News
Issue #2002 - 41 (October 2002)
(Updated Oct. 29, 2002)

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS and APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

Sears Logistics' Wireless System Paid for Itself in Eight Months and Increased Productivity by 30%

Source:  Peter Strozniak - Frontline Solutions 

What a difference new technology can make. Just ask Sears Logistics Services Inc., which recently installed a new wireless mobile system in its seven Retail Replenishment Centers (RRC). Productivity has increased by more than 30%, overtime has been drastically reduced, system errors have virtually disappeared and support calls have plummeted by more than 90%. Moreover, the investment paid for itself in a mere eight months.

The system uses MobileBuilder 2.1, an application development tool created by PenRight Corp., San Jose, Calif., and operates on a Pocket PC PPT-2842 device with an integrated two dimensional scanner and wireless LAN radio manufactured by Holtsville-NY.-based Symbol Technologies. It replaces a mobile wireless system (installed in the mid-90s) that replaced manual, paper-based methods of managing tons of deliveries, shipments and inventories.

While the old system had made needed operational improvements, the new system installed last fall gives Sears Logistics, a subsidiary of Sears Roebuck & Co., more speed, reliability, accuracy and flexibility. That's mission-critical to the seven RRCs that supply all of the merchandise for Sears' 870 shopping mall stores across the U.S.

Winston Yuan

"The old system was based on a DOS system, the new system is Windows CE-based," says Winston Yuan, an internal consultant who selected and developed the applications specific to the RRCs. "The DOS system was slower, less reliable and it was very difficult to connect to the host. With the new system the network connection is much more efficient, provides more memory, more hard drive space and it's faster."

That type of performance is very important to the seven RRCs where merchandise is constantly moving in and out 24/7. Last year, the RRCs shipped 2.7 billion pounds of merchandise to mall stores. And on a daily basis, the distribution centers handle more than 25,000 pallets per day. On average, most merchandise is stored for only 24 or 48 hours.

"The new system was a bigger benefit than we thought it was going to be," says Bryan Howell, who works as a hardware specialist at Sears Logistics' largest distribution center, a 1.9-million-square-foot facility in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., that serves the entire Northeast with more than 700 employees.

One major improvement has been in slotting applications, a process that requires slotters (warehouse workers) to accept pallets delivered by manufacturers via truck, and then move the pallets to a location in the warehouse. Last year, the RRCs handled nearly 250,000 trailer loads of merchandise. After the merchandise is received, it is placed in bins that provide damage protection in order to make it easier for workers to locate the merchandise for shipments.

"We've (almost) doubled the productivity of our slotters," Howell says. "I would say that in our old system the average pallets moved per slotter would be around the 220 to 230 range. Now our range is between 300 to 400 pallets. That's including our slowest and fastest slotters."

Part of the reason for the productivity improvement: the ability of the wireless application to provide real time data. "The old system didn't give us real time information for available bins and locations in the warehouse," Howell says. "With the Pocket PC we have the ability to go real time and it actually eliminates human error."

For example, the new system prevents a slotter from selecting a bin location twice-which can cause problems in the receiving and inventory process, says Howell. That has led to an almost error-free performance.

"Based on an 8-hour shift, the old system would run 30 to 40 errors a day," recalls Howell. "An error would lock up the entire system and it would be a lot harder and a lot longer to reboot the system to get it up and running again. With the new system sometimes you won't see an error for a couple of weeks. It's a major difference."

"Before we installed the new system we saw people working overtime in order to complete a shipment," says Yuan. "Now I can tell you that most employees are getting their shipments filled in their regular shifts." Moreover, since the new system was installed in the fall of 2001, the distribution centers no longer need to hire additional help to handle deliveries and shipments during peak times.

The accuracy of the new system also has vastly improved the reliability of inventory information at both the RRCs and in terms of what is being shipped to the mall stores. Yuan says retail replenishment managers, who restock products at Sears stores, have more accurate information on the availability of merchandise at the distribution centers.

How it works?

When merchandise arrives at an RRC, it is scanned to confirm delivery and moved to a warehouse bin, with that information accessible to replenishment managers. After orders are received from replenishment managers, the merchandise is scanned to record that the merchandise has been loaded and where it will be shipped. Store managers can access that data to confirm what products they will receive-and in what quantities. Such information accuracy helps store managers market products to their local customer base.

While evaluating which new mobile system to purchase, Yuan says he carefully reviewed numerous factors including how the new system would interface with the RRCs' scanners, the network connection between the server and hand-held devices, and the system's speed.

In the past, Sears RRCs would typically use up to four different scanning devices. With the MobileBuilder system, the Symbol Technologies Pocket PC has the flexibility to change to other scanning libraries, thereby eliminating the need for different devices. Now, they have one hand held that can do the work of four types of scanning devices.

Yuan says he also wanted a mobile device that could hold large amounts of data so that even if the connection to the server is lost, employees can keep on working because the information would be retained in the hand held. Once the connection is re-established, the user can file the data to the server. The Pocket PCs can hold 16MB, 32MB and 64MB of memory. At each Sears RRC the mobile system is connected to a UNIX server via Symbol's Spectrum 24, 802.11FH wireless network.

Moreover, because the mobile devices can hold large amounts of information they do not need continuous connection to the server, which increases the speed of the mobile devices and facilitates employee productivity. And by only using the wireless connection to the server when necessary, that extends the battery life of the hand helds.

Yuan says the application development time was quick, and that it took only several days to install the new system and get it operational because the applications are very intuitive and required little employee training.

Sears Logistics is currently looking at expanding the system with Symbol Technologies' VRC 8900 computers-being tested at Wilkes-Barre-that mount to warehouse forklifts. (The VRC 8900 was designed with 12-inch color screens to make it easier for operators to read, notes Robert Schreib, director of marketing, Symbol Technologies.)

"When the operator of a forklift is moving merchandise, he doesn't want to be distracted by trying to read a hand held while navigating the aisles," says Schreib. "You don't sell as many vehicle-mounted devices as you sell the hand helds, but without that piece you don't have the full solution."

Sears Logistics hopes that future applications for its MobileBuilder system will include voice command recognition functions.

"For the future, my personal expectation is to have a voice interface with the device because that will create even better accuracy," says Yuan. That is, use simple voice command recognition such as "scan box," "display order" or "start forklift" to perform increasingly sophisticated functions.

For more information: http://www.symbol.com  and  http://www.penright.com

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: We want to thank Penright and Frontline Solutions for this story. This is a clear demonstration of tremendous business case for deploying wireless solutions for improving productivity of warehouse, distribution and manufacturing processes. We have stated in other parts of our site that you can justify these applications with today's hardware, application development tools. We want to recognize Sears IT team for its forward thinking in mobile computing applications. 

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements. Readers should take appropriate caution in developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology architectures.  All trademarks used in this summary are the property of their respective owners.