FILM LOGISTICS: Optimisation strategies – #5 Business Intelligence

The last instalment in our series on optimising Film Logistics looked at automation and how our control software can help prevent errors. But IT can do even more – it provides valuable data for your logistics processes.

By Fabian Franke, CEO of NEPATA.

Digitalisation does not stop at Film Logistics either. Here at Nepata, our ConvertPlus2 software provides an interface between the ERP system and the actual logistical value-added process – the rewind of the vinyl film. Primarily, the software helps to prevent errors during conversion and dispatch. However, far too little use is currently being made of the fact that the data generated here can also be fed back into the ERP systems. For example, to carry out stock movements, collect information on batches or to utilise this data in real time for sales. We still see significant potential for optimisation here, and not just with regard to our own solution.

Identify top-selling items – and produce them in advance

As a general rule, in traditional logistics, one should focus more on one’s own data – take, for example, the ‘best-sellers and slow-movers’ analysis or the ‘fast-moving items’ analysis. To do this, I would need to be able to check in my ERP system which type of vinyl film I actually sell, how often, and in what typical lengths. Building on this, I could then work out whether I might be able to carry out some pre-production, as I know I need five five-metre rolls in white and black every day anyway. I can produce these at times when I’m not under any immediate pressure.

Measuring staff performance – and supporting them

Of course, the data can also be used to analyse staff performance. Who is achieving what during their shift – and why is that the case? It’s not necessarily that a staff member is particularly lazy. Perhaps they have to walk much further than their colleagues and actually need support, at least during busy periods. Or does the machine that this employee looks after need to be moved to a different location?

Optimising digital processes – just ask the people involved

There’s one more point I’d like to raise: we often find ourselves integrating our software with existing systems. When we visit customers on-site, we learn a bit about how they work and how their overall system – the one we’re integrating with – operates. As outsiders, we often find the way these systems have evolved to be incredibly complicated and cumbersome. But what’s even more crucial is this: when even the warehouse staff we speak to on site complain about how unintuitive and time-consuming these processes can be – that’s when it really becomes worth involving the people who carry out this work on a daily basis more closely. What actually takes so much time? Where can we optimise things further, even within the digital processes – a click, a scan, starting a print job, or fetching something from a bin again … So you see: digitalisation doesn’t always have to be a completely new project. Even with the existing data and processes – if used skilfully – a great deal of time can be saved, and staff are relieved of such a burden that they can invest their time in value-adding processes rather than being held up by ancillary tasks.

Even more optimisation strategies