Black Friday – scheduled to take place in South Africa on 29 November this year – can be chaotic for warehouses, with skyrocketing demand adding intensified pressure and logistical challenges that put the sector to the test. This is according to Cquential Warehouse Management, a member of the Argility Technology Group, the specialist retail predictive and prescriptive analytics organisation within global enterprise, Smollan.
“Black Friday challenges include increased volumes, a spike in demand and all governed by strict completion timelines. Added to this are the difficulties around managing inventories, lack of availability of additional labour and the inevitability of returns. Moreover, throughout this process, quality control and accuracy must be maintained,” says Rina Redelinghuys, Cquential Customer Services Executive.
She says managing employee morale and fatigue can be difficult amid staff frustration with limitations of existing systems and uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness of operational processes, infrastructure and technology. “These issues can be addressed through real-time data analytics that yield insights, reporting that enhances visibility and automated tracking of KPIs. Only in this way can operations be optimised,” says Redelinghuys.
Cquential Warehouse Management System (WMS) can proactively manage these challenges through:
Redelinghuys confirms Cquential WMS is also scalable to handle increased volumes. “The system automatically manages tight deadlines to ensure on-time completion through automated scheduling and task assignment, plus real-time monitoring of deadlines and order status. Visibility of the combination of task prioritisation according to deadlines and urgency assist to guarantee timely completion. Cquential WMS streamlines inventory management by offering real-time tracking, reporting and automated stock replenishment. It also optimises labour management by automating resource allocation, monitoring workload and performance in real-time and enabling seamless task assignment and scheduling.
Returns processing is simplified through automation and inventory tracking augmented by integration with support systems. Real-time validations of inventory and order tracking ensure top-tier quality assurance. Detailed reporting provides further insights and accuracy.
“Challenges around securing sufficient shipping and courier capacity also adds fuel to the Black Friday stress fire,” Redelinghuys notes. “Automated shipping and courier integration with transport management systems plus allocation of shipping resources based on demand, solves this problem.
“At the end of the day, peak season chaos should not be a barrier to efficient warehouse operations. Cquential WMS can remove this stress by empowering a business to reap the benefits of Black Friday,” Redelinghuys concludes.
Source: IT Web | Cape Business News
By Rina Redelinghuys – CQuential Customer Services Executive
The overall delivery process to the customer has always been a key objective for many executives. A business could have the best product on the market, but if service is not a top priority, then the business will not be sustainable over the long term.
The change in consumer buying habits has put additional pressure on the final customer delivery. The key to success is understanding customer service requirements and building an agile and flexible supply chain to fulfil customer expectations. Having a comprehensive warehouse management system (WMS) and delivery app, will facilitate the achievement of these business objectives.
Not taking into account the size of shipments, which adds another variable to the mix.
It is essential to have the necessary checks and balances in place to ensure seamless communication between operatives and customers.
If you are experiencing these challenges, you are not alone.
For more information, contact one of our Business Consultants at 011 712 1300; email info@cquential.com, or visit our website at www.cquential.com
By Rina Redelinghuys – CQuential Customer Services Executive
The last mile fulfilment process is becoming more dynamic as customer expectations change. The delivery experience is a key differentiator and the deciding factor in garnering customer loyalty and ensuring return.
Due to the complexity and variability within e-commerce, a flexible and responsive business model is required if businesses are to compete. Technology has allowed companies to deal with the complexities and share critical information that builds customer confidence and trust.
The introduction of technology enables businesses to:
Customer experience can be enhanced by delivery software in numerous ways
It allows customers to stay informed of the status of their orders through delivery (last mile) software. By receiving real time notifications regarding the location of their parcels, when it is scheduled for delivery and by whom. The importance of notifying customers of potential delays cannot be underestimated if one is to avoid bad customer experiences.
With advanced delivery software providing real-time visibility of delivery status, flexibility and speed of delivery, supply chains and logistics will be boosted and customers will be satisfied. In a nutshell, this is the essence of competitive edge.
For more information, contact one of our Business Consultants at 011 712 1300; email info@cquential.com, or visit our website at www.cquential.com
ECONOFOODS, a highly successful provider of frozen and chilled foods plus a wide variety of grocery products, has selected leading warehouse management software (WMS) specialist, CQuential Solutions, to fulfil its warehouse management needs as it expands its distribution network.
ECONOFOODS currently has seven distribution centres and 27 retail outlets that span six provinces in South Africa plus a cross-border operation in Lesotho. “The company employs 1 500 people and services approximately 1 000 foodservice customers monthly from the distribution centres,” says Jan Hendrik Buchner Operational Financial Manager – ECONOFOODS Gauteng & Northwest.
