Warehouse and Material Handling

Abstract
This paper explicates a proposal for a warehouse for Electrical Appliances for distribution both within Singapore and overseas. Logistics plays a pivotal role in the integration of supply chains within industries. One of the key components within the supply chain of an enterprise is warehousing. The warehouse will be a private warehouse, which implies that it will be owned by the company. This will be important for the enterprise in regard to increased control, flexibility, and cost. Concerning warehouse location accessibility, Tangjong Pagar is considered to be the most suitable location for the warehouse. This is linked to low inbound transportation cost and also distance to the port of Singapore. In addition, there is ready and accessible manpower for the distribution operations. The appropriate racking system for storage of the finished product will be a combination of block stacking and adjustable pallet racking storage. This will facilitate flexibility within the warehouse, increased cost effectiveness and increase the likelihood of ideal utilization of the space that is available. The materials location system will be automated and include an identification device that will enable faster and effective location of the devices and their specific coordinates. The order picking method will employ the prerouted picking system, which is deemed ideal owing to the reason that it eradicates backtracking for order pickers. The proposed layout of the warehouse will encompass different sections including loading and unloading areas, reception area, storage area, order picking area, dispatch area and service area.
Introduction
In the contemporary, warehousing has come to be the most significant facilitators for efficacious worldwide supply chain network. Warehousing is the activity that comprises of the storage of goods that will be either distributed or retailed later on. Warehouses employ specific components that enable manufacturers, distributors as well as retailers in the everyday monitoring and storage of goods in a safe manner (Buurman, 2002). Material handling encompasses the movement, safety, storage, as well as control of materials and products all the way through manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, end0user consumption and ultimately disposal. The main objective of material handling system and processes within a firm are to enhance customer service, decrease inventory levels, curtail the delivery time and also lower general handling costs within manufacturing, distributing and transporting activities. The handling of products is fundamental to the level of productivity within a warehouse. For instance, the comparative number of labor hours necessitated to undertake material handling generates a susceptibility to any decrease in the output rate per labor hour. The warehouse signifies the primary field for material handling operations. As a result, the design of the warehouse is a key aspect for general handling efficacy and is also of great worry and concern in attaining increased labor productivity (Bhatnagar, 2010). The purpose of this paper is to present a proposal for a warehouse for Electrical Appliances for distribution both within Singapore and overseas.
Description on the type of warehouse proposed
Making decisions on whether a firm should purchase its own warehouse or partake in leasing is a pivotal financial consideration and have to bear in mind the effect of warehousing costs on the total logistics costs. The type of warehouse that will be used by Electric Appliances will be a private warehouse. Private warehousing is delineated as the storage of goods in a warehouse that is owned by the corporation that has title deed to such goods (Ross, 2015). The private warehouse will make it possible for the company to have a greater magnitude of control, owing to the reason that it is owned by the entity. Basically, the company will maintain direct control of the product up until the ownership is transmitted to the customer. What is more, the management of the organization will be able to safeguard and manage the goods as they please and in relation to their own standards (Voortman, 2004).
The private warehouse will play a key role in the distribution system of the company. To begin with, it will facilitate increased control, flexibility, cost, as well as other imperceptible advantages. Imperatively, private warehouses provide additional control owing to the reason that the firm has complete decision-making power over all activities and primacies within the facility. Owing to this level of control, the company will have the capability to assimilate warehouse operations with the other internal logistics procedures of the firm (Voortman, 2004). In addition, this type of warehouse is selected because it is more often than not deemed more cost-effective as compared to public warehouses. Notably, the private facility costs do not include a profit mark-up. For this reason, both the fixed as well as variable cost elements ought to be lower (Ross, 2015). What is more, the private warehouse will place a key role to the distribution system of the firm, especially in regard to market presence. It is imperative to note that a private warehouse that includes the name of the company on it might generate consumer perceptions of receptiveness, awareness and stability. At times, this sort of awareness gives a company a marketing advantage over other rivaling firms (Ross, 2015).
Description on warehouse location accessibility
Warehouses are very significant components within a supply chain network either locally or globally. The location of a warehouse within a supply chain network is a key determining factor of the efficacy and swiftness of supply chains (Singh, Chaudhary, and Saxena, 2018). In accordance to Heizer and Render (2006), supply chain management is substantially impact by site selection and product quality. Different aspects such as level of invested capital, operating costs, as well as customer service are all influenced by decisions concerning the selection of the warehouse location. Optimal location of warehouse plays a largely significant role in augmenting the inventory turnover ratio and decreasing the total logistics cost. In this case, it is considered that Tangjong Pagar, Singapore will be the most ideal location for setting up the warehouse. This is because it will not generate any delay in the shipment process or result in an increase in the cost of production. Furthermore, it means that the warehouse will be located in such a site from where the production parts for the different electrical appliances are delivered to the manufacturing plan devoid of any sort of delay (Singh, Chaudhary, and Saxena, 2018). As indicated by Alberto (2000), if the warehouse of a company stores finished products then it comes to be essential that the market is closely located so that there is never a deficiency and the product is always distributed at the suitable time in the market.
