Astrid Kainzbauer, my advisers, for the occasion of the double degree program in Toulouse, France. Airbus Supply Chain Management and Logistics tries to find the new technology concepts to optimize the warehouse management in terms of the stock control. Three technologies, including drone, image processing and Weightlog, are studied to analyze the advantages and disadvantages for the application of the physical inventory count at the Airbus warehouse.
The warehouse management data is collected at Kuehne Nagel's outsourced warehouse in Toulouse, France, to understand the concept of warehouse management and its key activities. Regarding physical inventory counting (IPC), Airbus SCM&L is trying to find innovative technologies for warehouse management to perform physical counting and reduce labor needs and time consumption. To be on the right track, understanding the warehouse management and analyzing the technological concepts that exist in the warehouse management industry would help the researchers weigh the pros and cons of each technology concept.
Corresponding to the project of new technologies for Airbus warehouse management, the researchers had to study the concept of the warehouse management and contribute the findings by following these objectives successively. To understand the concept of the warehouse management and key activities, including the flow of SKUs movement from inbound, storage and outbound, especially based on Airbus subcontracted warehouse that the researchers have already observed.
The Scope of Research
LITERATURE REVIEW
- Warehouse Management
- Key Activities in the Warehouse Management
- Inventory and Inventory Management
- Inventory Physical Count (IPC)
- New Technologies and the Application in the Warehouse Management In this part, the new technologies including drone, image processing, and
- Drone
- Image Processing
- Weight Measurement
Cost of sales is the sum of the remaining and the incoming, subtracted by the closing. Consequently, it is crucial that inventory be recorded and reported at the correct quantity and unit price to confirm the accurate inventory amount, for the purpose of accurate gross profit calculation. Inventory management is a method of ensuring that the number of remaining inventory is sufficient to support current and future demands of users or customers (Sangchot, 2015).
At the beginning of the development of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 1961, the drone was introduced as a military weapon by an American engineer named Elmer Sperry, in order to carry a torpedo (Békési & Koronváry, 2017). Flying in a standard pattern and clear airspace, the survey drones captured a large number of photos even above inaccessible areas. To connect with the supply chain management industry, drones were first brought in to support the logistics operation.
Nevertheless, there were some arguments against the limit on drone use in the inventory. In the medical industry, image processing was introduced to aid operations in the form of digital tools. For example, the imaging algorithm was developed to provide the image of pressure injuries (PI), damage to the integrity of the skin and/or the underlying tissue (Tibes, Cherman et al., 2016).
Nurses or users tested the application on mobile devices by taking a picture of the injury and uploading them to allow the image processing algorithm to identify the stage of PI and support the decision on treatment methods. Another application of the imaging is BakeryScan, a point-of-sale system that uses a camera to scan unpackaged loaves of bread and the imaging calculates the total quantity. However, the same point of concern with this technology as the implementation in the PI detection device was that the ability to learn the image processing algorithm became more accurate the more photos and recordings the device took.
According to the technology reviews, one of the research groups proposed a weight measurement technology called Weight Log from SFS Unimarket AG. As for the functionality of Weightlog, each tank in the warehouse was equipped with a load cell and was driven by receivers that determined the weight and notified the consignee when the minimum stock was reached. Weightlog was a mobile and wireless instrument that the company can adapt to the location and installation according to the change of the floor plan of the warehouse.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Conceptual Framework
- Value Chain
- SWOT Analysis
In this company project, researchers focus on primary activities to observe the main activities in the Airbus warehouse. The main activities, accordingly, are listed to understand the movement flow of the SKU in the warehouse, which is the first objective of the company's project. Additionally, knowing the key activities in the warehouse allows researchers to understand the current state and concerns regarding physical inventory count as well as warehouse management.
This conceptual framework helps to evaluate organization, project or business, as well as to define whether the strategy should be refined or adapted to the dynamics of external factors (Hanot, 2016). The outcome of SWOT analysis can be useful to present the finding and to prepare future strategic plans. In this company project, the researchers compare the strengths and weaknesses of each new technology for inventory physical counting.
