Manufacturing

Operations solution first from Apriso

22 May 2008

Manufacturing software solutions provider Apriso has released an enterprise warehouse management system specifically designed for manufacturers.

The solution, called FlexNet Warehouse Management for Manufacturers, is designed to improve manufacturing agility and operations performance by integrating warehouse operations with production processes. This eliminates idle inventory, provides complete traceability across production and the supply chain, increases quality, and drives Lean initiatives.

“The implementation of a warehouse management system built from a manufacturer’s perspective offers a differentiated approach to extend Lean initiatives into the warehouse,” said Steve Banker, director of supply chain management at ARC Advisory Group. “Pull systems such as Kanban, Just-In-Time and Just-In-Sequence are common within best in class manufacturers. The implementation of a platform supporting business processes spanning production and material flows adds a new level of performance improvement, driving further waste from already Lean processes.”

A module of the .NET-based FlexNet Operations Execution System, the new product synchronises raw materials, components and semi-finished goods with production, manufacturing, fabrication and assembly operations. By leveraging FlexNet’s Global Manufacturing Suite, the material flow management system can be deployed locally at the warehouse while being managed globally, across the enterprise. This allows Lean, quality and other continuous improvement initiatives to spread from a pilot site across a global enterprise.

“Achieving tight integration between production and warehouse operations has provided full traceability for materials and finished goods flows, while enabling the highest level of responsiveness to changing demand conditions within our production line and supply chain,” said Rustam Sanaev, IT operations manager at British American Tobacco. “The FlexNet platform is vital, facilitating performance improvement within both warehouse and production operations, allowing us to significantly improve our production ability within an increasingly complex operations environment.”