The Numina Group's ability to
Direct Connect automated
material handling equipment
and automation processes to SAP's
WM, warehouse management
module unifies distribution and
business processes leading to
important competitive advantages.
Today, many SAP users are
looking at expanding the role of
SAP to incorporate the warehouse
and distribution operations and
consolidate their supply chain and
warehouse management by
eliminating their third-party
warehouse management systems
(WMS). SAP's WM module has
continued to evolve over the last
few years with many of the core
features needed by sophisticated
distribution operations. It is now
positioned to rival the capabilities
of many of the higher feature-rich
WMS packages that are referred to
as 'Breed WMS'.
As companies migrate from
legacy WMS to SAP WM a solution
is needed to 'Direct Connect'
automation to SAP. Numina Group
Real-Time Distribution System
(RDS), a product specifically
developed to address the
requirements of warehouse control
and automation has recently
incorporated SAP's JCo
communication toolset for linking
automation seamlessly to SAP. RDS
is a versatile industrial multifunction
control platform used in
conveyor control,
printer/applicator systems,
high-speed sorting, vision capture
and analysis, scan/weigh/cube
systems and other material
handling applications.
RDS with Direct Connect
manages the real-time control and
integration of new or existing
material handling equipment
without third-party middleware.
This eliminates additional software
development service, support costs
and simplifies the automation
process. Using Direct Connect, SAP
users can easily leverage their
existing equipment investments;
while improving operations,
shipping accuracy and bottom line
results without the expense of
maintaining dual inventory and
warehouse management systems.
One such SAP user, Forest
Pharmaceuticals decided to
eliminate a legacy WMS in favour
of Numina's RDS Direct Connect to
manage its existing pick-to-light
systems, in-motion scale for parcel
weight audit and conveyor and
sorting equipment in 2005. The
initial project phase moved their
warehouse inventory and business
rules to SAP. Dan Hanrahan, CEO of
Numina Group explains, "We
worked with the Forest Team to
reuse almost all of their existing
investment in the control
hardware, pick to light system and
conveyor and directly coupled the
material handling equipment into
R3." Since then, Forest
Pharmaceuticals has expanded the
automation at their main
distribution centre by adding a
three Print and Apply Label
Applicator System, to automatically
apply a combination packing slip
and shipper label at their shipping
docks. "The Print and Apply System
uses the same RDS Direct Connect
Toolset, software design and RFC
libraries developed during the
initial projects. This enabled Forest
to more easily incorporate the Print
and Apply process to their
operation. The labelling process
reduces labour cost and improves
carton shipment rates by
automatically applying and
validating that the proper labels
are applied to shipments," Mr
Hanrahan stated. He added that
'intelligent' material handling and
automation directly linked to SAP
provide businesses with significant
competitive advantages that can
dramatically improve profits and
customer satisfaction.
....CONTD
