In order to make the goods flow from the factory faster and more fluent an external warehouse or terminal could be used for consolidating the shipments. Having a place for consolidation can become quite necessary as the number of manufacturing facilities grow. Currently most of the products that are manufactured outside the main factory are coming there for consolidation and some products also for packing. It is taking space and resources, which is quite the opposite of the management’s wishes to reduce packing and storage space. This also increases traffic in the factory area that is already very crowded.
It has been planned that different packing departments would be combined as one unit. If that project will be realized the need for external consolidation space probably increases.
In the early stage of the project it was planned that the consolidation of the shipments would be done in an external terminal. This option was not fully examined, because developing the software has taken most of the project team’s time.
There is already one terminal where the products can be stored for a short time and consolidated. This possibility is not fully utilized. The forwarding agents are also taking finished products to their terminals for temporary storing before the shipment is complete. This potential is not fully utilized either.
Having several forwarding agents and terminals and different trucks coming to pick up the packages from factory can be confusing and challenging to manage. This is probably the reason why the existing possibilities are not fully utilized.
Having just one terminal would be easy to manage and the cooperation with the chosen partner can be developed according to ABB’s wishes. All the finished products from the factory could be taken to the terminal with one delivery truck.
This would be fast, simple to manage and reduce the traffic in the factory area.
Also the packing and spare part collecting and kitting could be moved to this terminal later, which would free even more space from the factory.
The location of the terminal should be considered carefully. The terminal should be located near airport, preferably somewhere between ABB’s factory and the airport.
That way transporting the products would be effective and economic and deliveries to airport would be fast and easy to handle.
6.1.1 Consolidation model
Figure 19 illustrates the model for consolidation if one external terminal is used.
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Figure 19. Consolidation model
The finished products are taken through RFID-readers to the truck at the factory.
When the RFID-reader has read the package the system will make a goods movement to the external storage location. When the truck is full, the packages will be delivered to the terminal. At the terminal there is also a RFID-reader that makes the goods receipt to the terminal. The goods are stored in the terminal as long as the delivery is complete. When the delivery is complete the forwarding department will make invoice and booking to the forwarding agent. After that a loading report is issued to the terminal for collecting the goods. The loading report contains the package information and also information to the terminal about which forwarder is going to pick up the shipment and when.
6.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of consolidation model
Table 2. Advantages and disadvantages of consolidation model
Advantages Disadvantages
Easy to control the shipments Tracking of packages and shipments
No storage outside IT problems
Saves space Controlling
Easy to consolidate shipments from different manufacturing facilities
Cost
Service
Consolidation of the shipments would facilitate the work of forwarding department because controlling the outgoing shipments would become much easier and the packages of finished products would not be stored outside. Also space is saved which is important.
Consolidating outside the factory can also make controlling of the shipments more difficult, handling of the packages could not be controlled anymore. The cost of consolidation may become too high.
6.1.3 Costs and operation of the consolidation terminal
The easiest way to operate the terminal would be to choose a partner who will take charge of operating the activities in the terminal. In terms of costs it would also be convenient to make such contract with the operating partner that would cover all or most of the operating costs. Below are calculations that are made based on costs of a similar kind of terminal to show an estimation of the costs for a consolidation terminal.
Figure 20. Layout of the consolidation terminal
Figure 20 is a proposition for the simplified layout of the consolidation terminal.
There are loading docks for loading and unloading the packages. RFID readers could be installed to the loading docks. There is also an area where the office and employees’ dressing rooms are located.
Table 3. Monthly rent of the consolidation terminal
Definition m² Price/m² Total
Warehouse 3766 8,25 31070
Office 350 10 3500
. 34570
In Table 3 an estimation of the rent of a consolidation terminal excluding VAT is calculated. The calculation is based on costs of a similar kind of terminal that ABB uses. At yearly level the rent of a warehouse space and a small office area of approximately 3800m² would be approximately . 415 000 excluding VAT.
In addition to rent, there will be other costs for operating the terminal. The operation costs depend on what kind of contract ABB makes with the operating
partner. There are costs like electricity, heating, maintenance, and waste management. There are also costs of the personnel needed operating the terminal.
The terminal should be operated in two shifts, because ABB’s packing departments work in two shifts. In the terminal should be forklift drivers who will take care of the warehouse management, receipt of incoming packages and loading the outgoing packages and one coordinator who coordinates mainly the outgoing shipments and is in contact with ABB. There should also be a person at ABB’s factory who coordinates the traffic between the factory and the terminal and takes care of other practical issues concerning the deliveries. The people working in the terminal must be trained by ABB.
In the terminal different kind of equipment is needed. There must be forklifts, RFID readers and printers and normal IT equipment like computers and printers. It should be decided if this equipment would be owned by ABB or the operating partner. Concerning IT systems it should also be considered, if an operating partner is chosen to operate the terminal, is the partner given access to ABB’s ERP system or what kind of system would be used and how the information would be transferred to ABB’s system.
It could also be considered if the terminal is used just for short time storage for finished products or could there also be other activities like packing, manufacturing and storing, collecting and packing of spare parts.
6.1.4 Benefits of consolidation
It is difficult to calculate the benefits of consolidation in money, but having a consolidation terminal is not just to save costs. By using a consolidation terminal, space would be released from the factory. The finished products would not be stored outside anymore, which would decrease the risk of damages. Risk of damages would also be diminished, because in the terminal there would be more room to operate than at the factory’s premises and a system could be created that
facilitates keeping the warehouse in order and finding the packages when those are wanted to move.
The operating partner is specialized in this kind of functions and probably has more modern and efficient ways of working than ABB. That way the operating would be more efficient. Also the personnel costs for ABB would be smaller and the operating partner is probably able to use their personnel more flexibly and react to high and low peaks.