Supply chain control & material traceability

Materials were mainly sourced from the Far East via consolidated containers containing supplies from multiple manufacturers.

The main critical issue was the absence of external identification codes on cartons, which made it difficult to manage:

• goods receipt operations
• internal traceability
• stock replenishment for the client’s automated warehouse system
• timely retrieval of materials for production

The client needed a logistics partner capable of taking full control of the upstream processes within its supply chain.

The operational complexities included:

• manual unloading of consolidated containers
• unique identification of thousands of cartons
• creation of individually traceable load units
• integration with the client’s IT systems
• highly specific recall management (carton by carton)
• progressive growth of operational volumes

The system had to be scalable and adaptable to the evolution of logistics flows.

The logistics process was developed as an evolving system, growing over time alongside the client’s needs.

Goods handling and re-labeling

Initially:

• manual unloading of containers at the dedicated warehouse
• manual barcode creation for each carton
• identification with: item code, quantity, and handling unit number (HUN)

This allowed the client to retrieve each single carton within its own system.

Process automation

As volumes increased, a dedicated software solution was developed:

• automatic generation of carton labels
• data consolidation into a single label
• integration with existing supplier barcodes

The process became faster and fully scalable.

Volumes increased from 1–2 containers per week to several units per day.

Optimization of retrieval processes

The initial model required requests based on single cartons. It was later improved with a more efficient system:

• requests based on item code instead of specific carton
• automatic selection of the most accessible carton
• automatic return of actually shipped data

Result: a significant reduction in picking time.

Value-added operations

The project evolved to include additional operational activities:

• opening mixed cartons and item separation (“sorting”)
• repacking by single reference
• creation of new shipping units
• repacking into client-supplied packaging
• quantity splitting based on sales logic

Logistics became a true extension of production.

Integration with automated warehouse

Through logistics outsourcing, the client was able to expand its automated AutoStore system.

The logistics partner ensured:

• operational continuity during system restructuring
• temporary management of outsourced materials
• support for the evolution of the automated flow

The current evolution includes direct preparation of materials into containers destined for robotic automation.