The University of Girona (UdG) and Roberlo have collaborated in a project that has resulted in an innovative simulator capable of increasing the efficiency and optimizing the storage space in the logistics centers.
The initiative began at the beginning of 2018 in view of the need to obtain maximum performance from the warehouse and the space devoted to picking for the preparation of orders in the logistics center that Roberlo has at the La Selva CIM (Integrated Goods Center).
Specifically, it analyzed the historic data of the warehouse movements and proposed which products should have an assigned picking position to reduce and optimize the order preparation time. Furthermore, the program allows the efficiency of the store to be simulated in all types of configurations, taking into account future projections of the different products.
More productivity and speed in order delivery
The tool has been programmed to be an intuitive, practical and easy-to-apply program. So far, it has increased the efficiency of the Roberlo Shipment Department by around 10%. The department is responsible for the preparation and distribution of orders that are sent to more than 120 countries.
In figures, the program has reduced annual work by about 2000 hours, increased productivity and freed up resources to attend to possible urgent situations.
From the company to the classroom
Taking advantage of this project and with the aim of bringing the business world to the classroom, this collaboration will be presented as a case study within the curriculum of the Logistics and Supply Chain course of the Industrial Engineering Master's at the UdG.
Furthermore, an annual visit to the Roberlo facilities at the La Selva CIM for the students of this Master's course has been planned. The first of these has already taken place, in December 2018, with the attendance of some fifteen students.
The initiative has also inspired the topic of the final engineering degree project of one of the students who is taking this course at the University of Girona. In her work, the student will be looking at improving the display of the simulator data. It is envisaged that the definitive version of the tool will be available in the middle of 2019, although it is already in operation in the beta version.
At Roberlo we believe that the improvement in our efficiency will lead to better order preparation, which means greater speed, precision and assurance for our customers. These benefits will play a key role, given logistics trends at global level in the chemical sector, which are based on the use of the minimum stock possible and maximum speed and urgency in the order delivery times.
For their part, the University representatives plan to present this project at future congresses and use it as a case study in academic magazines of the sector.
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