Description on suitability of racking system
For the distribution warehouse, the appropriate racking system for storage of the finished product will be a combination of block stacking and adjustable pallet racking storage. Block stacking is a kind of palletized storage that does not necessitate any sort of storage equipment and in its place loaded pallets are positioned directly on the floor and thereafter built up in form of tacks to a maximum storage level of height. Furthermore, lanes will be formed to guarantee accessibility to the various stock keeping units. This method is ideal because it is more appropriate for stored products which have only few product lines such as the ones in this particular case, with each of them having high inventory level to guarantee FIFO movement of inventory. This particular storage method also facilitates flexibility within the warehouse, is more cost effective and will also make it possible to have proper utilization of the space that is available (Mulcahy and Sydow, 2008).
Secondly, the reason for selecting adjustable pallet racking storage is owing to the assortment and diversity of product. It is imperative to note that the company will be dealing with a range of electrical appliances, for instance, ovens, televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, steam pumps and several others. In the case of a wide assortment of goods as in this case, there is always a decline in the speed of the throughput procedure. As a result, it is deemed that adjustable pallet racking storage will be the solution for the huge variety of electrical appliances of different brands and even pack size. Every pallet in the warehouse will be allotted a distinctive position in the racking (Adler, 2007).
Description on the choice of material location system and order picking method
The materials location system will include an information storage device, specifically, a radio-frequency identification (RFID) device that will be purposed to store location information, the coordinates of the location, and also design information of the goods. An important criterion for suppliers is to be efficacious in the quality of material being provided, dependability in delivery and also economic costs. This enables the automatic obtaining of the location coordinates of the goods affixed with the device and also compute the locations of the materials. This will be beneficial in ensuring that the different goods are location expeditiously thereby diminishing both time and resources and improving productivity levels (Raymond, 1985).
The effectiveness and efficacy of the picking function have a direct correlation to the effectiveness and efficacy of the storage function. The order picking method will employ the prerouted picking system. This is basically a standard customer order that has been changed to order or structure the items to be selected in line with their location within the warehouse. In this case, this is deemed to be the most suitable approach owing to the reason that there is the elimination of backtracking for order pickers since every good item is picked the very time that it is passed. As a result, this will be beneficial for the system as the total distance that will be covered by the order pickers will be diminished. Consequently, if such a distance is diminished, it implies that there is an increase in the level of productivity for every order picker operating within the warehouse. At the end of the day, this will play a key role because it implies that fewer order pickers will be necessitated for a prerouted customer order picking system (Raymond, 1985).
Description on proposed material handling system
Material handling systems comprise of discrete or continuous resources purposed to move entities from particular location to another. The following are the different aspects of the proposed material handling systems.
1. Space Utilization
Effective and efficient utilization of the calculated space will be done. This will include the elimination of spaces that are cluttered and unorganized in addition to aisles that are blocked. Since the good will be entering and leaving the warehouse in a frequent manner, their accessibility and selectivity will be taken into consideration. Therefore, in storage areas, there will be balance regarding the aim of maximizing storage density against accessibility and selectivity. In addition, cube per order index is the system that will be used for warehouse storage (Radaev and Leventsov, 2018).
2. Automation
Automation deals with the application of electro-mechanical devices, computer electronics, and computer-based systems to facilitate the operating and controlling of production and service activities. It puts forward the connecting of manifold mechanical operations to generate a system that can be controlled by programmed instructions. In the case of this particular warehouse for electronic appliances, the material handling operations will be mechanized and automated where considered suitable to enhance operational efficiency, increase receptiveness, improve constancy and expectedness, lessen operating costs and eliminate repetitive or possibly unsafe manual labor (Radaev and Leventsov, 2018).
3. Environment
Environmental influence and energy consumption ought to be taken into consideration as criteria in the course of designing or choosing alternative equipment and material handling systems. In the case of the proposed warehouse, the pallets that will be utilized in the formation and protection of unit loads will be designed in the sense that they will be able to be reused if necessitated and also biodegradable. In addition, the systems will facilitate the accommodation of handling of empty containers as well as other byproducts obtained from material handling. What is more, any information that will be specified as being harzardous will be handled with caution (Radaev and Leventsov, 2018).
