Statistical Process Control of WMS Order Tracker Paper Example

Seko Worldwide limited has a Warehouse Management System (WMS) Order Tracker which allows its track their orders. This WMS Order Tracker has the following details:

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• Name of the shipper (SEKO SMF)
• Name of the customer/destination (DISTRICT STATION)
• Order Received Date (6/27/2018)
• Actual Ship Date (6/29/2018)
• Due Date (7/6/2018)
• Details Description (pieces, weight)
• Name of Carrier (SEKO WORLDWIDE)
• Service Level (3-5 Days)
• Package Summary (total weight, UOW, Length, Width, Height, UOM, Description)

Statistical Process Control (SPC) can be used to monitor this process behavior. In this case, SPC may assist to record data as well as identify any unusual event in the process (Oakland, 2007). From the above process, two unusual events are can be identified. First, there is an overlap between the dates for which the order is received and delivered to the customer. For instance, the above process shows that the received order date is 6/27/2018 and that the due date is 7/6/2018. Since the average service level for processing and delivering the order is 3.5 days, then it does not make sense for the company to request its customers to indicate the due date of the order. In other words, this company should be able to state clearly that once the order is received, it takes about 3-5 days, for instance, to process and deliver the ordered products to the customer. By doing this, the company is able to win the trust of the customers with regard to the date for which they can expect to get the ordered items (Shiau & Lee, 2010). As such, this WMS should only incorporate the date when the order is received and then state that every order takes just 3-5 days from the time it is received and the time the ordered goods are delivered to the customers. By doing this, the company will be able to simplify the process of the MWS Order Tracker.

The second unusual event which SPC can identify in the above process is that there is no indication of the date when the customer is notified about the shipping of the ordered goods. Notifying the customer about the ordered goods is an important thing which should enable the customer to plan adequately (Sahuri & Utomo, 2016). The customer may have ordered the goods for resale or for producing other goods. As such, the customer needs to schedule how to use the ordered goods. For this reason, the shipper should notify the customer of when the goods are ready to be shipped and hence expect to get them after a predetermined period. Sometimes goods ordered may not be available and it is the responsibility of the shipper to notify the customer about such event. It would be important for the customer to know about the other goods which may be ordered if the previously ordered goods are not available. This can only become possible if the customer is notified about the status of the order on time. The notification may take various forms. For instance, the shipper may write an email to the customer indicating the status of the order. Furthermore, the shipper may choose to make a call to the customer. However, emails may serve as an official means of communication since there is a record for future reference.

The new SPC will look shown below:

• Order Processing (3-5 days)
• Order Received Date
• Notification to the Customer
• (emails, phone calls)
• Delivery Date
• Arranging for Shipping

This process does not require the intervention of sigma six since it has simple steps to be accomplished simply by the above SPC chart.

References

Oakland, J. S. (2007). Statistical process control. London: Routledge.

Sahuri, G., & Utomo, F. A. P. (2016). Warehouse Management System. Information System Application, 1(1).

Shiau, J. Y., & Lee, M. C. (2010). A warehouse management system with sequential picking for multi-container deliveries. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 58(3), 382-392.