Supply Chain Story. The Kimberly-Clark

Transcription

1 The Kimberly-Clark Supply Chain Story Kimberly-Clark Australia recently transformed its finished goods supply chain with the help of the GS1 standards, and working with GS1 Australia and GS1 Australia Alliance Partner solution providers

2 Global company, everyday solutions Kimberly-Clark and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world s population trust K-C s brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With well-known and trusted brands, Kimberly-Clark holds the No. 1 or No. 2 share position in more than 80 countries. In Australia alone, Kimberly-Clark has provided household products for the past 80 years, with leading consumer brands including the Huggies, Kleenex, Kleenex Cottonelle, VIVA, U by Kotex, Poise and Depend brands. Kimberly-Clark Australia has annual sales revenue of approximately $1 billion and employs some 1,500 people. Its world-class manufacturing facilities are located in Ingleburn and Albury in New South Wales and Millicent in South Australia. Creative innovation Creative innovation is one of KCA s core values, extending from product development and marketing right through to its supply chain process. KCA is responsible for inventing five of the eight product categories in which it competes. It s no surprise, then, that the company has also been a leader in the use of the GS1 standards. KCA was an early adopter of electronic data interchange (EDI) in its healthcare business in Just a few years later, KCA led the way with web-based business-to-business (B2B) trading. It was also one of the founding manufacturers to exchange standardised and synchronised supply chain data with its trading partners using GS1 Australia s data synchronisation data pool, EANnet, now GS1net. Plus, all of the company s products across all its industry sectors are identified with GS1 Bar Codes, and they use SSCCs and ASN messages as an integral part of their operations. We introduced GS1 Bar Codes on all levels of packaging 30 years ago, across our entire product range, even in the B2B divisions, before they were really being requested by customers, so that we d be ahead of the curve, said KCA s Mario Carniato, esupply Chain Manager. KCA is also a significant user of Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) business practices, the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) strategy and supply chain management capability, which it is continuously improving. Produced in partnership with the following GS1 Alliance Partners:

3 The Mission: Transform the supply chain Consistent with the company s continual dedication to innovation, Kimberly Clark Australia (KCA) embarked on a project to improve the footprint, velocity, efficiency and service capability of its finished goods supply chain. In order to accomplish this, the scope of Project DANE (Distribution And Network Excellence), as it was known, was to build brand new, highly automated Automated Storage & Retrieval System (ASRS) central distribution centres in Sydney and Millicent, and high velocity Regional Distribution Centres (RDCs) in Sydney and Adelaide, as well as to revamp other existing facilities. It wasn t as simple as just building new warehouses, said Mario Carniato, esupply Chain Manager. We were looking to streamline our supply chain from start to finish. As well as the obvious elements of building new Distribution Centres (DCs) with associated Warehouse Management System (WMS), the project comprised 36 mini projects, including: Modifying our production lines to incorporate automated Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) Label Printer Applicators that would produce ASRS-compliant pallets and real time recording of production inventory; Design and implementation of a Roll-On-Roll-Off (RORO) dock and vehicle system to streamline and automate truckload movements between the factory and new ASRS NDC; Data quality audit, to ensure GTIN uniqueness for bar code scanning; Design and implementation of a new Dock Management portal for communicating and controlling vehicle cross- dock movements, and satisfying Chain of Responsibility requirements; Introducing the use of Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs) for receipting of goods from all sources; Optimising the size of our pallets to eliminate overhang (suit ASRS), standardise height, and to optimise transport and safety; SSCC/bar code enabled processes to speed, error-proof and automate all product movements,. In its existing manufacturing and distribution facilities, the processes were manual and informal, leaving significant room for error, inefficiencies and waste. Therefore, the goals of Project DANE were to: Streamline and simplify processes and systems Accelerate information and physical flows, including speed to market Automate routine and repetitive processes Integrate end-to-end processes, all the way to the customer Integrate multiple systems in real time ERP, WMS, RORO, TMS, production control, LPA, and EDI Standardise common procedures used at multiple sites Eliminate waste, such as unnecessary steps and delays, excess travel, errors and re-working.

