Warehouse Control Systems for Material Handling & Supply Chain Planning

"Our business is constantly evolving and Fortna has always supported our evolution. FortnaWCS™ provides us the right answer for our business and the ease by which they integrate with SAP was / is key. FortnaWCS™ separates our business logic from the control of our physical flow and provides a means by which when our business changes, we can quickly make changes to our operations." – Jerry Jackson, Sr. Manager of Engineering Svcs. & Logistics Integration, Tech Data	FortnaWCS™ Benefits Standards-based Technology Service-oriented Architecture Scalable & Flexible Simplifies WMS Efforts Robust Platform High Reliability Repeatable 24/7/365 Support
You purchased the best material handling equipment available for your DC; conveyors, carousels, sorters, diverters, scanners, scales, palletizers and other automation equipment that was supposed to maximize the flow of products through your facility. So why are you experiencing bottlenecks, system failures and low throughput rates? These disparate systems are not delivering on their performance promises and worse yet, there are big gaps in the data communicated to your WMS -- information you need to run your business. A Warehouse Control System (WCS) bridges that gap, providing real-time direction and optimizing the performance of your material handling subsystems. WCS software provides the interface to a broad range of material handling equipment and manages the flow of traffic throughout the DC. It allows each system to operate at its maximum capacity, and provides better visibility, load balancing and optimization of events.
"Fortna has learned how we think and designed to that. They are nimble, fast and cost effective in their thinking. They get creative, drive down fixed costs and look at alternatives." – High Tech Manufacturer
Results That Speak for Themselves As Tech Data (TECD) looked into upgrading its ERP / WMS to SAP, they soon realized that with 6 different versions of warehouse control software in 8 Logistics Centers, the effort to upgrade would be time and cost prohibitive and less flexible as business changes were required in the future. Tech Data selected FortnaWCS™ to implement and integrate with SAP across its North American Logistics Network. Due to Fortna’s ability to support IT Strategy (Data Redundancy, 24/7/365 support, and integration with SAP) and Supply Chain Strategy (elimination of antiquated / obsolete processes, better visibility, proactive alerting, and user-friendly systems), Tech Data was able to improve overall facility flow, lower support costs, and improve uptime. As a result, changes to business logic can be implemented without having to recode systems, allowing their logistics centers / supply chain to be more agile. MSC Industrial achieved a double-digit increase in productivity (lines per hour) after Fortna helped them redesign their order fulfillment process and implement FortnaWCS™ to provide a robust and standardized integration point between systems. Unraveling the Mysteries & Exploring the Benefits of a WCS Looking for a way to reduce cost, risk and downtime in your DC? Learn how leading companies are using the WCS (Warehouse Control System) to seamlessly integrate material handling equipment with other systems. This audio presentation on key differences between WMS and WCS will help you understand how a WCS can help increase service levels, asset utilization and throughput in your DC. Fortna Tackles Hard Questions Like... • Why does my DC feel more like a warehouse? • How do we improve the flow of materials through our DC? How do we get more volume through the DC? • Why is the equipment not achieving its published throughput and utilization rates? • How do we get real time inventory and shipping data from our WMS? • Why are back orders being created even when the product is in stock? • Why do we have cartons everywhere, but going nowhere quick? • How do we adjust to changing business rules and without costly modifications to our WMS? • How do we get support for systems that are no longer on the market?		Why FortnaWCS™? Accurate, real-time visibility into events and data, so that you can make better decisions, faster Real-time load balancing and optimization of events for higher levels of automation One seamless interface to hardware and software from many different vendors, even those that have left the marketplace Simple upgrade, maintenance and modification process Self and remote diagnostic capability allows for quicker response in the case of equipment failure A single source of 24/7/365 support for all of the software, systems, hardware and processes in your DC Logs and analysis tools for accurate audit trail and regulatory tracking Lower total cost of equipment ownership
FortnaWCS™ Layered Functionality	Featured Professional Nikko Pianetto Vice President, Software 770.475.0991 ext. 1202 nikkopianetto@fortna.com "FortnaWCS™ helps close the gap between mechanical rates promised and actual flow through a facility." Want to know more? Just ask.