Ten Ways to Supercharge your Distribution Centre, Warehouse and Warehouse Management System with Accurate Stock Keeping Unit Dimensional Data.

1. Rhett Talley, National Business Development Manager, Scale Components Pty Ltd
Ten Ways to
Supercharge your
DC & WMS
with Accurate SKU
Master Data
Buy
a
CubiScan!

2. Who uses a CubiScan in Australia?

3. Crikey! The SKUs are attacking!
“No Plan Survives First Contact with the SKU”
Sun Tzu

4. 1. Facility design. When a company starts planning for a new Distribution
Centre, one of the first things the DC designer will need is the detail on the products
that will be stored there: What are their dimensions? The smallest? The biggest? Their
shapes? How much do they weigh? Will they be stored individually or on pallets?
Seems obvious, right?
The answers will dictate everything from the design of the facility's picking and
packing areas to the type(s) of storage systems that will be used.

5. 2. Storage. Good dimensional data can help DCs maximise their storage space. Once
stock-keeping units (SKUs) have been weighed and measured, their profiles can be
uploaded to a warehouse management system (WMS) for use in determining the
optimal storage location for each item—where it should go and whether it should be
stored in flow racks, shelving, or other storage mediums.
Not only does this help
optimize storage space, but
it also ensures that the
SKUs will actually fit in
their assigned spaces.

6. 3. Slotting. Dimensional data can help streamline the slotting process. Once the
SKUs' dimensions have been captured, they're imported into special slotting
software (say, dynamic slotting), which uses that information—in conjunction with
data on order characteristics like pick frequency—to determine how to arrange
products within the pick zones to optimize order fulfillment.

7. 4. Picking. When workers pick directly into shipping cartons, dimensional data
can be key to preventing carton selection errors. Often, pickers are left to make
their best guesses as to what size carton to use, but that can prove costly and
time consuming. If the box is too small, the packer has to remove the items and
repack them, slowing throughput. Dimensional data can help ensure the right
size carton is used.
In addition, the data can be helpful in determining where individual items should
go in a carton and the order in which they should be picked to ensure everything
fits neatly inside the box without crushing the items on the bottom. Also,
accurate weight information on SKUs can promote good ergonomic practices by
ensuring that order cartons weigh no more than, say, 20 kgs.

8. 5. Verification. Once a SKU's weight has been captured and uploaded to the
WMS, the information can be used to verify picking.
As each order is received, the WMS calculates how much it should weigh, based
on the weight of the carton itself plus each of the items it contains. After the
order has been assembled, the carton is “check-weighed”—perhaps via an in-line
scale on a conveyor system. If the actual weight differs from the expected
weight, the carton can be set aside for further examination. Automated
verification can cut down on the need for manual order inspections, resulting in
substantial savings in time and labor.

9. 6. Packing + Carton Optimisation. Dimensional data helps DCs optimise their
packaging. Shipping items in oversized cartons stuffed with filler can lead to big
waste and inefficiency. Some companies are shipping cartons that are 40 to 60
percent too large and so are paying to ship just air. Dimensional data can also
help with packaging optimisation in operations that use standard- sized cartons.
For example, the data can be used in computer-aided carton selection as well as
for decisions about the optimal amount of void fill and other packing materials
to use.

10. 7. Pallet building. Dimensional data can be very helpful when it comes to building
stable pallets. Once the data has been entered into the WMS, the system can use it
to determine how items should be stacked on the pallet (typically with larger and
heavier items on the bottom) to ensure load stability.
Pah! Who needs
pallet building
software?

11. 8. Load building. Not only can dimensional and weight data help with building
pallets, it can help with building loads for trailers, shipping containers, and other
conveyances. Whether an operation is shipping full pallets, cases, irregularly
shaped products, or a mix of all of the above, it can feed the data into shipping,
warehousing, or load building software, which then determines how to load the
truck to make the best use of space while staying within weight limits.
Bad. Good. Also good.

12. 9. Shipping. The advent of "dimensional weight" or "dim weight" billing has changed the
economics of parcel shipping. Good dimensional data will help shippers avoid costly
mistakes. Under the carriers' dim weight rules, a shipper must define the package's actual
weight and its L/W/H dimensions or its cubic volume.
If the dimensional weight exceeds the actual weight, that becomes the basis for the freight
charge. By gathering precise dimensional data on their packages, shippers can ensure they're
rating their parcels correctly and avoid chargebacks by carriers.
But it's not just about avoiding chargebacks. Good dimensional data also allows shippers to
estimate carrier charges for rate shopping purposes.
“I wonder, will this thing “weigh-out” or “cube-out”?
Hmm, gonna go with the cube.”

13. 10. Customer service. Good service includes providing customers with good data. By
providing accurate dimensional data on your products, you give customers the
opportunity to use that information to benefit their own operations. Plus, if you charge
for shipping, you can boost your credibility with customers by including the relevant
dimensional and weight data on invoices. That way, they can be assured they're being
charged appropriately for freight.
Is this your customer? Or is this your customer?
OMG -how big iz zee cube?

14. The guy on the left invested in a new CubiScan to obtain accurate SKU dimensional
data. This changed his life for the better and improved his companies performance
– and he was promoted!
The guy on the right did not invest in a CubiScan.
Don’t be the guy on the right - please.
In conclusion…

15. SKU & FREIGHT MEASUREMENT DATA: CRITICAL to SUPPLY CHAIN EFFICIENCY
Which CubiScan is right for you?
CubiScan 100 for SKUs and cartons CubiScan 150 ideal for small to medium boxed
freight and cartons
CubiScan 125 for smaller irregular shapes
and boxed SKUs
CS AKL 1200 portable version for SKUs and
palletised freight and “uglies”

16. Is a CubiScan right for your business?
Simply consider the following:
Do you have a modern WMS that needs accurate SKU master data in order to
make smart decisions about picking, packing, slotting, cartons, loads, quality
control, shipping and so on?
Do you have thousands – perhaps tens of thousands of individual SKUs?
Are you getting many new SKUs into your system each year? Do the SKUs vary in
shape, size or weight?
If you answered “Yes!” to these two questions then a CubiScan might be right for
you.
Please log onto to www.scalecomponents.com.au to learn more.
If you’ve made it this far – thanks for viewing! © Rhett Talley 2014