He notes the company was founded in 1996 with the goal of supplying top quality products at wholesale prices and all accompanied by a superior service experience. “We required a state-of-the-art system that could optimise our warehouse operations, drive greater efficiencies and support our growth plans as we expand our distribution network. CQential’s warehouse management system (WMS) fulfilled all of our requirements and was deployed in our Johannesburg warehouse,” says Buchner.
He confirms the deployment of CQuential WMS will serve as a pilot implementation that will eventually see roll-out to all of ECONOFOODS warehouses over the coming 18 months.
CQuential CEO Shaun O’Brien notes the implementation has moved swiftly and successfully and they are now past the initial set-up stage. “We have now moved into a space where the WMS functionality is being tailored to meet ECONOFOODS’ specific requirements.”
O’Brien says the implementation was not without challenges, including:
The CQuential team proposed the following strategic approach to overcoming these hurdles:
Buchner confirms the relationship is ongoing. “CQuential is an integral part of our operation in Johannesburg and thus we view them as a business partner. Moreover, we are looking to build on it with further system developments. This requires frequent interaction between both companies as we continue to roll-out CQuential’s WMS to our warehouses throughout the country,” he concludes.
Fact sheet
Source: IT Web
Argility Technology Group (ATG) CEO Marko Salic says the company’s acquisition by Smollan represents a substantial investment into the business and an expanded pathway into global markets.
ATG announced its acquisition on Wednesday, noting it will become part of the global enterprise.
Global commerce business Smollan provides retail solutions across five continents and over 450 000 retail stores worldwide. It counts online cleaning services platform SweepSouth among its investment ventures.
According to the statement, Smollan has acquired local software developer and supplier ATG from investment holding firm Capital Eye Investments. The acquisition has been ratified by all regulatory bodies and is effective immediately.
James Collett, chief data officer at Smollan, notes the importance of the strategic acquisition. “ATG joining the Smollan Group is a significant step forward in our strategy to expand our technology and data offering within retail and supply chain.
“We are extremely excited about the synergies which exist between the businesses, and as a leading global commerce solution company, we will be looking to grow the ATG footprint internationally. An aligned and strong culture is always foundational to creating a successful partnership, and in ATG and its people, we believe that we have found just that. We look forward to welcoming ATG into the Smollan family.”
Salic states the acquisition is one of the most important events in the history of Argility.
“ATG is immensely excited about this new phase in the history of the group. Over the past five years, we have made notable strategic investments in the acquisition of companies that have served to augment our goal of partnering with retail and supply chain organisations to help them digitise and transition into industry 4.0.
“The synergies between Argility’s vision and mission with that of Smollan made this a very appealing move for us and a good cultural fit for our group. Combining these strengths will serve to enhance ATG’s portfolio, expand our solutions and service delivery for current and future customers,” he notes.
The Argility Technology Group is a leading innovator and implementer of digital commerce and supply chain software solutions in Africa. Our vast experience combined with a depth of proprietary software and skills enables us to address the multitude of challenges facing businesses in today’s era of digital transformation.
We solve complex business problems by supplying and supporting various customised software solutions such as: Point of Sale; ERP; Warehouse, Fleet, IoT and Proximity Management; Data Science (Artificial Intelligence) solutions and more. We strive to become a technology partner and an extension of our customers’ businesses and not just another solutions provider.
The group’s origins trace back over thirty years as a leading software supplier to the retail sector. Decades of long, prosperous customer relationships bear testament to our customer-centric culture, exceptional service, and innovative thinking. From single systems to the digital transformation of an entire organisation – we have the solutions, skills, and experience.
The Argility Technology Group is comprised of: Argility; Cquential Solutions, Fleet Domain; SkyData Communications, and strategic partner, Ashanti AI. All are foremost technology developers and suppliers of enterprise software solutions for the Retail, Supply Chain, Fleet industries as well as a comprehensive IoT framework that enables local enterprises to integrate, manage and optimise their growing IoT ecosystems.
For further information: www.argility.com
Founded in 1931, Smollan is a global commerce business, delivering growth for retailers and brand owners across five continents. We partner with brands to create and execute insight-led solutions to deliver growth, wider distribution, and operational efficiencies.
Internationally recognised for our exceptional human platform of over 80 000 people and our sophisticated systems, we drive sales and create brilliant shopper experiences for some of the world’s most loved brands. We work at the pivot point where retailers, brands and shoppers intersect.