4. Life cycle
5. Life cycle costs comprise of all of the cash flows that will take place between the period the initial cash is spent in planning or procuring new equipment, or placing a new approach until it is entirely replaced. A comprehensive economic analysis ought to make up the entire life cycle of all material handling equipment and subsequent systems. In this case, a plan for precautionary and prognostic maintenance will be prepared for the equipment, and the projected cost of maintenance and spare parts will be incorporated in the economic analysis. What is more, a long-term plan for replacement of the equipment when it becomes outdated will be prepared.
Calculation on warehouse size
A total quantity of 10,000 units is used in the calculation based on packing one unit per carton box of size 1.5 feet length x 1.5 feet width and 1 feet high. In this case, a total of 24 carton boxes can be stacked on one pallet. Therefore the size of the warehouse is:
(1.5 x 1.5) x 10,000 x 24
= 540,000 cubic feet
Description on warehouse layout
The diagram above illustrates the proposed layout of the warehouse. Section A is the loading and unloading areas. These are the areas in which the different vehicles and trucks purposed or transportation and distribution of the goods will have direct accessibility to. These sections are separate from the rest in order to facilitate adequate space for loading as well as unloading. Section B takes into account the reception area. This is particularly situated individually from the other sections of the warehouse in order for it to be utilized not only for the reception of the goods but also to facilitate their sorting and checking quality control. The subsequent section C will be essential for storage. In this case as initially indicated the goods will be stored using the block stacking and pallet racking methods. Section D of the warehouse layout will be designated for order picking. This will be important in making certain that the goods are in ideal condition prior to dispatch. In addition, this area can also be assimilated into a storage area, especially since racking units will be used. Fifth, section E of the layout will be purposed for the dispatch area. Taking into consideration that the company will be dealing with a wide range of products, this section will be utilized for packing the orders. That is, for instance, ensuring that that the different appliances, for instance, refrigerators are packaged in an ideal way for distribution and transportation. Lastly, section of the warehouse layout will be designated for servicing. This will be intended to support various activities within the warehouse facility, for instance, offices for administrative managers and general staff, washrooms and also changing rooms (Interlake, 2019).
Self-reflections
This particular assignment has been significant in regarding to attaining greater insight and understanding into the aspects of warehousing and material handling. I believe that effective warehousing can facilitate significant financial and service benefits not only to the consumers but also organizations as a whole. A warehouse provides a centralized location for the reception, storage and distribution of products. I believe that warehousing and material handling will be key aspects in the distribution system of the electrical appliances. The selected warehouse design and layout are important in not only guaranteeing effectiveness for the company but also increasing stock visibility. The selected warehouse in this case is a private one and will key role to the distribution system of the firm in terms of greater flexibility, decreased costs and also greater control and management. In my opinion, a warehouse location that facilitates ease in accessibility and also cost effectiveness. For this reason, I believe that Tangjong Pagar would be the most suitable location because of how easy it is to access the Port of Singapore. In addition, the transportation costs would be lower and there is also ready available labor.







References
Adler, D. (Ed.). (2007). Metric handbook. Routledge.
Alberto, P. (2000). The logistics of industrial location decisions: An application of the analytic hierarchy process methodology. International Journal of Logistics, 3(3), 273-289.
Bhatnagar, A. (2010). Textbook of supply chain management. New Delhi: Sanbun Publishers.
Buurman, J. (2002). Supply chain logistics management. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Heizer, J., & Render, B. (2006). Additional Problems: Principles of Operations Management/Operations Management. Prentice Hall.
Interlake. (2019). Warehouse layout design. Retrieved from: https://www.interlakemecalux.com/warehouse-manual/warehouse-design/warehouse-layout
Mulcahy, D. E., & Sydow, J. (2008). A supply chain logistics program for warehouse management. Auerbach Publications.
Radaev, A., & Leventsov, V. (2018). THE METHODOLOGY FOR SUBSTANTIATING THE MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT OF A UNIT LOAD WAREHOUSING SYSTEM. International Journal for Quality Research, 12(4).
Raymond, A. K. (1985). Materials Handling Handbook. Wiley-Interscience Publications.
Ross, D. F. (2015). Distribution Planning and control: managing in the era of supply chain management. New York: Springer.
Singh, R. K., Chaudhary, N., & Saxena, N. (2018). Selection of warehouse location for a global supply chain: A case study. IIMB management review, 30(4), 343-356.
Voortman, C. (2004). Global logistics management. Juta and Company Ltd.