For Auckland company Onelink,
their warehouse management system
could literally be described
as a life-saving operation.
Each day, they despatch a hugely diverse 22,000 product lines – everything from stationery and teabags, to high-end pharmaceuticals and surgical equipment.
Established in 1993, Onelink is a major supplier to public and private hospitals in New Zealand. Onelink – formerly Health Support (HSL) – supplies their customers with the thousands of consumables required to run a modern hospital. Each day, from their 8,000sqm distribution centre in Auckland, Onelink despatch a hugely diverse 22,000 product lines – everything from stationery and teabags, to high-end pharmaceuticals and surgical equipment.
About 60% of Onelink’s business is derived from the major
public hospitals in Auckland. The other 40% comes from public hospitals nationwide and a range of healthcare providers in the private sector. A distinct feature of its their service model is that they fulfill orders direct to the individual ward within a hospital. The average order is made up of about eight products lines; although some are as small as just one or two items. Certain orders – such as urgently-needed surgical equipment – require an extremely quick response time from the warehouse shelf to the operating table.
Since 1997, Interlogic has provided Onelink with MultiPick® software and a range of custom designed equipment to meet the unique requirements of the healthcare industry. Onelink, which is owned by the publicly-listed EBOS Group Ltd, has evolved its warehouse management systems to keep pace with its significant and steady growth.
BENEFITS AND IMPROVEMENTS
Picking accuracy: 99.85%
Picking speed: ↑22%
Shifts ending at 6.30pm vs 11pm
No stocktakes, saves: 2-3 days
Supports:
Growth of 4-5% YOY
22,000 Product lines
“Our operations team worked with Interlogic to achieve a seamless upgrade and improve efficiencies by 22%.”
EVOLVING TECHNOLOGY
In order to drive operational efficiencies and continually improve customer service, Onelink upgraded to MultiPick® Version 3.2 in April 2009. According to Greg Managh, Onelink General Manager, the increased functionality of MultiPick® is a natural fit with the market drivers in the healthcare sector.
A computer monitor, centrally located in the warehouse, provides staff with at-a-glance updates of activity. “The screen provides a snapshot of how we’re doing at any one
time,” says Richard Jones. “Within seconds I can tell whether we’re under control or falling behind schedule.”
Supervisors set and monitor the daily workload priorities, while warehouse staff receive notification of their next picking task directly from a hand-held RF device.
Another major benefit of working with MultiPick® is that the software can be reconfigured and finetuned with no disruption to normal operations.
INCREASED PICKING ACCURACY
Over the years MultiPick® has progressively streamlined the workflow and helped the business process its increased volumes. The latest upgrade has facilitated the transition to a ‘paperless’ warehouse management system.
According to Richard Jones, Group Logistics Manager, there have been marked improvements in both speed and accuracy of picking. “We now run at about 99.85% picking accuracy. And our hourly pick rate has increased from 180 200 to 250-300; so our picking speed has increased by at least 22% under the new version.”
THE FUTURE
Richard Jones says while the engineering and development behind MultiPick® is highly sophisticated, it’s very user-friendly on the floor.
“It’s a very robust system that also easy to use. Staff have adapted to our new processes very easily.” General Manager Greg Managh says MultiPick® software is now a proven tool in public and private hospital supply in New Zealand, having supported Onelink’s year-on-year growth of 4-5%.