Store Receiving

The Store Receiving System represents the integration of logistics inventory management and distribution with chain store receiving in a paper free environment. By integrating merchandising receiving and distribution with warehouse distribution center receiving, shipment container labeling, basic stock replenishment picking and contents tracking and other specialty merchandise handling into a single system that tracks the contents of each shipment container and its contents with a single barcode license plate label.

Managing in-transit inventories through status management of stored containers awaiting loading, shipped containers en-route to destination and received at the destination store. Information is communicated to the store level processing where it is interfaced with carrier scanned information for a shipment container level confirmation of receipt. Detailed receiving and adjustments at the store level are supported for contents verification and additions of missing items in the communication.

The system provides for stock staging, carrier and trailer scheduling and management, carrier bill of lading and manifest and integration of carrier 210 and 214 (shipment notification and acknowledgement and invoice) which provides for three levels of shipment verification, one from the warehouse distribution center locations, one from the carrier and one from the store level.

Warehouse operations supported include, cross dock labeling and tracking, pick-and-pack order picking, pick-to-store, wave picking, pick-face replenishment and palletized inventory storage and management. Shipment operations and manifest/bill of lading production are supported in a manual and automated scanned environment. With conveyor based overhead scanning to trailer loading diversion, through an integrated carrier/trailer scheduling application that schedules chain store deliver loading in a chronological fashion for advanced planning.

The Store Receiving and Logistics System was developed with C++ in a relational database SQL environment in support of head office large data base and large SKU base requirements. Remote center support is provided with a mixture of X-Base, Fox-Pro, Clipper and Windows X-Base supportive applications that operate as independent solutions which where then integrated into the overall Store Receiving and Logistics support system in order to capture carrier cost and logistics automated loading efficiencies while also providing a paper free environment for store based carrier delivery and receipt operations.

Through the implementation of a common carton label or license plate that provided the routing, carrier, handling and inventory contents information in a non-valuation based visible system. Initially implemented to manage an inventory flow of 1.2 billion retail / 750 million cost per annum across 350 destination points in a nation-wide distribution network, the systems performance and simplicity was the foremost design concern. With operations commencement in 1996 the Store Receiving system integrated applications design and development efforts for interfaces in existence since 1991 and operated through year 2000 in an 1.2 million dollar endeavor.

System integration points included AS/400 Merchandising token based processing operations for distribution information of an Island Pacific based Merchandising system into a Windows and PC based operations environment.

Carrier Supportive interfaces included, United Parcel Service (UPS), Purolator, National Logistics Services (DYLEX), J.D. Smith and Sons, Mowat Express, Maritime-Ontario, Manitoulin Transport.

Dylex IT, Biway IT, NLS IT, REF Retail Systems, Island Pacific Merchandise Management, Robertson Electric, RS Materials Handling, Symbol Technologies, Teklogix, Monarch Marking, Weber Marking.

The Store Receiving System provided the paperless environment that would allow for shipments to be tracked from the receipt at the dock, the application of license plate bar code label, staging for delivery and/or storage, conveyance, scan for outbound delivery via overhead or manual hand scanning and outbound lane diversion to an awaiting pre-scheduled trailer.

This was accomplished with binary search capabilities across a large store based inventory combined with a store scan for outbound shipment and scheduling application that would allow for a planned loading and shipment operation and communication of pending in-transit receipts to the store based systems.