Over the last decade, a US company built a global reputation of excellence in warehouse and supply chain logistics. With more than 400 facilities in 15 countries, the organization is always searching for ways to boost operational efficiency within warehouses while better serving customers.

As a long-time partner, we collaborated to help them use a data-driven approach to optimize warehouse production and continue providing a valuable service to its worldwide client base.

Seeing the Full Picture

At the project’s outset, the client asked us to help design and develop a more robust warehouse platform that leverages existing systems with new applications to provide greater system-driven enhancements to warehouse operations. But as the team began the rebuilding process, they noticed the current system lacked visibility of any real-time production progress.

Realizing how vital warehouse productivity statistics would be to the platform overhaul, our team set out to develop a solution. A customizable data dashboard with distinct throughput metrics able to integrate within a facility’s operating system and clearly articulate warehouse efficiency.

A Collaborative Creation

We initially built a worker-based performance dashboard focused on task assignment and completion at one of the client’s warehouses. Our team intentionally omitted throughput stats from the early dashboard, instead opting to survey company staff and managers to better understand the KPIs they prioritized.

Through that input, we were able to understand the client’s definition of throughput and collaborated on a branded, customizable dashboard. Soon, the board was updated with insights on:

■ Trucks (e.g., expected arrival/departure time, deliveries per day, etc.)
■ Warehouse Bays (what went in/out of each, time stamps, etc.) 
■ Inventory (e.g., damaged pallets, pallet load/order number, etc.)

Those business intelligence findings, coupled with worker-performance stats, provided the client with a comprehensive warehouse overview that it could always reference. The incorporation of throughput data also won over internal stakeholders, prompting the client to assign product owners to the dashboard.

“We always welcomed people to present ideas for making the dashboard more visual and interactive,” Data Architect Taylor Thrasher said. “Through those interactions and work sessions, the client's imagination came through to make it really special.”

Shining a Light on Challenges

The dashboard is now integral to the client’s day-to-day operations and appears on monitors installed around the warehouse, keeping everyone on every level abreast of the progress in their facility. It’s also led to improvements in:

■ Predicting Turn Times
■ On-Floor Progress Tracking
■ Forecasting of Staffing Need
■ Monitoring Warehouse Energy Usage and Maintenance

A well-oiled, efficient warehouse remains the client’s top priority — and a culture of data is now in place to give them the visibility to attain that goal.