153

Warehousingand storage

Lookatthepictures
ofwarehouse Matchthepictures
equipment. (a-0withthewords(r{}.
!ffi!

tr\

UJ
r handpatlet-truck t:l
z tote bin tl
3 fork-tifttruck(CBtruck)
4 pallet
rotl-cage
5 (Europalletor UK)pattet
6 trolley

Readthe text describingwarehouseareasand label the areaswith wordsfrom the list.

sortation. marshalling
anddispatcho receiving. collation
andvalue-added
services
o back-upstorage. orderpicking

Firstof a[1.thereis the 'area.That'swhereall incominggoodsarriveand

documentation is checked
and recorded.
Goodsareoftenunpacked or repacked
hereto maketheir
formatmoresuitablefor warehouse handling.

' areaholdsmostof ourwarehouse

inventory.

ln the rareathe goodsareselectedin the rightquantities,

that meansthe
quantities
requiredby the customer.Herewe alsobreakbulk.Thatmeans,for example, after
goodsin [argequantities
receiving (e.g.paltets),
we needto packthemin smallerseparate unitsfor
the customer.

In the - areawe dealwith smatlerordersizes.Sometimes

severalorders
havebeenbatched the pickingprocess
togetherto simptifu and nowneedto be sorteddownto
individual
orders.
54 | UNIT7 Warehousing
andstorage

Afterpicking,the goodsareconsolidated and madereadyfor dispatch.

Depending on the
customer's requirements the goodsmaybe packedinto cartonsor casesor theyarewrapped
(i.e.stretch-wrappingor shrink-wrapping).
Somewarehouses alsoprovidespeciaIservicessuchas
labelling.Thispartof warehouse operations
is called

Thefinalstagein warehouse operationsis the _ 6area.Thegoodsare brought

togetherto formvehicleloadsand arethen loadedonto vehiclesfor onwarddispatch.

2 ilatch the warehouseareas(rg) to the activltiesthat take placein them (a-f).

r dispatch n
z co[[ation n
3 reserveStorage n
4 orderpickingandsortation T
5 receiving t
a goodsare broughttogetherfor loadingand transport
b wherethe goodsare kept until required
c the goodsareselectedand put togetherin the unitsrequiredby the customer
d completeordersare packedand wrapped
e the goodsarepreparedfor warehouse operations

3 tatch the verbs (r-8) from the text in exerciser to the correct definitions (a-h).

r label n
z repack n
3 handle n
4 select I
5 batch u
6 sort u
7 wrap l
8 load u
a put goodson a palletor vehicle
b providespecificinformation on the productitselfor the packaging
c dealwith
d pickor choose
e put severalthingstogether
f packin specialmaterialfor protection
g put into new unitsor formats
h arrangein a specialway or order
 UNIT7 Warehousing
andstorage| 55

THE PASSIVE

Whendescribing processes,the passivevoiceis oftenused

with modalverbssuchas con,must,moy,should,etc.
Theforks conbe raised by a simple pump action.
Thissystemmusthefitted with detectors.

Or we canusethe passivein othertensese .g.the present

oerfecttense.
After the goods hovebeenchecked,theygo into
back-upstorage.
Theunloading hos beencompleted.

4 Completethe sentencesusing the correctactiveor pa$siyefcrm of the verbsin brackets.

o Afterthe unitload (check), it goesintoautomated storage.

b As soonas an appropriatelocation (identifrf)
by the warehouse
management system,a put-awayinstruction (must,issue).
c Afterthe vehictedriver (report) to the gatehouse,the vehicle
documentation (check)by staff.
Thenthe packages (process) i.e.they (may,[abel)
with barcodes.
e Thegoods (check)on unloading.
f Afterthat,staff (direct)the driverto an unloading bayor a parkingarea.

Nowput the steps in the goodsreceivingprocessin the correctorderr-6.

A UD I O

efi\,
{3
75
5 Listento this extractfrom a presentationabout a new warehousemanagementsystem.
Nowsaywhichof thesestatementsistrue 7 fatse:f .

r Theexistingsystemis not veryefficient.

z Theycoutdcentralizeinventories in oneCanadian warehouse.
3 Cycletimescan be reduced by at leasthalf.
4 Theycouldreducewarehouse areafromfourfloorsto one.
5 Printon demandallowsthemto printinvoices in severaI
languages.
56 ' riNlT7 Warehousing
andstorage

:.

6 ilow listen to the recordingagainand completethe sentences.

r I thinkthisnewwarehouse
areamanagement
systemWMSzX wouldhelpus cutcostsand
ourprocesses.
z Onegreatadvantage of WMSzX is thatwe couldreducethe numberof warehouses
acrossCanada.
3 Anotherinterresting
featureof WMSzX is customer order
a Warehouse couldbe improvedas weilby transferring
departments.
WMSzX woutdalsohelpus reducewarehouse areaandground
6 Thecouldbe achieved by instalting
an automatedstorageand sysrem.
Thenewsystemwouldalsoenableus to the material
flow at anygiven
moment.
8 Thisallowsprintingof [abels,brochuresand customer in z5 languages.

