TEVA UK are part of the Teva Group, the world’s largest generic drug company. Their main route to the UK market in this highly competitive business is via wholesalers and distributors who are serviced from the company’s distribution centre in Leeds. The company’s operating procedures for picking finished goods had been established over many years. The picking staff are skilled and add considerable value by packing stock to customer requirements and offering considerable flexibility in accommodating late changes to orders and urgent requirements. Nonetheless the company recognised that efficiency accuracy and speed could be improved by the use of barcode technology. Although well proven the entirely paper-based picking procedures had several limitations. Despatch details were handwritten onto the pick sheet including quantities and batch numbers. Batch numbers can sometimes be in small text and difficult to read. This pick sheet was then used as the despatch note and traceability record. As a result re-entry of invoices was manually intensive and time consuming. Furthermore the lack of automated verification led to additional manual checking to ensure the accuracy of customer shipments. TEVA products feature an EAN barcode and so the company believed that barcoding could be used to ensure that only the correct product was picked. With an increasing proportion of the products also carrying barcoded batch information it was anticipated that it would be possible to eliminate all handwriting and create fully searchable shipping records linked to the invoicing system. After an extensive selection process TEVA chose to implement the Eutechnic materials control and warehouse management system incorporating radio linked mobile computers and barcode printers. The system was installed on the company's existing Citrix thin-client network. Eutechnic was linked to TEVA's existing BPCS sales order system to ensure seamless transfer of picking instructions to the warehouse. Orders are released from BPCS in hourly batches and it was essential that the system included 'message queuing' to ensure that orders could not be lost or corrupted during translation. The system automatically imports all released orders within 2 minutes of the BPCS release. TEVA chose to manually release orders to pickers in small batches though in many cases the entire batch is released in one transaction. This ensures that the warehouse supervisors remain in full control of the system and can quickly prioritise individual jobs as the shift progresses. In this customer-oriented environment it is essential that individual orders can be held or promoted to the front of the queue. In the warehouse pickers are automatically given the next Pick Order by priority sequence. For high priority orders they can override this suggestion and 'team-up' to assist colleagues in picking an order. The system can support any number of pickers on one order - all the scanners are updated with the outstanding quantities as the order progresses. The audit trail history shows complete detail of who picked the individual lines for full traceability and accurate performance monitoring. The system makes it virtually impossible to pick the wrong product on an order. The picker is directed to a specific location and told to pick a certain quantity. They must then scan the EAN code on the product and the batch number from the packing case. The barcode scanner then validates that this product line is required on the order that the batch number exists for that item and that the quantity scanned does not exceed that ordered. The picker can override quantities but must supply a reason code. Finally the picker specifies the carton into which the product has been packed. When all lines are picked the order is automatically closed and the despatch note printed in the packing area. This despatch note details the contents of the order in alphabetical sequence with details of the batch numbers supplied and the actual packing cases. If a customer urgently requires a specific line they can now go directly to the box in question without unpacking the entire order. As a final check the completed order is consigned onto the chosen carrier recording the carrier's waybill reference in the process. Proof-of-delivery is now very easy. The system simultaneously confirms the picked quantities back to the BPCS invoice file and billing takes place on the same day. Within days of implementing the system TEVA stopped their manual checking of orders and thus freed up significant resources for the picking process. Customers are delighted with the improved paperwork and with the ability of the customer service team to respond to their last-minute requirements. The most significant benefit has been the elimination of mispicked lines which gives TEVA, their customers, and their staff the confidence that they can get it right first time every time. Pick Accuracy
Management Information
Batch Traceability
Customer Documents
Specifications and Equipment Used
Benefits
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