Warehouse Execution SoftwareOptimize Labor & Equipment

You’re tired of talking aboutOmni-Channel.

You hear it everywhere, but what exactly does it mean for your business?

Distribution Science®

Most retailers understand the importance of omni-channel, but admit that they struggle to define exactly what it means at an organizational level.

But it’s really not that complicated

Distribution Science®

Omni-Channel is a Promise

Distribution Science®

And it’s not much more than that.

Omni-Channel is a promise you extend to your customers of a full, client-driven experience. It is an experience that centers on providing your products to customers when, where, and how they want them.

Distribution Science®

Your store locations, online presence, mobile purchasing app, ship to store, return to store…these are all part of that promise you extend to your customers.

But it’s not not just the opportunity,

it’s the execution.

Distribution Science®

But really, that’s a pretty promiseBIG

Distribution Science®

And it’s one you’re struggling to meet.

While placing your customer at the center of your model seems like a great idea, back-end distribution models can’t remain competitive with the rapidly changing and multiplying schemas marketers are pitching to customers.

Distribution Science®

This is particularly true for your Distribution Centers

Many clients we work with know their DCs are an important part of their value chain, but the DC is also the hardest hit by the omni-

channel model.

Distribution Science®

Reusable Intelligence

For some, DCs have been left in stale states. They were traditionally built to handle predictable store replenishment, but now they’re struggling to compete with the volume and complexities of multiple order profiles and priority ship dates.

Distribution Science®

Reusable Intelligence

Others invested heavily in automation and MHE but continue to rely on legacy solutions that lack the agility to effectively pivot when

order profiles shift on a regular bases.

Distribution Science®

Reusable Intelligence

Either way, the lack of agility inherent in your system is eating away at your profits.

Distribution Science®

Reusable Intelligence

Does this sound familiar

Butwhat can you do?

Don’t Buy Anything!

First things First

You’ve probably already sunk a ton of capital into your DCs. There’s no reason to continue to invest in solutions until you discover how to make your existing infrastructure more aligned, more intelligent, and

more agile.

Buying a new sorter or WMS isn’t going to do that.

What you really want is to be competitive. And the only way to achieve that is by closing the gap between customer engagement

and the executing of the promise in the most cost efficient way possible.

That’s a tricky proposition!

It can mean a whole host of issues and changes

depending on your business

And that’s not even accounting for what those marketers may be offering tomorrow.

So how do you solve a distribution problem that means a ton of things today and maybe more tomorrow?

And how can you successfully implement solutions today without negatively impacting how you adapt to new

challenges tomorrow?

You could try MHE

…the problem is that MHE vendors continue to innovate around their own offerings instead of finding ways to use their technology to create holistic health inside their customers’ DCs.

The result has led to many facilities misguidedly plugging in costly, new MHE into their systems, only to fall short of the returns they aimed for.

Most MHE will do exactly what it claims to do…

The problem occurs when you put the two together, creating a giant gap in your order processing flow. This forces you to throw orders over a

technological fence inside your own warehouse.

We’ve seen a lot of DCs

And what we’ve found is that most people are throwing money at these various solutions, investing heavily so they can get in

front of the problem.

The most aggressive make a valiant attempt at creating state-of-the-art DCs, chalked full of automation and advanced MHE. All in the

name of fulfilling the omni-channel promise.

But piecemeal equipment and legacy systems are simply not meant to be agile. They’re meant to

perform their single function inside the warehouse.

And what happens when you run out of real estate trying to facilitate the rapid fulfillment of on-

demand orders?

You've got too much labor, too much automation, not enough real-estate. Your cost per unit shipped has skyrocketed. Sure, you're pumping out the volume necessary to fulfill the promises, but it's eating a hole through your earnings!

You've already invested heavily in your warehouse:

You don’t need to sink more money into WMS, ERP, MHE or other solutions that might work great alone, but can’t

play as a team

And simply ripping and replacing these solutions isn’t going to create agility or alignment in your operations.

Chances are you’ve tried this before

Did it work?

Before you pour more money into your DC, why not first re-think what an omni-channel optimized facility

looks like for YOUR BUSINESS, today and tomorrow.

Are your order profiles changing? If so, how are those order cycle times impacting the traditional orders being fulfilled? Are you eroding your current customers by way of introducing new customers?

Is the inventory coming into your facility aligned with your outbound processes?

How does work flow through your DC? Do short waves make sense? Long waves? Do you need to go waveless to compensate for changing eCommerce orders?

Ask Questions

A real solution begins with an analysis, not a product

Not an analysis of a problem, but a systematic look at the holistic health of your DC as seen through the lens of your business goals

and existing infrastructure and systems.

You need to break free of the mindset that parses out solutions. For example, implementing solutions like a labor management

systems might bolster the efficiency of your labor, but what happens when they out pace your MHE? You end up with

bottlenecks and idle labor.

...you need a system that can implement a solution based on your analysis. You need a solution that has the capacity to

leverage and link the disparate islands operating inside your DC.

NEXT…

The system should be built with the modularity to allow you to plug and play different components, all while creating holistic

success, so it may align, cohere, and improve what you already have.

Ideally, it should be able to fit itself within your existing system to bring holistic value, regardless of what you have, and not inadvertently sub-optimize existing solutions already doing a great job solving a specific

problem.

What you need is a nuanced solution: One that builds and adapts from your problems and from

your assets, so you can reach your business goals,

Even as those goals change.

Just as your channels and order profiles will continue to shift and multiply.

Enter WES

A warehouse execution system (WES) provides a practical solution by creating a connective tissue between existing systems such as WMS, WCS, and MHE,

aggregating their data and aligning their functions under a unified platform.

This isn’t a new term for a big bang implementation overlay of a WMS -- it’s a complementary solution set to

solve the problem holding the rest of your systems back.

A well designed WES will give you the agility and holistic success to do so without the inefficiencies that eat away at your earnings,

combined with the modularity that allows for implementing greater intelligence, workflows, and systems to be added to

address your specific problems.

The Reddwerks SolutionWarehouse Execution Powered by Distribution Science®

The Reddwerks approach is built on creating holistic health within your DC among your existing systems as well as injecting

intelligence and agility.

It is a nuanced, consultative solution based on a systematic analysis of your existing facility, followed by the implementation of an execution layer based on your facility’s needs, pain points and business goals.

Our process begins with our in-house operations engineering team.

We use our patented process of systematic analysis we call Distribution Science® to assess and solve the problems occurring inside your warehouse

based on the logical and physical constraints created by your existing infrastructure.

This methodology is built around using real data to run models and simulations of your DC. We hypothesize and test those hypotheses for potential solutions to balance work across your DC, and boost

the performance of your labor and MHE.

Then, depending on the way we best believe our solution can help, we implement the WES in your system to handle order processing, and

include workflows, solutions, and system directed capabilities to boost overall performance and give agility to your system.

The Reddwerks approach is built on injecting intelligence and agility into your existing distribution centers, which has lead to some compelling ROI by

way of:

Reduce Direct

Labor Costs

Increase Facility

Throughput

Create Process

Alignment

Improve MHE Utilization

Enable

Operational Agility

Extend

Infrastructure Life

Whether you are looking to optimize labor efficiency through system directed execution, increase other

material handling equipment utilization, or extend the capabilities of your existing WMS or ERP, Reddwerks Warehouse Execution Software can help take your

distribution facility to the next level.

To view more resources about Warehouse Execution, Operation Agility and Reddwerks, please visit our learning center at

www.reddwerks.com/learning-centeror contact us directly at

www.reddwerks.com/contact