Contact us at www.smollan.com
Source: IT Web
CQuential – part of the Argility Technology Group and a developer of leading supply chain and warehouse management solutions and services (WMS) – has partnered with integration and automation specialist Flowgear in a move that will better enable CQuential’s ability to integrate with customers’ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
CQuential’s core business has always been in optimising clients’ supply chain and warehouses, says Daniel Schotter, CQuential Operations Executive. “To achieve this, we invariably must integrate with our clients’ ERP systems. Traditionally, this has proven to be a complex and time-consuming exercise that negatively impacted on the overall cost of implementation. Following extensive market research, we identified Flowgear, an up and coming integration as a service (iPaaS) provider that had the right adaptors and entrepreneurial approach to business that is fundamental to CQuential’s market operations,” says Schotter.
He confirms the company’s rationale behind this move was driven by a need to either develop an in-house ‘Enterprise Service Bus’ or partner with a service provider that could fulfil the interface requirements. “In the past, we partnered with other integration houses but found those technologies rather expensive and, as such, prohibitive. We wanted to focus on our core strengths and partner with a business that could remove this hurdle to market for us. Flowgear is an excellent fit for us, as it has so many synergies with our offerings with an environment that is intuitive and easy to use,” notes Schotter. He adds CQuential has already integrated – on behalf of/and with clients – various packages including, Netsuite, K-Motion WMS and VeraCore WMS to name just some.
CQuential CEO, Shaun O’Brien, explains Flowgear offers integration and automation, on-premises and in the cloud. “Flowgear enables companies of all sizes to increase efficiency and reduce cost by integrating their apps, services, APIs and databases. At a far greater pace, and reduced cost, we can now self-deploy new interfaces with our current and prospective clients and generate other opportunities on behalf of our customers, as well as onwards to their clients,” O’Brien concludes.
by Rina Redelinghuys, CQuential WMS Customer Services Executive
Warehousing and supply chain management is a dynamic and ever changing environment. Companies operating in these sectors constantly strive to become more competitive and use technology as a key enabler to meet operational objectives.
There are many technologies out there that have the potential to drive these benefits, but voice picking has been proven to be an attractive option. Voice directed warehouse – also commonly known as voice picking, which is integrated with warehouse floor operations and warehouse management system (WMS), translates into a direct dialogue between your WMS and warehouse teams using plain language.
By voice-enabling your warehouse you move from a Radio Frequency (RF) centric operation to a voice-centric warehouse which frees up your pickers hands and eyes. Voice picking can be applied in all warehouse processes such as receiving; picking; put-away; replenishment; checking, and despatch. The fine picking area specifically has proven to benefit most when it comes to the voice picking capability.
The following are just some of the potential benefits of shifting to voice-centric systems:
Productivity gains can be as high as 50%.
Warehouse staff become more efficient. By freeing up their hands and eyes workers can concentrate on the task in hand. Distractions from side conversations are also eliminated.
Accuracy can be improved by as much as 80%.
The opportunity to make mistakes is greatly reduced because the operators hands and eyes are freed because they are not using scanners, and distractions from side conversations are eliminated by use of the voice headset and ongoing task dialogue. The use of location check digits increases in the voice process and augments greater accuracy.
Significant safety Gains.
To safely perform the task at hand warehouse operators must concentrate on what they are doing. By using voice picking operators are not distracted and can handle equipment, stock, and packaging in the safest possible way.
Training time can be reduced by over 60%.
The training process is significantly simplified because each task is voice driven. It removes the need to train the operators on reading picking slips, using the scanner and the application on the scanner, confirming information, etc. The training process is simplified by having the operator create a once off voice template and the remainder of the process is driven using step-by-step voice instructions.
Operators are motivated through improved performance.
By simplifying the warehouse process – for example, picking – makes it possible for operators to perform at much higher levels with reduced effort. Operator performance is improved, and they begin to see real benefits from incentives and take pride in their work.
Moresport – Remarkable Productivity in Fine Picking for SA Retailers.
Moresport partnered with CQuential, Honeywell and Datasmith to successfully deploy Honeywell Voice on CK3 devices and SRX2 headsets to address challenges and improve business processes.
Moresport Limited is South Africa’s leading sports and outdoor retailer. Moresport required a solution that increased fine picking productivity and maintained a high pick accuracy, especially during peak season. The company implemented CQuential’s cloud-based warehouse and supply chain management solutions.
39% increase in productivity in the first year alone!
Moresport experienced impressive results from the hands-free voice-picking solution. Its pick productivity increased by 39% in the first year. The company was able to significantly reduce the number of overtime hours required during peak seasons. There was also a significant improvement in worker health and safety with the voice-picking technology. Additionally, the voice-picking system payback period (ROI) was estimated to be between one and two years.
