​For warehouses, the growth of e-commerce fulfilment, where one and two line orders are common, also comes with substantially increased order volumes, smaller order sizes and reduced order cycle times. As the number of orders increase with small order sizes the distribution company needs a cost and time-efficient approach to pick the orders.

Within our Warehouse Management Solution one of the features which gets used is our 'multi-order tote-picking'. This is where a wave pick is released and it contains multiple orders. The picker uses a trolley which is loaded with multiple reusable tote bins and the picker makes a single pass through the pick zone to pick all the orders concurrently. This reduces the pickers travel distance significantly. Therefore the picker will pick the items for multiple orders in one pass through the warehouse.

Once all orders are completed the trolley is brought back to the packing area where each tote has a single order in it to be packed. After the orders are packed, the picker reuses the totes to pick the next wave of orders. The RIC Group's WMS also allows the picker to print a pick label which can be placed in the tote. This allows the packer to scan the pick label to bring up the right order for packing automatically.
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Above shows how to release multiple orders into a wave. Ticking the check box for documents 000690 and 000691 will release into one wave pick. This creates one Pick ID.

In the above screen you can see that multiple document numbers are in the one Pick ID of 153.

When the picker drives into the product to scan the products they are picking, the document number is displayed at the top. Each tote represents a document number and the picker picks into the tote. Once completed the wave the user presses the complete button and the multiple shipments or delivery documents are updated in the ERP.

Our Warehouse Management Solution is up on the Honeywell Marketplace. You can view it here.

As the volume of global shipments continues to rise, logistics companies are facing increasing pressure to get more goods loaded faster, more efficiently and at a lower cost. To over come challenges, logistics companies are automating their operations and leveraging new technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), mobility and cloud computing to heighten visibility and ultimately revolutionise business processes.

According to the white paper from Zebra which you can download from here, transportation and labour account for 70% of total supply chain costs. Also that customers have redefined expectations of 'fast shipping' from 3 to 4 days to within 2 days.

With implementing systems such as Warehouse Management Solution (WMS), companies are gaining new visibility into their dock and loading operations and using it to optimise critical processes. In The RIC Group's WMS our Load Truck feature is now starting to expand its capability and help load runs more efficiently. Also with The RIC Group's WMS there is now integration to scales from Wedderburn which dimension cartons electronically.

Please send an email to sales@thericgroup.com if you have any questions about putting technology to work in your warehouse.
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Data privacy is becoming very important for everyone and companies need to have the highest standards. This includes Independent Software Vendor solutions who integrate with ERP solutions.
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Business intelligence helps organisations improve the customer experience, it also presents new data security challenges. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

At The RIC Group we have improved the security for our Warehouse Management Solution with implementing oAuth 2.0 which is a concrete protocol for authenticating end users. More information can be found here.

As our WMS runs in IIS as a website, we have also implemented the ability for it to run as HTTPS to improve securing communication. More information here.

For further information on data ethics please read the blog Can you keep a (Data) Secret here.

The RIC Group is proud to be a sponsor at Orlando for the SAP SMB Innovation Summit 2019. It is great to come together and focus on helping SMB customers grow and achieve greatness.

With our Warehouse Management Solution (WMS) it has an option where customers can automatically generate batch numbers for items during the goods receipt process. The WMS generates a sequential batch code and then allows you to print a GS-1 128 barcode label to easily stick onto the product.

The user can enter in their own batch number and expiry date but when added in the WMS a new batch code will appear in the batch field. The batch number the user entered will appear in the Manufacturer Batch Code.

The sequential batch code created by the WMS will be automatically imported into the ERP when the goods receipt is completed.

For further information please contact us at sales@thericgroup.com
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​A Licence Plate (LP) allows you to uniquely identify a box or pallet in our Warehouse Management Solution. We have called it Kitting in our WMS and our customers use it mostly for helping to scan pallets. The Licence Plate knows its contents (item, lot, quantity) and its location. When completing shop floor and warehouse transactions, our WMS knows the Licence Plate and you won't need to specify the other pieces of data. The user simply just scans the barcode which is on the Licence Plate. This barcode is printed from The RIC Group's WMS software and is normally printed during the Goods Receiving Process.

The principle of Licence Plate is to allow for quick and easy movements of pallets around your warehouse. You can easily transfer the goods on a pallet, lookup an inquiry, stocktake and pick the items by scanning the kit barcode. Using the Licence Plate barcode which is printed from the WMS it ensures you can move products through the warehouse with less scanning while helping address errors related to manual input and data integrity.

Licence Plating allows for efficient transactions which increase your overall warehouse operation efficeincy.

For further information please contact us at sales@thericgroup.com
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On July 9, 2019, support for SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected.

SQL Server 2008 end of life is on July 8, 2019, and Windows Server 2008 end of life is on January 14, 2020. For further information visit Microsoft website here.

You can also visit the Microsoft website here to see the new options available.
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On May 23rd The RIC Group was an exhibitor at the inaugural Conference and Technology Showcase by Apps4 Wholesalers. Was fantastic to meet a number of different companies using different ERP's which needed ISV solutions to help streamline their business and become more profitable.

The next conference is going to be in Melbourne and we can't wait to once again be an exhibitor. Was also a great opportunity to showcase our product with a 20 minute presentation.