Case Study  

Customer Profile

Frank Millman Distributors

New Jersey

Industry

Auto Parts Supply

Product

OpenWMS

The Challenge

Frank Millman Distributors, Inc. is a New Jersey auto parts supplier. Millman was operating with a manual, paper-based order fulfillment system. The capacity of this system could not keep pace with Millman’s growth and customer satisfaction requirements. The company also needed an architecture that allowed for easy data migration to their host system.

The Solution

Millman Distributors upgraded their paper-bound order fulfillment procedure with Control Solutions’ OpenWMS, a modern warehouse management system.

Because of the high prices for proprietary warehouse management applications that included fully functional RF navigation systems, Millman first investigated batch solutions. But because OpenWMS provides modern warehouse management along with a fully functional RF navigation system, at an attractive price, Millman scrapped the batch solutions offered by the other companies and committed to OpenWMS.

OpenWMS uses Microsoft Windows 2003 Server/SQL and Hand Held Products’ Dolphin portable RF terminals to provide a real-time warehouse solution from receiving to shipping.

Order entry personnel enter customer orders into the Millman Distributors’ AS-400 accounting system. The accounting system downloads the orders to the OpenWMS PC server, which automatically notifies the warehouse of open orders. Pickers use the Dolphin RF terminals to fulfill orders in both single and multi-order picks. OpenWMS tracks orders as they happen, providing optimal warehouse efficiency through every step of the process.

Due to budget issues, Millman wanted a solution that was scalable. OpenWMS provided Millman the ability to start with an entry-level system and grow in size and functionality. And OpenWMS made it easy to migrate the company’s existing hardware and software into the system.

The Results

Frank Delmore, MIS director at Millman Distributors, comments, “Within the first month of installation, we saw a significant increase in both the number of orders picked as well as the overall accuracy of orders shipped.”

Peter Millman, company president, adds, “The warehouse solution has provided greater vehicle for customer support to a company that has been steadfast in its commitment to its customers for the past 46 years.”

Millman adds that he is extremely happy with the return on investment, which he estimates was less than one year