What is Logistics?

Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet some requirements, for example, of customers or corporations.~ Wikipedia

David Andries, Vice President of UPS Customer Solutions, explains that a more sophisticated way to think of logistics is: "implementing efficiencies across a business's entire supply chain that help them achieve their strategic goals." ~ UPS

This term originated in a military context, referring to how personnel acquire, transport and store supplies and equipment.

In the business community, the term refers to how resources are acquired, transported and stored along the supply chain.

By having an efficient supply chain and proper logistical procedures, a company can cut costs and increase efficiency. On the other hand, a company with poor logistics will fail to meet customers' expectations and see its business suffer. ~ Investopedia

Logistics is the industry that gets everything where it needs to go. How does your meal travel from the farm to the grocery store? How do online retailers pack and ship your order?

The answer is simple: logistics. Every company employs logistics personnel. The industry may not be in the spotlight, but it’s one of the world’s biggest and most important.
Every company needs experts for transportation, shipping, distribution, warehousing, and cargo handling. ~ North Lake College

Xtreme Software has a new website

Xtreme Software has launched a new website (www.xtreme.my) today.

So long the old website

and welcome the new one.

Request of Truck

Most of the time, a warehouse is built to store stuff within a duration and shipped out in time to come. The duration can be short or long, subject to type of product and the business itself.

Most third party warehouses in Malaysia today isn't just for storage but logistics service as a whole. Hence, the value of a warehouse/logistics provider isn't just to provide a storage space but most importantly, delivering product to the end customer (or whatever it suppose to be).

It has been a standard feature in Xtreme WMS to help user to track ACTUAL vehicle number, truck driver, the mode and capacity of the vehicle and etc in our Issue program.

The point is, the Capacity or Mode of transport can be different between the original request and the actual delivery.

For example, you may request the transport company to deliver product with a one (1) ton truck, however, there are cases where transport company doesn't have a one (1) ton truck to spare at that moment but a three (3) ton truck. In this case, Xtreme WMS Issue module is made to record the truck that made the delivery, in which a 3-ton truck.

In some cases, we need to know the original request and how is it mapped to the actual delivery later. Such link of information is vital, especially for billing of logistic service.

In order to fulfill the requirement, we made a new module by the name of "Request of Truck" and shipped in Xtreme WMS version 8.1.14.

Barcode Scanning Test with Intermec CK3R

We were testing handheld Intermec CK3R a week ago, we find it very stable and it also delivers the speed that the industry need.


Barcode Scanning Test with Intermec from Teng Yong on Vimeo.

For more information: Please see product information of Intermec CK3R here.

Real-time Pallet Location Tracking Solution with Panasonic Toughbook

In a warehouse, knowing where the product is sometimes isn't sufficient, very often a warehouse operator is required to ship product in FIFO (First-IN-First-OUT) or FEFO (First EXPIRE First OUT) manner.

In IGLO , every pallet is given an unique number and we track location (or bin) of each pallet. As there are more than thousand of pallets being put away or moved in a day, getting pallet location up-to-date by manual data entry is a challenge. Hence, we developed a very easy-to-use program to let our forklift driver update pallet location and transmit through WiFi to the application server. With such, IGLO can now have up-to-date pallet location accuracy.

[Figure 1 - Reach Truck with heated cabin which makes Barcode scanning impractical]

[Figure 2 - A Panasonic Toughbook mounted on IGLO's reach truck]

[Figure 3 - Ultra easy-to-use User Interface]

[Figure 4 - Pallet Location Update records in Xtreme WMS]

Watch below video to see how a pallet being updated.

Warehouse Pallet Location Updating with Panasonic Toughbook from Teng Yong on Vimeo.

Trying out hanheld scanner IEI Modat-335

Many processes in logistics chain, a handheld scanner with specially made mobile application can enhance the process tremendously.

We have got a loan unit of IEI Modat-335 from a supplier and now trying out. This device is running on Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5. The price of each unit ranges from RM 3,500 to below RM 5,000 depending on quantity ordered and components that comes with it.

This model also comes with an optional RFID module

Feel free to learn more about IEI Modat-335 here.

Windows Embedded Handheld 6.5 on Modat 355 from Teng Yong on Vimeo.

VID 20140304 160141 from Teng Yong on Vimeo.

What's new in 8.1.14 (February 14)

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New Features:

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1. Transport Capacity

[Transport Capacity] has been added in Settings' Transport category. (Refer to Image 1.a)

Image 1.a

2. Request of Transport (ROT)

(a) ROT module can be found at the side menu under [Distribution] category. A short-cut key (Ctrl + Shift + Q) has been assigned to it. (Refer to Image 2.a)

Image 2.a

(b) Structure of ROT

Header of ROT consists of three tabs:
1) General : Includes information of Warehouse, Party, Branch, Document No., Document Date, Reference No. and Status. (Refer to Image 2.b)
2) User Defined Field: Includes four pre-set fields which are Goods Owner, Notify when Collect Return Pallet, ETA and Mode of Unloading / Loading. (Refer to Image 2.c)
3) Remark

Detail of ROT consists of two tabs:
1) Details: Users can keep track of the the size and quantity of transport capacity needed for distribution purpose. (Refer to Image 2.b)
2) Dispatch Note: Users can add or delete a dispatch note. (Refer to Image 2.d)

Image 2.b

Image 2.c

Image 2.d

(c) Assign Issue to ROT

A new header function [Assign to Request of Transport] can be found at Issue module. (Refer to Image 2.e) Selected Issue documents must have same warehouse, party and branch information in order to assign to ROT in batch. If some of the Issue documents in batch selection already assigned to another ROT , system will ignore them and assign the rest of it to the chosen ROT instead. (Refer to Image 2.f)

Image 2.e

Image 2.f

3. CDN renamed as Shipment

[Shipment] module (formerly known as CDN) can be found at Distribution category. (Refer to Image 3.a)

Image 3.a