..,.II![TI9ABOIJT
ADVAI{TAGES
ANDPOSSIBrE
IMPROVEMENrs

Onegreatadvantage is ...
Themostinterestingfeatureis ...
It wouldhetpus reduce/increase/improve/optimize
...
Anothermajoradvantage is/woutdbe ...
It woutdalsoguarantee/ensure ...

7 Workwith a partner.Eachof youhasa warehous€ rnanagement

system.Presenttheadvantages
of yoursystemto yourpartner.Usephrasesin the box.
Partner A File 07, p- 71
Par t&erB F i l e r 5" p.7z

I Comptete
thedescriptions
of typiratwarehouse
equipment
andsystems.Usetheadiectives
from
the box.
:::rr,a:1.t:::r
, t. .. .ir.r':

. mO'Uite
stackable . aUiuiiltrco suitable. bulky. driverless. rigid . collal0sibite

r An automatedguidedvehicleis a truckwhichis controlled

bycomputer
powered.
andelectricalty
z lBCs(intermediate
butkcontainers) madeof metalor ptasticare but there
arealsoonesmadeof canvas. whichare
3 Cageand box palletsarefittedwith corner-posts
and sides.Theyare usuatly

4 In paltetized
storageAPR,i.e. paltetracking,is used.
5 Some productsare not for pattetization
e.g.expensive itemsor
electronic
largeand items.
6 shelving is oftenusedfor smallerproductsin non-palletized
systems.
 UNIT7 Warehousing
andstorage| 57

AUDIO

a
76
9 Putthestepsin this integratedpackinglocationsystemin thecorrectorder(r-8). Thenllsten
andcheck.

T Youscanthe barcode
of the shippinglabel.
il theweightofthe package.
Thesystemcatculates
I Youenterthe system.
n Youchoosemeansoftransport.
n Youcanput togetherpackages.
n Theshippinglabetsareprinted.
n Youcanseeandaccess all positions
in the container.
n - systemprintsdelivery
Theorderis complete note.

tO Xowlistento thedialogueagainandcomplete
thesentences.
r Afterthe goodshavearrivedat the packinglocation, to scanin the barcode
ofthe shippingbox.
2 youenterthe packinglocationdialogue.
3 oK. I got that.Whatis
+ Wel[, youcanaccess a[[positions
in the pickingcontainer.
5 the package
is complete, the system witlautomaticallycalculatethe
weight.
6 Thatis Thesystemwill automatically printthe shipping[abels.
Andnowwe of thisprocess.
8 the has
order beencompleted, the deliverynoteis printedautomatically.
O Itff Z Warehousingandstorage

First0y)/First
of atl ...
Second(ly)...
Thefirststep/stage (oftheprocess)
is ...
Then...
Afterthat...
Thenextstep/stage is ...
Fottowingthat...
Finally...
Thelaststepis ...
Once/AfterX hashappened ...

11 Workwith a partneranddescrlbea proceisftomyourowniob in yourownwords.Usephrases

fromthls unit.

12 Completethis crossord with wordsfromthe unit

Across
2 Keepgoodsin a warehouse.
4 Puton top ofeachother.
5 Containerforsmallerproducts.
6 Selectthe rightitems.

D,OWn
r Formsmallerunitsfromlargerunits(z words- 5,4).
z Putintotherightorderor package.
3 Anotherwordfor orticleor piece.
 U N I T7 Warehousing
andstorage| 59

Readthe text about modernwarehousingand answerthe questionsbelow.

WAREHOUSING TODAY
the past,a warehousewas only seenas a place
fn
Ito storethings.[t oftentook up a lot of ground
spaceand goods were usually picked by hand or
using a fork-lift truck.

During the last few years,however, the role and the

designofthe warehousehaveradically changed.
The warehouseis now considereda critical link
between a manufacturing plant and the external
world with a strong impact on the performanceof
the entire manufacturing and logistics system.

Warehouseautomation and complex technologiesare now usedin order to produce effective

operations.Many warehousestoday are equippedwith warehousemanagementsystems
(WMS), which automatethe product flow throughout the warehouseand maximize the use
ofwarehousespacethrougheffectivepicking methods,locationconsolidationand cross
docking.

Automated Storageand Retrieval Systems(ASiRS) have been introduced in many

warehouses.AS/RS involves high-racking storagewith a machine operating within the aisles,
serving both sidesofthe aisle. Thesesystemscan pick, replenish, and perform inventory
checkswithout a human operator.

In fully automatedsystems,conveyor belts are very important as they link the different areas
of the warehouseand carry the goods to where they are required: for example between the
receiving areasand reservestorage,or betweenthe picking and loading areas.

The warehouseoftoday would be unthinkable without the barcode.The barcodelabel on each

item provides specific information about the product, which can be transferredto a computer
system.This makesit possibleto locatethe item's positionin the warehouseand find it
again.By using automatedtechnology,suchasbarcodescannersand RFID (radio frequency
identification), warehouseinventory and product flow can be efficiently mana-eed.Combined
with modern IT systems,barcodesenablewarehousestaff to track and trace all items in the
warehouseat any given time and usuallyin real time. I

firPnrtwer+.?5
2

lilE@
r Howis yourcompany'swarehouseorganized?
2 Doyou workin a warehouse
yourselfz
3 Howhaswarehousing changedoverthe lastfewyears?