We are available 24/7 to call

Office: 612-327-1070 or

Request a demo
Menu Call Us Today

Industries

WHOLESALE DISTRIBUTION

Wholesale companies are faced with cutting costs and dealing with many external factors from the economy to the government. A recent survey points out that the top three plans for cutting costs are:

  1. Improving employee productivity
  2. Streamlining and automating processes
  3. Reducing overhead

The NorthStar WMS can address all 3 of the cost cutting plans for wholesale distribution companies and do it on a tight budget.

MANUFACTURING  

RECEIVE:

  • The NorthStar WMS will import all PO data from the MRP / ERP and incorporate all business rules and processes to receive raw material into the warehouse.
  • Utilize standard functionality such as:
      1. Configure the NorthStar WMS for receiving options and setting up virtual locations for receiving, QA, staging, quarantine for absolute inbound location control. Options for random or dedicated put-away with time and date stamping to know who did what and when with what.
      1. The system will manage labeling, repacking, build pallets and convert UOM at the receiving process if needed.
      1. Use the Scheduler module for a day, week or month view of all inbound transactions and match up POs to any item.
      1. Prior to a production run have 100% accuracy on raw material in the warehouse and hard or soft allocate items to a production run.
    1. Manage reorder points based on Min/ Max levels with alerts.

WIP:

  • Import MRP work orders into the NorthStar WMS to pick raw material to WIP for either discrete or process manufacturing. Track lots and serialization.
  • If running a non-MRP, the system can manage recipe generation or complete kitting. Also do labor and WIP inventory.
  • As mentioned in receiving, the system can manage materials management and for allocating materials to a production run.
  • Track orders / items that are shipped offsite for any subcontracted services.

Shipping:

  • Receive build-2-order or build-2-inventory finished goods based on configured system.
  • Import sales orders to the WMS and configure system for optimum picking, packaging and shipping.
  • Use the Shipping Scheduler module for a day, week or month view of all outbound transactions and match up sales orders to any item.
  • For TL / LTL, the Load Management Module will manage the loads being prepared for shipment. Create a load by ship mode, status, ship date, warehouse and ship location. Once created, add orders and manage all aspects of this load.
  • For carrier shipments (FedEx, UPS, USPS) the WMS is fully integrated to the carrier APIs for rate shopping and address validation.

eCOMMERCE & OMNI-CHANNEL

The global growth of eCommerce and omni-channel retailing are the most influential factors driving the reason to move to a WMS.  e-Commerce sales are growing rapidly and Amazon and other e-commerce giants are redefining the retail experience with next-day delivery and free returns. This paradigm shift increases both the importance of and operational burdens on fulfillment operations.

With the increased complexity of multiple channels and the increased cost and labor requirements of e-commerce fulfillment, the NorthStar WMS was developed to support and enable more frequent and dynamic waves, increased piece picking, and modified processes per packing and shipping. Fulfillment can now look to automate and manage this costly, labor-intensive process with the NorthStar WMS.

3PL

The recent 20th annual 3rd Party Logistics Study points out that the higher profit opportunities for the 3PL MARKET are clients that are demanding a strategic, IT-intensive and customer-facing solution. Overall, the most frequently cited technologies needed by 3PLs are those that have more execution and transactional-based capabilities, a WMS being a core requirement.

The NorthStar WMS provides the transactional-based capabilities and more to give the 3PL market the tools needed to keep their customers, take customers from their competition and be proactive in their market space.

FOOD

If you’re in the food related industry, what is keeping you up at night? We have implemented the system into multiple food industries such as fresh produce, bakery operations and a food 3PL. We have an investment group that runs food companies so we have a vested interested interest in providing a solid option for getting to sleep better at night.

  • Tracability
  • All transactions and processes are time and date-stamped
  • Lot Control
  • Kitting and Recipe generation
  • Product specifications
  • Packaging Specifications
  • Mock Recalls
  • Allergen Control
  • Temperature Control
  • Expiration Date Control
  • Report Writer and Label Designer
  • Audits / FDA and 3rd Party
  • Electronic documentation for Record Keeping
  • Government Compliance
  • Customer Requirements