May 18, 2004
Softeon Delivers Next Generation Wave Management to the WMS Market
Capabilities in ELITE WMS Provide Companies with Unprecedented Control and Efficiency in Building, Releasing and Executing Pick Waves in the Distribution Center
Vienna, VA -- The effective management and control of pick waves is one of the most fundamental processes many companies require for high-performance distribution operations. Softeon, provider of the logistics industry's most functionally rich supply chain execution software solutions, today announced a new generation of wave management capabilities in its ELITE WMS application that give companies comprehensive control in the creation, release and execution of pick wave processes.
Wave processing enables companies to build manageable buckets of picking work for release to the floor. However, as distribution complexity increases, users require a new generation of tools to effectively manage complex wave processing requirements, tools that can coordinate the multiple variables involved in successful wave execution, such as overall work loads, resource availability, inventory allocation, consolidation requirements, and pick face replenishment.
Softeon's ELITE WMS provides a comprehensive set of capabilities that enable companies to effectively execute wave processes, with complete control and visibility at every stage of the process.
These capabilities include:
- Powerful wave creation tools that enable users to easily construct wave processing criteria, either as frequently implemented rules or on a dynamic basis
- Highly intelligent inventory allocation logic that optimizes where inventory will be sourced from in the DC based on unit of measure, order processing path, and other variables
- Complete, real-time visibility to every stage of the wave completion process through order consolidation and truck loading, giving users views to execution process and bottlenecks from every order processing "route" included in the wave
- Real-time replenishment logic that provides users with multiple replenishment options and that flows picking work to the floor based on inventory availability at the pick face
- Ability to accurately calculate the resources requirement by work area and balance order release across those areas
- Comprehensive support for integration with material handling automation systems involved in order picking and wave processes, such as conveyor sortation systems, AS/RS, and pick to light.
- Real-time event management that alerts managers and supervisors to any exceptions or issues during wave execution
Softeon is using this advanced wave management ability to deliver low-cost, high-performance throughput at a major consumer goods company, among other many other customers. In this consumer goods implementation, Softeon's warehouse management system coordinates allocation, picking (piece pick, case pick and full pallet), replenishment and consolidation across multiple work areas and picking routes in the DC. The system also includes control of AS/RS storage and retrieval logic for some products and substantial conveyor movement. The wave planner has complete visibility and control from start to finish of the wave process across the entire distribution center, all using standard functionality in the ELITE software.
"We are committed to leading the SCE and WMS industry in delivering extremely powerful yet easily to use functionality," said Gana Govind, president of Softeon. "We've proven our ability to deliver highly effective wave processing in some of the most challenging distribution environments."
These capabilities and the full ELITE solution suite will be on display at Softeon's booth (#448) at DC Expo in Chicago and at Booth #274 at DBM, also in Chicago this week. More information on Softeon and its ELITE solutions can be found at www.softeon.com.
Softeon (www.softeon.com) providers the industry's most functionally-rich suite of WMS and supply chain execution solutions. Built on an advanced, fully web-native technical architecture, Softeon's ELITE offers a comprehensive yet modular solution for warehouse and distribution management, order management, labor and resource management, work order processing, and transportation management. Companies consistently find the ELITE offers the most deep and comprehensive set of capabilities in the supply chain execution industry, supported by an advance and flexible technical architecture, satisfying both operations and IT requirements.
Softeon's growing list of customers includes such well-known companies as L'Oreal, Time-Warner, Matrix, Federation Logistics, Daimler-Chrysler, and other logistics leaders.
Contact information:
Steve Gant
703-356-8727
sgant@softeon.com
www.softeon.com