4 Improving Data Integrity In order to achieve accelerated information flow and support error-free processes in its supply chain transformation, the taskforce needed to ensure the integrity of the master data. To find out the exact state of its data quality, KCA engaged GS1 Australia to conduct a Data Quality Audit. The objective of the audit was to assess and rectify errors with bar code numbers (GTINs), product dimensions, weights, contents, palletisation, item descriptions and physical packaging descriptions across all levels of packaging on imported products. The audit identified significant data omissions and inaccuracies that would severely impact on the new accelerated, integrated and automated production and distribution processes. Data integrity is the foundation for all business functions, especially if they are computer-supported, and particularly if they are automated or fast flowing, said Mario Carniato. For Project DANE in particular, ensuring accurate product data was the number one concern. Without complete accuracy, the whole supply chain process would be at risk. Total Automation GS1 Data Quality Audit: Results Snapshot The audit hit 907 externally purchased SKUs comprising 1526 packaging levels (ie GTINs for outer packs, inner packs etc.) 36% had the wrong GTIN in ERP for the outer unit 39% had missing/wrong GTIN in ERP for the inner unit 5% physically have intermediate pack levels that were not defined in ERP, and hence were also missing their GTIN, dimensions etc Dimensions for almost 100% of inners and intermediate units, and a high percentage of outer units, were missing or wrong in ERP Weights for almost 100% of all units were missing or wrong in ERP According to Mario Carniato, Poor data quality was hurting every process in our business, and mostly we didn t know it! But when you try to automate, achieve fast flow, and synchronize, you expose the other 80 per cent of the iceberg you weren t seeing before. With the objectives mapped, KCA set about engaging the partners who, together, would make the automated distribution centres a reality. Dexion was appointed to help design and implement the supply chain solution. A specialist logistics and integrated systems company, Dexion manufactures and markets a broad range of storage and materials handling products, including pallet racking, shelving and integrated systems used in logistics and warehousing and storage. As a GS1 Associate Alliance Partner, Dexion understands the importance of providing solutions that promote the GS1 standards. For KCA, Dexion s solution was based on its Real-time Distribution System (RDS), a multi-function control platform which manages and controls warehouse and distribution centre operations, including materials handling equipment as well as paperless technologies, from receipt of goods to dispatch in real time. The Dexion RDS is designed to integrate with the client s other systems. In the case of KCA, it had to integrate with the SAP ERP, a custom-developed Roll On, Roll Off (RORO) system, a vehicle scheduling system (TMS), and a Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) pallet label printing/application system.

5 Over three months, Dexion worked closely with KCA at its plants to develop a blueprint for all processes and specifications for all systems. This included customizing Dexion s RDS system. Being web based, the system is accessible from anywhere at any time. The physical solution is an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), whereby seven 25m-high cranes serve nine levels and 41,000 gross pallet positions. At full speed, it can pick 190 pallets an hour. GS1 Standards at the Core The processes were designed, and the application of the Dexion RDS required, full implementation of GS1-compliant SSCC bar code pallet labels across the KCA network. The SSCC is a unique identification number assigned to each specific logistics unit, in this case a pallet, to ensure it is correctly and uniquely identified at every stage of the supply chain. The Project DANE team developed two types of SSCC, a skinny SSCC containing only the SSCC number, for internal use in certain processes, and a fat SSCC which conforms to the Australian Grocery Industry Standard. SSCCs are integral to fast flowing bar code-enabled processes. The SSCC also forms part of the contents of the ASN, an electronic message that arrives at each receiving DC before the truck, preparing the receiving warehouse for docking and put-away. KCA also uses GS1 standards for its EDI messages (i.e. ASNs). Getting the SSCC labelling right first time is critical for lean manufacturing processes, so KCA engaged another GS1 Alliance Partner, Matthews, to design and implement its software solution, idsnet. idsnet automates the product coding process so that the right code goes on the right product at the right time. The software also enables faster product change-overs and gives real-time visibility into each of the production lines in a plant. KCA installed Matthews software solution, idsnet, along with SSCC pallet-labelling systems. This adaptable and scalable solution could be integrated into the existing ERP systems as well as warehouse systems and peripheral equipment, such as scanners. Each label printer applicator (LPA) is sited at the out-feed from the robotic-palletisation cells and is fully integrated with the automation systems, as well as into KCA s back-end SAP for real-time production recording. At the Ingleburn site, the SSCC-LPA systems were installed along with the scanning component of the RORO dock system, using scanners from Datalogic. Controlled by idsnet, the scanners read each SSCC as the product is loaded onto the truck. The LPA system auto-checks each pallet against a number of rules; any exceptions lead to an error label being applied instead of a standard SSCC. Error-labelled pallets are diverted to a hospital station for manual intervention. The solution is designed to visually highlight errors at the production point allowing corrective action much sooner and preventing it from flowing down the supply chain, Matthews [Mark Dingley, General Manager, Operations] said. Ensuring source accuracy benefits the entire downstream supply chain. Lean Results, Upstream and Downstream With supply chain systems and processes underpinned by the GS1 standards, Project DANE has achieved accelerated product flows, reduced wastage, improved accuracy and increased productivity across KCA s manufacturing and distribution sites. Today, the SSCC is integral to the KCA process, driving the RDS and other technology systems. Matthews idsnet has enabled production recording to be hands-free and in real-time, as a result of each full pallet having an SSCC label. This is important both for immediate inventory visibility and availability, and also for downstream processes. At the Ingleburn plant, idsnet facilitates real-time and handsfree loading of vehicles via the RORO docks for immediate transfer of goods to KCA s NDC, so any pallet is available for sale within minutes of production. Speed and accuracy of a fully automated system have replaced a much longer, manual process for the labelling and loading of pallets, said Mr. Carniato. In the old DCs, under the old paper-and-sap system, it would take three guys an hour and a quarter to turn a truck around. Now we can do it in three minutes. The new structure has resulted in improved customer service levels as well as reduced customer lead-times, costs, inventories and working capital.

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