For opportunities and threats, the researchers mainly focus on the external factors regarding the aerospace industry that may affect the implementation of the new technologies for the physical inventory count in the warehouse. As a result, SWOT analysis helps the researchers to find the advantages and disadvantages of the new technologies for the physical inventory count along with the limitation that can be suggested for further studies.
Data Collection Method
FINDING AND DATA ANALYSIS
- Key Activities in Value Chain of the Warehouse Management With reference to the observation in the Kuehne + Nagel warehouse, the
- Inbound Logistics
- Storage
- Outbound Logistics
- The Classification of Storage Keeping Units (SKUs) in the Warehouse Apropos the inventory physical count, the classification of SKUs in the
- Problem Analysis in each Sub-section of Storage Area
- Strength and Weakness Analysis of the New Technologies for Inventory Physical Count at the Warehouse
- Strength and Weakness of Drone
- Strength and Weakness of Image Processing
- Strength and Weakness of Weight Log
- Opportunity and Threat Analysis of the Aerospace Industry for the New Technology Implementation for Inventory Physical Count at
Upon successful receipt, the goods are received into the system; then the barcode label is printed to identify all the details of the goods. The goods are then moved to the repacking area to be placed in the standard packaging. In accordance with three primary groups of warehouse management activities, the workflow is created by connecting all goods movements from inbound to outbound.
By walking the entire area in the warehouse, the researchers would map the key activities and the actual layout of the warehouse to understand the flow of the goods movement. The storage zone is also divided into four subdivisions according to the type of SKUs, which are stored in the different condition. The second section of the storage area is the standard size SKUs, which means that the goods are packed in the standard carton.
The third part of the storage space consists of the small SKUs, including bolts, screws and other mechanical fasteners. The last part of the storage space consists of the non-standard SKUs, including S-shaped tubes and other specific shapes. However, most SKUs are hung on the hooks on the railing.
In the problem analysis part, the problems arise from the observation in each subsection of the warehouse and the checklist of the main warehouse management activities from the literature studies. After repackaging, the small SKUs are placed in the drawers and there is no barcode label on the materials. Regarding cartridge storage conditions, both large-size and standard-size SKUs are arranged on the pallet in the cartridge format in which the SKUs are registered.
However, the main weakness of using drones for IPC in the warehouse is that the drones may not be able to access the limited space. In the case of the warehouse, both small and non-standard warehouse areas are seen as multi-layered coverages because the SKUs pile up and are arranged in a non-patterned manner. Nevertheless, the threats from the aviation industry have an impact on the drone and imaging for IPC in the warehouse.
CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION
- Conclusion
- Discussion
- Limitation of the Study
- Suggestion for Future Study
In the end, the turnover rate of SKUs can be roughly determined by the production quota and the forecasted orders, which allocate the pieces of material in each component of the aircraft. Because of the predictable turnover rate, the warehouse management team can control the frequency of IPC that may not require many cycles. The uses of drones and image processing will instead be deferred to the optional selection, since the inventory control does not require a number of counts per year.
Based on the literature reviews, Banker (2016), Applebaum and Nehmer (2017), Wunderlin (2017) agreed that the drones might be used in inventory counting because of the innovative features to fly from place to place and to scan barcodes for each label. However, the observation on the ground points out the limit that the current technology of drones cannot perform adequately; for example in the storage area where goods are piled up or stacked behind another. To work more effectively with drone and image processing for IPC, the function in the warehouse should contain products in large or standard sizes.
Moreover, the application of the image processing with the drone can generate extensive results in terms of the visual data and the count prediction based on the image recognition in the system. The conceptual framework of SWOT analysis will create the false perceptions of the new technology because it portrays the broad images of the previous research and environment. For this study, the purpose of SWOT analysis is to create an awareness regarding the practical functions of the technology concepts.
Said in Banker's journal (2016), the uses of drones in IPC were being developed and studied whether the smaller size of drones can work well in this field or not. As a result, there is much room for improvement to be discovered for the implementation of these new technologies in the warehouse management business. Speaking of the main activities in warehouse management, the receiving process is another dimension to study the possibility of using the drone.
Accordingly, the suggestion for future research is to focus on other key activities in warehouse management, to search for more adaptable suitable spaces for drone use.
