Shippers Automotive Group is a third-party logistics, or 3PL, provider that specializes in warehousing, transportation services and supply-chain management for the automotive sector, as well as appliance companies. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, they hold locations in six states, boasting a cumulative 1.4 million square feet of warehouse space.
Bar codes are an increasingly outdated technology, unable to hold more than a single data point. For warehouse pickers, having to scan multiple bar codes to gather the necessary data to process
individual orders is inefficient.
Shippers Automotive’s 140,000 square-foot warehouse in Jacksboro, Tennessee, in particular, was using bar codes for the repackaging labels as pickers collected parts to assemble in totes for the ultimate construction of commercial-grade stoves. This demanded that the pickers conduct five scans for each repackaging order, taking up valuable time.
The company asked SC Codeworks to simplify this cumbersome and time-consuming scanning system and thus expedite their repackaging process.
The solution: a QR code. The technology allows scans to read multiple data points at once.
“You get all of the information in one scan,” said Shelley Kyser, operations manager at Shippers Automotive Group in Battle Creek, Michigan. “You get the part number, you get the serial number, you get the quantity. Everything is right in that, versus scanning it three times.”
Previously, for each job, pickers had to conduct individual scans, for the:
Using QR codes rather than bar codes compiled those last three data points into a single scan.This reduced the number of scans pickers had to make for each job from five to three.
“Two fewer scans, over 500 to 600 picks a day—it saves quite a bit of time,” said JustinStewart, operations manager in the Jacksboro warehouse. “This has helped me reduce man-hour costs.”
Previously, Stewart said, this particular repackaging line required a full day’s work from two employees. Now the same tasks can be accomplished with just one employee and a half day’s work, allowing him to divert a warehouse employee to other tasks for half of each day.
Under the old system, if a picker scanned the wrong bar code, the warehouse system wouldn’t let them proceed until they fixed the problem. By compiling three scans into one, this reduced the chance of such errors gumming up the process.
“It’s one and done,” said Stewart.
The QR code also helps the company minimize excess inventory on the line.
The veteran pickers, Stewart said, “greatly love” the QR code system, “because it does speed up their job and makes it easier.”
Codeworks offers a one-stop shop for products and services.
This includes:
These benefits work synergistically to improve the productivity, efficiency, and, most importantly, profitability of our business partners.