Moresport was able to address its distribution requirements much more efficiently, especially during peak retail trading months. The business experienced less human error due to fewer touch points, as well as quicker processing of orders and improved productivity. Additionally, Moresport implemented a successful semi-automated replenishment model, which further improved productivity and the flow of goods.
For more information contact us on 011 712 1300; email info@cquential.com or visit our website www.cquential.com
by Rina Redelinghuys, CQuential WMS Customer Services Executive
Master data is key to the functioning of the warehouse management system. The absence of accurate data will result in the system not being able to perform at an optimal level. The data will also be crucial to the ability to define business rules and workflows across the warehouse. A warehouse management system that has standard templates and a step-by-step user guide will reduce the burden of master data maintenance and setup within your operation.
The types of master data in the warehouse management system:
The benefits of accurate data:
What are the risks associated with poor master data management?
Approach to driving master data excellence:
Master data can be the difference between success and failure. Clean data throughout the business will enable a company to take advantage of new systems and services that have been developed in the market to drive business efficiencies. It will also ensure the business has a competitive advantage in the market and be highly responsive to new ideas and developments in the industry.
In case you missed it – also read: The challenges around warehouse optimisation
For more information contact one of our Business Consultants on 011 712 1300; email info@cquential.com or visit our website www.cquential.com
CQuential – part of the Argility Technology Group and a developer of leading supply chain and warehouse management solutions and services – has launched an inventory management system (IMS) designed for smaller companies in multiple sectors.
Shaun O’Brien, CEO of CQuential, says the new application targets a sector of the market that needs access to an entry-level solution that will help them manage their inventories more effectively at the right price point.
“Cquential’s highly-sophisticated warehouse management system (WMS) was developed for larger companies with a mature stock control and supply chain environment, but from speaking to clients we are aware there are many smaller companies in the South African market that are just at the beginning of their journey of digital transformation,” he says. “Our new IMS was designed with these companies in mind to give them an easy-to-deploy and highly-affordable way to get their inventory under control.”
Developed in-house by CQuential’s development team and leveraging the immense intellectual capital embodied in its flagship WMS, the new IMS is a standalone product that companies can test for 30 days. If they decide to continue using it, they can purchase it as a monthly service, so there is no obligation to commit to lengthy contract terms.
The CQuential IMS draws on CQuential’s deep understanding of the stock control environment to create a vanilla product that companies can deploy themselves using provided instructions and videos, saving massively on project management and other consultancy costs.
A fundamental design principle is that the software provides the structure for the client’s warehouse, rather than the other way round. It is suitable for a warehouse facility of approximately 1 000m2 and an inventory of around 300 SKUs (stock-keeping units).
O’Brien explains the IMS provides visibility of all stock, from receipt through to dispatch. Its flexible design means it can be used to control any type of stock, from fast-moving consumer goods, to hardware and even educational products — anything where product codes exist.
“The ability to manage stock effectively is vital in any business, and the IMS provides smaller companies with a much-needed, simple way to get a real handle on their inventory and take their customer service to the next level with greater accuracy and speed in picking orders,” O’Brien concludes. “CQuential’s IMS offers companies a way to embark on digital transformation without breaking the bank and provides a solid platform for growth.”
Source: IT Web | Hi-Tech Security Solutions | TechMarket | Telecoms Business
Rina Redelinghuys, CQuential WMS Customer Services Executive, examines the challenges around warehouse optimisation.
Supply chain is about efficiencies and facilitating an optimal flow of product from source to consumption. Warehousing is no different and the main objective is to reduce the cost per unit stored and handled within the warehouse without compromising customer service and fulfilment lead times.
The benefits of driving best practices within the warehouse:
This can be achieved by:
The supply chain and warehouse will always be under consistent pressure to respond to changes in customer behaviour and expectations. There will be a lot of solutions on the market, but the key is to find a fit to the businesses requirements and not overspend on equipment or systems that will not improve the overall warehouse performance.
Businesses need to plan for future requirements and not only focus on the current requirement as the environment will change over time.
Flexibility and agility are key, and this will drive sustainability into the future. If a business is very diversified and has many different operational requirements due to the type of products sold, then it may be more effective to consult with a 3PL logistics provider that has many different configurations and options to choose from when it comes to effective storage.
Alignment between people, processes and technology will drive further efficiencies within the warehouse. Without the right technology, it will be very difficult to measure the warehouse performance and to identify opportunities for improvement. The WMS is the source from which all improvements and efficiencies will emanate.
Catch my next piece where we will look at the importance of Master Data.
In case you missed it – also read: Warehouse theft prevention tips
For more information contact one of our Business Consultants on 011 712 1300; email info@cquential.com or visit our website www.cquential.com
