The process of applying warehouse management system to operate warehousing activities for thien long group at smartlog supply chain solutions corporation

FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY CAMPUS -*** MID-COURSE INTERNSHIP REPORT Major: International Business Economics THE PROCESS OF APPLYING WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO OPERATE WAREHOUSING ACTIVITIES FOR THIEN LONG GROUP AT SMARTLOG SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS CORPORATION Student: Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà Student ID: 1911155026 Class: K58CLC4 Intake: 58 Supervisor: PhD Lê Giang Nam Ho Chi Minh City, August 15 2022 FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY CAMPUS -*** MID-COURSE INTERNSHIP REPORT Major: International Business Economics THE PROCESS OF APPLYING WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TO OPERATE WAREHOUSING ACTIVITIES FOR THIEN LONG GROUP AT SMARTLOG SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS CORPORATION Student: Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà Student ID: 1911155026 Class: K58CLC4 Intake: 58 Supervisor: PhD Lê Giang Nam Ho Chi Minh City, August 15 2022 FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM HO CHI MINH CITY CAMPUS Independence - Freedom - Happiness MIDTERM PROFESSIONAL REPORT REMARKS Student’s full name: Nguyễn Thị Minh Hà Student code:1911155026 Name of the report: The process of applying warehouse management system to operate warehousing activities for Thien Long Group at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Assessment of compliance with regulations, progress and work ethics (Maximum of 1.0 point, with one decimal number): Remarks (circle the appropriate one): The student has completed the report properly under the guidance of the supervisor The supervisor is responsible for the title, purpose, subjects, scope and research method(s), and chapters’ titles, and main headings of the report (3 digits): 0.8-1.0 point(s) The student has failed to carefully follow the supervisor’s instructions The supervisor is responsible for chapters’ titles, purpose, subject, scope and research method(s), and titles and main headings of the report (2 digits): 0.5-0.7 point(s) The student has failed to carefully follow the supervisor’s instructions The supervisor is not responsible for the report: 0.1-0.4 point(s) The student has totally failed to follow the supervisor’s instructions The supervisor rejects the submission of the report: point Ho Chi Minh City, August 15, 2022 Supervisor (Signature with full name) STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby declare that this is my own research work The data and results stated in this midterm internship report are honest and have never been published in any other authors’ research work Ho Chi Minh City, August 15 2022 Nguyen Thi Minh Ha ACKNOWLEDGEMENT During the internship period at the Solution and Implementation Department of Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation, the author has received the enthusiastic support and guidance of the employees in the company That helps the author to understand more about the logistics industry in particular and the supply chain in general, as well as the practical experience in the young and dynamic start-up company environment, and accumulate many valuable lessons related to future work In order to complete this topic, first of all, the author would like to thank the Board of Directors and the Solution and Implementation Department of Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation for creating favorable conditions for the author to intern at the company In particular, the author would like to thank Mr Pham Gia Dat, Ms Nguyen Thi Hoang Anh and Mr Vo Tan Phat for devotedly guiding and sharing valuable experience during the author's internship at the company The author would also like to express deep gratitude to the supervisors at Foreign Trade University, Ho Chi Minh City campus, especially PhD Le Giang Nam for enthusiastically guiding the author from choosing the topic, developing the outline to solving difficulties and problems during the internship for the author to successfully complete this internship report Ho Chi Minh City, August 15 2022 Nguyen Thi Minh Ha PREFACE TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF SMARTLOG SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS CORPORATION 1.1 General information about Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation 1.1.1 Formation and development process .3 1.1.2 Vision, mission and field of activities 1.1.3 Organization structure and human resources 1.1.4 Business Performance (2019 – 2021) 1.2 Summary of the internship 1.2.1 Introduction of intern department structure 1.2.2 Intern position and duties CHAPTER 2: THE PROCESS OF APPLYING WMS IN OPERATING WAREHOUSE ACTIVITIES FOR THIEN LONG GROUP .11 2.1 General process of applying WMS in warehouse activities .11 2.1.1 Setting up master data 11 2.1.2 Receiving the goods 12 2.1.3 Putting away the goods .14 2.1.4 Storing the goods 15 2.1.5 Picking the goods 16 2.1.6 Packing the goods .17 2.1.7 Shipping the goods .18 2.2 Procedure Evaluation 18 2.2.1 Strength .18 2.2.2 Weakness 19 17  Fast and systematic transaction - Disadvantages:  Sometimes, if system malfunctions for a period of time, users have to manually operate, and this may lead to wrong allocation process  If stock deviation happens, WMS system will block the function of allocating and picking goods, which costs more time to allocate the goods, affecting negatively to the outbound process 2.1.6 Packing the goods Packing is not the compulsory step in the outbound checking list, and it requires convenience as fast as actual operation For Thien Long, only finished goods must be packed, while raw materials are shipped directly to Nam Thien Long factories Actually, packing process on WMS system is quite simple, because users just need to scan SO and accept to pack, then the system will update status “Packed” and allow the goods to be shipped - Implement by: Thien Long packing team - Documents: Packing list - Advantages:  Simple packing process, update status real-time “Packed”, thus helping Thien Long to assign shippers in appropriate time  Notify shippers of packing list and packing schedule to reduce waiting time for packing - Disadvantages:  Actual packing and packing process are separate, thus, WMS cannot control if users pack goods wrongly  Sometimes, when cancelling orders happen, signal transmission may happen later than