Customer Profile

Crowe Transportation

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

Industry

Storage, Warehousing and Shipping

Product

OpenWMS

The Challenge

Crowe Transportation, a third-party logistics company based in Elizabethtown, PA, was founded in 1968 as a milk hauler. By 1997, the company expanded into storage, warehousing and shipping. Crowe operates three facilities in the Elizabethtown area.

One of Crowe’s customers, a candy manufacturer that has been in business since the 1800s, approached Crowe with a problem. The company was bursting at the seams of its 130,000 square foot facility. In addition, the confectionary company’s all-manual, first in, first out (FIFO) system could not provide the efficiency and accurate inventory tracking they needed. Based on its long-term relationship with Crowe, the candy company decided to solve its problems by outsourcing its distribution to Crowe.

The Solution

Crowe acquired a food-grade storage warehouse, and then went looking for an automated warehouse management system (WMS) to put in it. Crowe’s customer had previously examined buying their own WMS and had evaluated several companies. Based on their research, the candy company recommended that Crowe consider OpenWMS from Control Solutions.

Crowe also evaluated WMS options, including checking with other facilities and getting recommendations from colleagues. Then Crowe followed up with their customer’s original recommendation.

“Our customer had some good ideas for setting up the system,” says Brian Crowe, president of Crowe Transportation. “They recommended talking to Control Solutions. They made a presentation, and we liked what we saw.”

In the past, the candy company’s customer service clerks would hand key an order into a computer system. The system generated a multipart paper order. This order would go to credit approval, dispatch and transportation. Using a paper rider, warehouse workers would pick orders, relying on memory to help them find the right product.

Materials coming into the warehouse were also hand-logged into the computer. Pallets were identified with hand-written serialized pallet tags.

Now, orders are first processed through the candy company’s computer system. The order is electronically distributed through credit, dispatch and transportation. The order is transmitted to Crowe’s computer system at the warehouse. Crowe personnel enter orders on the OpenWMS. The OpenWMS then generates bar-coded pick tickets.

Crowe’s warehouse workers now record material movements using Hand Held Products’ Dolphin 9501 mobile terminals with bar code scanners. Bin locations are also bar-coded. The information is immediately transmitted to the OpenWMS via the wireless network (Cisco Systems access points), so product location and availability is instantly known.

When it is time to pick, the sophisticated locator system on the OpenWMS provides workers with the shortest route (keeping FIFO in mind) to complete orders quickly. When the shipment is complete, OpenWMS generates a bill of lading. OpenWMS also offers reports, so the candy company can get just what they need to compare data and get an accurate picture of their business.

The Results

According to the candy company, the new system is accurate and much faster than the old system. In terms of inventory control, food safety and waste, the company sees a vast improvement.

“The accuracy is the big thing,” says Crowe. “Plus the whole process is so much less time-consuming for our warehouse people.”

A short learning curve – workers were confident within two weeks – and accessibility of product information were unanticipated benefits. It is now easy for management to see all the data in different formats. And the companies found OpenWMS to be flexible and expandable. If changes are needed now or in the future, the system can handle it.

Crowe Transportation is happy to satisfy their original customer, and sees benefits for Crowe down the road. “This system allowed us to keep one customer happy, but it has also made us more competitive because we can now offer this to our other customers,” says Crowe.

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