Case Study: Material Tracking and Inventory Replenishment

Background

A high-growth, eyewear brand, known for its customizable frames and high-volume operations, utilizes a multi-warehouse setup equipped with over six Kardex Vertical Lift Modules (VLMs). Their primary challenge lay in achieving real-time data visibility across their complex, order-based fulfillment processes and implementing a proactive, hands-off system for VLM tray replenishment to eliminate costly stockouts. ItemPath was selected to provide a robust API for real-time analytics integration with Power BI and to deliver the automated solution required for seamless material flow.

The Challenge: Manual Monitoring in a High-Speed Environment

As one of ItemPath's fastest-paced users of Kardex hardware, the retailer handles a massive volume of orders, often picking hundreds of units per hour across their three warehouses. Their complex product structure—where almost every "job" consists of a minimum of three parts (one base frame and two lenses)—required analytics to be based on completed orders rather than individual transactions. A custom approach to data retrieval and reporting was the next logical step.

The process of manually tracking stock levels across multiple VLM locations to prevent unexpected stockouts on the production line proved to be an inefficient and error-prone process for their Inventory Planners and Warehouse Managers. This reactive process risked production delays and failed to maximize VLM efficiency.

The Solution: Automated Order Building for Proactive Inventory Control

ItemPath provided a strategic solution that established a resilient data foundation and an automated execution engine for inventory control.

• Real-Time Data Access via API and Custom Reports: ItemPath's powerful API was implemented as the exclusive method for fetching data, enabling real-time uploads to the customer's Power BI environment. Specialized ItemPath reports, including HistoryOrder and HistoryOrderLine themed reports, were developed to provide crucial insights based on completed orders.
   
• Order Builder for Tray Replenishment: To solve the core operational risk of stock-outs, the Order Builder tool was customized and implemented to include tray replenishment. The tray replenishment feature acts as an automated execution engine that bridges real-time low-stock data with required warehouse actions.
   
• Seamless Workflow Integration: The system is configured once to run autonomously, utilizing Workflows to automatically detect low-stock materials in the VLM and trigger a Put or TransferOrder to move stock from bulk storage into the VLM location the moment the re-order point is hit.

The Results: Eliminated Stock-outs and Enhanced System Reliability

By leveraging ItemPath, the retailer successfully established a robust, highly automated framework for their high-volume fulfillment processes.