(Part 3)Warehouse Orchestration - PepsiCo’s innovative approach to transforming its warehouse operations

Warehouse Orchestration - PepsiCo’s innovative approach to transforming its warehouse operations (Part 3)

Keith Moore, CEO of AutoScheduler.AI, and Peter Hall, Senior Manager at PepsiCo, continue their discussion of Warehouse Orchestration in this second blog post. Don’t forget to read Part 1 and 2 first.

How should companies think about integrating their warehousing data across systems? What are some tips and best practices where to start?

Companies need to know what data they have and that it is of good quality. Garbage in and garbage out is critical to orchestration success. If you do not have good data, your ability to foresee what will happen at a site and optimize that pathway to maximize service levels and minimize cost will not happen very well.

The WMS must have the most up-to-date data. You need to understand the system of truth for every bit of data you have and how to feed all that information into an orchestration platform. The base layer of every orchestration platform, including AutoScheduler, needs to be the ability to synthesize data across all of these different silos, operationally in and around distribution, and then leverage that to build better plans to where when somebody looks at it, not only is it telling them what to do, but it's also giving them the confidence that this is the best plan and has all the correct data.

For AutoScheduler to be most effective, the data feed coming in needs to be as near real-time as possible, but this can depend on each company. At PepsiCo's bulk warehouses, they update the data feed once an hour. You don't want to update the plan every single time you get a data feed. Update the plan when there are changes in trips, demand, or appointment times.

With orchestration software, companies are fundamentally changing the mode in which distribution facilities operate.

A WMS is designed for inventory management, control, and execution flow management. What it does not do is critical thinking and the transformative piece, such as how to automate highly critical thinking so that when you present decisions to people who know what they're doing, they can trust them. Then, your best people can spend their time fighting fires instead of dealing with the monotony of what to do next.

What lessons have you learned about integrating human labor with robotic automation? How has this affected your labor planning and productivity on this project?

• Deploying automation to move products throughout the warehouse and keep up with demand is often trial and error. Do we add more forklifts or other equipment?
• Does it work with our current equipment?
• With a limited footprint in current facilities, many storage solutions are AS/RS high-rise, so you must plan how long it takes to get products in and out of the equipment.
• Look at the warehouse's pain points and determine if there is any technology that will eliminate them. Know how the WMS will interact with this technology.
• With the complexity of warehouses, automation can help manage the product flow.

Warehouse schedulers may ask:
Will AutoScheduler eliminate my job as a warehouse scheduler? No! Change management and education help. Warehouse personnel have more time available to determine the root causes of any issues that occur. The whole purpose of a warehouse orchestration solution is to make life easier for employees.

How does orchestration improve safety or affect personnel safety? I know you mentioned it will improve productivity, but how about safety?
Companies need to establish standard operating procedures (SOPs) that incorporate strict safety standards, such as the proper way to load a case or drive a forklift. Put restrictions on labor scheduling; don’t assume people can work more than a certain number of hours a day without a break. Some sites actually cap the number of people that can be in any area at any point in time to avoid congestion. Orchestration then builds a plan incorporating these constraints to avoid congestion and improve safety.