expected 18 2.1.7 Shipping the goods When the goods have been packed, users use handheld to ship whether each pallet or ship all SOs Here, the user proceeds to export goods on the system: Action: At the screen “Pick Detail”, select the line to confirm and select “Ship” After clicking "Ship", the system will change the status of the order to "Shipped" Note: Because there is no unship function button, once shipped is confirmed, it is not possible to change the status of the export order anymore - Implement by: Thien Long shipping team - Documents: Goods issues, Delivery order and Delivery note - Advantages:  Simple shipping process, giving two options to ship: By SO or By Pallet so users can opt for the suitable one  Real-time transaction and controllable inventory management (unshipping is not allowable so users have to use receipt inheritance, this will maintain the high precision in stock count and inventory management) - Disadvantages:  Sometimes, if system malfunctions for a period of time, users have to manually operate, and this may lead to wrong shipping process or even stock shrinkage  In some cases, the fact that WMS system does not allow unshipping button may cause some troubles for users 2.2 Procedure Evaluation 2.2.1 Strength  Support Thien Long not only with master data set-up but also warehouse management WMS system supports to manage multiple customers, owners as well as many warehouses in the same system Additionally, providing reports, calculating billing as well as sending email automatically to customers also help Thien Long Group to reduce labor force and paper works but still maintain the proficiency Besides, it ensures 19 inventory plan to replenish goods, discharge goods, and promote as well as automatic lock management (hold) & batch output management (split)  Arrange the flow of goods in warehouse WMS system helps users to set up strategies to arrange goods (Put away) and arrange goods (Allocate) on the system Also, it sets up tactics to arrange goods by area, goods characteristics, size, speed of goods movement, speed of inventory turnover, and accurately assigns to each storage location and arranges goods automatically Therefore, instead of costing labor force to check the process, Thien Long can use WMS system to the similar tasks with higher efficiency  Connect with other logistics activities As a part of the supply chain, many customers will choose to integrate the warehouse management system with other systems such as transportation management, supplier management, to optimize the logistics activities Therefore, WMS system allows customers to easily sync and integrate with other logistics products and services  Good security Requiring employees to use individual user accounts when entering transactions helps creating an audit trail that connects specific employees to specific transactions, improving accountability and reducing the risk of theft and other problems It also allows employers to identify new training opportunities and other ways to improve employee practices Customers not need to worry much about company secrets and lose their competitive edge 2.2.2 Weakness There are such two disadvantages including the frequent occurrence of errors and billing reports  Occurrence of errors Customers regularly report defects of SWM software to Customer support team after implementation There are some reasons for it: o Human 20 User manipulation error: Due to the complex system, many users not understand system features, leading to the users’ wrong operation to set up and use the system wrongly compared to the system's standards o Wrong IT code In the process of creating the system, making corrections and improvements to the system, if IT writes the wrong code, it is easy to lead to the system failure o Machine The system is overloaded due to the fact that many customers use the system on the same server, in which many customers operate warehouses with very large data This leads to many times when many customers perform the same feature, causing the system to be overloaded, which may result in system downtime performance  Uncomplete optimization with operation tactics In actual operation, sometimes, demand of Thien Long is not about precision but to ensure the fast speed of the process, such as packing and shipping, or fast solutions when system malfunctions However, WMS system still be complex in most of the steps to ensure high precision, with a lot of restrains and compulsory steps for users Besides, when system has some errors, fixing process also costs at least day for temporary treatment and if debug completely, it costs at least two weeks to accomplish 21 CHAPTER 3: COMMENTS ON THE INTERNSHIP PERIOD AT SMARTLOG SUPPLY CHAIN SOLUTIONS CORPORATION 3.1 Profession expertise Internship at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation as a Solution and Implementation intern of the Solution and Implementation Department has given the author a more intuitive view of the logistics process in particular and digital technology application in logistics activities, and how WMS system supports businesses in logistics management Before the internship, the author mostly knows about the theory and logistics in general, but not understands the actual operation at warehouse or which solutions are suitable for each step in warehouse and how to improve it under the aid of technology Through the internship process as well as the dedicated guidance and instruction of Deputy manager and Team leader, the author has improved the logistics knowledge and participated into solutions and deployed the solutions for customers, encountered difficulties from customer requirements as well as learnt ways to deal with pop-up situations In the future, the author hopes to gain more experience in many types of warehouses to understand the actual operations of different warehouses: E-commerce, Auto-planning warehouse or Cross-dock as well as update many new features in solving logistics problems not only with warehouses, but also about transportation and many other software such as SAP-Hana or Infor 3.2 Soft-skills The internship period at the company also helps the author to practice and develop the necessary soft skills in a professional working environment  Self-management The first is the ability to self-manage and assign work to yourself The author has improved this skill, especially pressure management due to the job requirement to balance many fields and many jobs at the same time, so sometimes, the quality of work is not high Gradually, the author has found a