ability to really work with actions to manage deviations from targets
When information is easily available it’s easy to start tracking a lot in an effort to gain control. It provides a false sense of control though, and I would strongly recommend to avoid information overload at all cost – if the information being tracked is not clearly used for deciding and executing actual actions, you can just as well rid it and get your energy focused on the targets that really matters.
Since operational strategy and tactic differ between companies, we have aimed at building a flexible and highly configurable solution that delivers only the relevant information .
So what about the visualization theme? Is quite simple; when you have a good sense of what information the organization need, visualization is an incredible strong tool to get the organization moving from thought to action! It brings understanding, alignment, synchronization and commitment in a intuitive way that everyone understands. Pretty much in the same way as the famous traffic light..."
Combine the need for a quick overview with detailed information
When driving we glance at the car’s dashboard to see that everything is functioning as it should. And just like that we want to be able to catch an eye on our warehouse processes and instantly understand what actions that need to be taken. When something on the dashboard is deviating, we also sometimes need to be able to diagnose the underlying problems causing the deviation. Thus in the warehouse, we want to have the dashboard in the car directly connected to the analysis computer in the service and repair shop - to complete the analogy.
"The dashboard is a superior way to present an overview. If it, however, should hold all the details leading to the current status, it would soon be crowded and the benefits would go to waste. Only the information needed to different organizational levels should preferably be presented to respective level. Mikael Holmqvist, says.
Our analyzing tool Retrospect is an example of a solution displaying different layers of information differently, he continues. It ties together the real time operational information found in the WMS with the tactical performance management and further on to the strategic management of the business. Still it is flexible enough for iterative analyses."
3D - When a picture is not enough
One pictures is said to express more than 1000 words. However, sometimes that is not enough. Visualisation has to go even 3D.
The idea of Warehouse 3D was introduced to the market last year The tool excels in presenting analysis in a fundamentally new way to the viewer.
"We’ve been able to make an analysis of the warehouse also before, one might say, but WH3D adds a new ability to faster and with a more holistic view reach a conclusion about what the data says. But the implications of WH3D goes beyond analysis.
Most managers know the frustration of having the answers to what needs to be done – but not getting the organisation to actually execute it. With WH3D a lot of operational management processes becomes so much more efficient.
Imagine the simplicity of actually showing the guys on the floor the conclusion of an analysis instead of trying to make your excel-sheet look even remotely interesting to anyone but you. Or imagine the meeting with a strategic purchaser where you want to make him/her understand the implications of their questionable buying behaviour on you operations. It simply brings new ways of building understanding and commitment to business needs that with easy could tear down organizational barriers."
No doubt will a WMS’ ability to visualize processes and performances be of larger and larger interest to warehouse managers around the globe. It is up to the Warehouse Management Solution providers to respond to this request in a way that is truly beneficial for all parties. Only the future knows what inspiring solutions we will be faced with from now on.