Archive for March, 2008
Advances in materials handling technologies allow conventional operations (i.e., reach truck & pallet jack operations) to work with clear heights approaching 40’. With this increase in storage height, sprinkler systems have had to play catch up. Traditionally, warehouses with these clear heights have relied on in-rack sprinklers to provide adequate fire suppression. However, we all know the headaches that come with in-rack sprinklers:
· The risk of damaging a sprinkler head or line and releasing water inadvertently.
(I witnessed such an occasion at a facility in Texas that was struggling with order throughput at the time. Not only did the burst damage product and create a hell of a mess, it stopped operations just long enough to make that day’s shipping fall well short of the mark with pickers standing around waiting to get access to these critical aisles.)
· The inflexibility it introduces in rack profiling since openings are set to protect the sprinkler lines. Either an operation lives with the profiles as they are – despite unavoidable changes in their operations – or sprinkler lines are moved at great expense.
In ambient environments, like dry grocery warehouses, ESFR (early suppression fast response) systems provide the necessary fire protection from the ceiling leaving the racking free of obstructions and operators with the maximum flexibility.
However, until very recently, frozen environments have not had similar solutions available. Tyco has developed its Quell sprinkler system that allows freezer operations to provide adequate fire suppression from a ceiling mounted network that eliminates the need for in-rack sprinklers. You can read more about the system here.
March 19th, 2008
One of the first things anyone in the distribution business learns is the 80/20 rule, or more formally, Pareto’s Law:
· 80% of shipping volumes are generated by the top 20% of SKUs
· 20% of shipping volumes are generated by the bottom 80% of SKUs
Traditionally, this is what we call the “fast-slow” split and every distribution center grapples with how to manage these very two different sets of items. In fact, at KOM, we like to remind people that there is a third set of items, the “hyper-fast”, that deserve special attention since these top 5% of SKUs can generate anywhere from 30 – 50% of total shipping volumes.
So who was Pareto and where did his law come from?
Vilfredo Pareto was an economist and avid gardener in Italy during the late 1800s. He made two observations in his professional work and hobby that led him to articulate what would later become “Pareto’s Law”.
· As an economist studying land ownership in Italy, he observed that 80% of the land was owned by 20% of the land owners.
· As a gardener, he observed that 80% of his peas came from 20% of the peapods he grew.
This curious coincidence led him to look for that distribution pattern elsewhere and he noticed a great many things had this logarithmic distribution. Today, Pareto’s Law describes patterns across a whole range of disciplines, not just the supply chain.
· Traffic engineers tell us that 80% of the traffic is generated by 20% of the vehicles.
· Marketers tell us that 80% of a marketing campaign’s results come from 20% of the advertising spend.
· Cooks tell us that a chicken is 80% done in the first 20% of its cooking time.
So here’s a water cooler game for distribution folks – where else in life have you seen Pareto’s law in action?
March 11th, 2008
There are countless ways we strive to communicate with you. For a company like KOM International, this may mean news releases, articles in industry publications, email correspondence and updates, or our website. Each of these communication channels allows us to share news and keep you current on the latest developments at KOM.
With this blog, we open up another channel to share our ideas, suggestions and concerns. What makes this channel unique, is that it creates the opportunity for you to respond. Here, at this space, our community of operators can gather to exchange views, swap ideas and, hopefully, have a good laugh now and then.
We can’t do this alone: we need you. We encourage you to join the conversation by sending us a comment when you read something that provokes thought. Or maybe, you’ll read the comments and be provoked to share an insight or experience based on a comment posted from someone else in the KOM community. You should also send us questions or topics you want addressed on this blog; count on us to get the discussion started, we’re counting on you to keep it going.
March 5th, 2008