way to balance work as well as be more proactive in the assigned work  Communication 22 Besides, the ability to communicate and improvise flexibly when having problems is also significantly improved because the nature of the work requires the author to communicate with customers a lot as well as answer questions throughout the project implementation  Logical thinking Moreover, through working with Business Analysts and get access to many programming languages, the author has a chance to improve logical thinking by collaborating with Business Analyst to analyze logic tasks, performance and describe tasks as well as draw many process diagrams for solutions Additionally, actual characteristics of job require understanding in general SQL and some coding methods, thus, the author takes advantage of onboarding and chances of doing the tasks to improve information technology aspect 3.3 Suggestions for internship company 3.3.1 General suggestion for company business performance The company needs to strategize and enter new markets to build a business plan with quality customer service, offer a reasonable price as well as organize the implementation of plans to advertise the company's services to customers Most importantly, the company should develop an appropriate human resource strategy in the company to serve the company's requirements well In addition, the company needs to improve the recruitment process to satisfy the requirements of the human resource management 3.3.2 Suggestions for WMS system  Performance improvement In order to minimize errors or malfunctions, the company should invest with continuous system improvement and regular feature updates In parallel with creating new products, PDD Department should spend some tasks to check the performance of the system and debug frequently to find out root causes of many errors that customers suffer from 23 In addition, Customer support team also needs a proactive error-reporting process and follows up the repairing process instead of temporary support as it is now Besides, increasing time for the project to prepare well, especially in the Dev-task period, when Dev codes for the products, is also a good way to ensure improvement and discovery of all problems on site tests, thus minimizing the errors that may happen in the main site for actual operation  Test case system establishment The process of checking system features before officially uploading to the system is not careful, because there is no process of checking the system before updating as well as building specific test cases leading to system errors Therefore, to avoid this situation, during the internal test and smoke test, SID and QC must collaborate strictly to include and deal with as much as possible test cases for the system By doing that, Dev and IT can understand more thoroughly, increasing the accuracy of coding and system performance  Effectiveness in training users One of the causes of system errors is that users the wrong steps in warehouse operation applied WMS system To overcome this error, it is necessary to strengthen trainings for customers to be thorough before they practice in actual work At the same time, analyzing errors carefully and clearly for customers to understand also helps to limit the occurrence of similar errors  Adaptation with actual operation Develop more functions that can be used for most of operation tactics and config separately for each customer Additionally, field survey and As-Is report need to be accomplished with more focus and concentration to ensure that for any happening unmatching, WMS has solutions whether integration or developing new function or removing unnecessary conditions in the product if they are reasonable 24 CONCLUSION After more than weeks of internship at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation, the author has realized the importance of applying digital technology to logistics management in the present time The processes and analysis in the report show that Smartlog has built a relatively complete and complete application process for appropriate use for each customer The report "The process of applying warehouse management system to operate warehousing activities for Thien Long Group at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation" analyzed the strengths, weaknesses and proposed solutions based on actual process analysis at the company Besides the strengths, the company also has many weaknesses that need to be overcome Therefore, the company should have long-term solutions and orientations to improve the weaknesses and develop beyond the strengths With highly specialized human resources and talented leaders, the author firmly believes that in the near future, the company will gradually improve with the modern trend, catch up with international trends to help the company develop further 25 APPENDIX Appendix TO-BE Blueprint for Thien Long Group Appendix Configuration module for master data set-up Appendix Receipt view on WMS web Appendix Receipt view on Mobile App Appendix Put-away view on Mobile App Appendix Pallet label printing on WMS system Appendix Stock count view on WMS System Appendix Post stock detail on Mobile App Appendix Picking view on Mobile App Appendix 10 Packing B2C on Mobile App Appendix 11 Shipping goods view on Mobile App REFERENCE Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Human Report, 2019 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Human Report, 2020 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Human Report, 2021 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Business Performance Report, 2019 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Business Performance Report, 2020 Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Business Performance Report, 2021 Smartlog onboarding documents, 2022 Nền Tảng Logistics Toàn Diện Nhất Việt Nam Smartlog (n.d.) Retrieved August 13, 2022, from https://gosmartlog.com/ ... Name of the report: The process of applying warehouse management system to operate warehousing activities for Thien Long Group at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Assessment of compliance... to choose the topic "The process of applying warehouse management system to operate warehousing activities for Thien Long Group at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation? ?? using the knowledge... Chapter 2: The process of applying WMS in operating warehouse activities for Thien Long Group  Chapter 3: Comments for the internship period at Smartlog Supply Chain Solutions Corporation Despite