CHESS LOGISTICS TECHNOLOGY
PRESS RELEASES 2008
CHE08/02: PRINTER IMPROVES PROCESS WITH EMPIRICA (19
March 2008)
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION
CONTACT DETAILS
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PRESS INFORMATION (TOP)
Issue Date: 19 March 2008
Ref: CHE08/02
PRINTER IMPROVES PROCESS WITH EMPIRICA
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Leading contract printer Polestar has improved the management and traceability
of production items and standardised stock handling procedures at its
state-of-the-art plant in Sheffield following the introduction of the Empirica
warehouse management system and radio frequency data terminals from Chess
Logistics Technology. Polestar Sheffield now has real time control and
visibility of items used to prepare magazine and promotional packs for its
clients and can generate reports with greater detail to deliver an enhanced
service.
“We need to provide a product history from storage through to the completed
magazine and Empirica does this perfectly for us,” says Mike Brook, Site
Production Improvement Manager at Polestar Sheffield. “We are a printer, not a
warehouse, but Empirica has forced us to be more standardised in how we pass and
track items.”
Polestar Sheffield is a high volume contract printer that produces colour
supplement magazines for national weekly and Sunday newspapers. In addition to
printing the magazines the company prepares, collates and packs related inserts
and “onserts” such as direct mail catalogues and reader offers. Much of the
information is only available close to publication date so the company has to
maintain just-in-time operations round the clock at its plant in Sheffield to
meet demanding deadlines. It aims to produce about 11 million magazines and up
to 33 million inserts each week.
The company wanted to enhance its ability to monitor production performance and
provide publishers and advertisers with increasingly detailed information about
the number of magazines and inserts/onserts prepared so that they can verify
campaign effectiveness and response levels. The current paper system used by the
company, although effective, did not have the benefit of real time information
flow and traceability. Tracking the receipt and movement of stock items in the
production plant using a warehouse management system and radio frequency (RF)
terminals offered an ideal solution and after evaluating products from a number
of suppliers, Polestar selected Empirica from Chess Logistics Technology.
“Chess was not the cheapest, but competitive, and what we liked most was the
ease of use for operatives who have a range of expertise with computers,” says
Mike Brook. “The hand held terminals were very intuitive and had a
straightforward interface. It can be quite frightening for people who are bit
nervous around computers but the whole process has gone pretty smoothly.”
The production plant operates 24/7 to meet the tremendous workload undertaken by
Polestar each week. The warehouse section incorporates high bay and very narrow
aisle storage for up to 1800 pallets and block storage areas for bulk items. The
combination of Empirica and RF hand held bar code scanning terminals enables
Polestar to log and verify stock movements in real time with total accuracy.
Polestar can access updated information at any time and produce reports for
internal use and to provide an audit for its customers.
“Empirica’s ability to provide a stock movement history was a big selling
point,” says Mike Brook. “Our procedures are already more transparent and we
will be more efficient and professional in the future and especially during the
busiest periods.”
Although the configuration is relatively standard in warehouse management terms,
Polestar asked Chess to modify some of the reporting functions to provide
specific information, introduce additional receipting features to accommodate
the unique nature of certain onsert items and configure the task management
routines to ensure that the contents of a complete pack could be prioritised as
a group rather than singly to ensure production machinery could be utilised at
optimum performance. The inherent adaptability of the Empirica system allowed
these changes to be introduced without affecting the core application which
speeded up overall implementation time and ensured costs were controlled.
“The reporting side is very good and useful for proving a product has moved from
A to B,” says Mike Brook. “Empirica has also helped to make stock checks much
easier. We used to do a full check every month but now we have perpetually live
stock visibility.”
Polestar and Chess agreed a four phase implementation plan starting in November
2007. The first covers the receipt and storage of production stock items,
including consumables such as polythene film for encapsulating magazine pack,
strapping for bundles and cardboard packaging. The second phase covers the
delivery of these items from storage areas to the machinery that compiles the
packs while the third and fourth will involve the movement of printed products
to finishing machines and the despatch of completed loads.
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BACKGROUND INFORMATION (TOP)
Chess Logistics Technology Limited has provided software for logistics and distribution applications for more than twenty years and is recognised as a specialist in its field. The company has an extensive client list of national and international companies.
Alternative images available on request.
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For further press information, please contact (TOP):
Alex Mills
Marketing Director
Chess Logistics Technology Limited
Tel: 0161 888 2580
alex.mills@chess.uk.com
http://www.chess.uk.com
Keith Wootton
Public Relations Consultant
Tel: 01327 830675
chess@keithwootton.co.uk
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