ADVANCE SHIP NOTICES ARE SLASHING WEGMANS DOCK TIME

LINDA PURPURA

ATLANTA -- Use of advance ship notices has helped Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., reduce receiving time by 30 minutes, while taking advantage of UCC-128 technology has cut up to 60 minutes off the grocery receiving process.

Wegmans, equipped with radio-frequency receiving technology, now receives ASNs -- electronic packing slips sent from the supplier to the customer -- from 25 grocery, general merchandise and perishables suppliers, said Dave Drury, grocery supply chain manager.

The retailer also has begun using UCC-128 technology with Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, and is exploring the possibility of expanding the program to other vendors.

UCC-128 is the expanded industry standard serial code that carries information about product shipments in detail. When the UCC-128 code is used with an ASN, the receiver knows exactly what product is on each pallet, among other variables.

Drury, speaking at the Third Annual ECR Conference here, explained that ASN benefits range from reduced receiving time at the dock to more efficient handling of variable-weight items. For products that arrive in different weights and quantities each day, an ASN allows Wegmans to know precisely how much product is on any particular pallet.

To make the ASN process work, however, Drury emphasized the need for timely transmissions.

"Timely transmission means that as soon as that load is done; as soon as the product is on the road, we need to have the ASN transmitted. What we're ultimately working toward is real-time processing," Drury said.

"It's not a reality at this point. We're working toward it, and we think we're going to get there."

Until real-time processing is achieved, Wegmans is still pulling shipping and receiving information from its electronic mail box as frequently as 10 to 12 times a day.

Another issue with ASNs is accuracy. Inaccurate ASNs create much more work than if they were not used at all, according to Drury.

Future applications of ASNs at Wegmans will include positive receiving, which Drury defined as the receiver pulling the product off the truck, scanning the label to enter inventory on the warehouse management system, and putting it away. Currently, Wegmans produces the scannable labels for each pallet on all inbound purchase orders.

In addition, ASNs will facilitate the use of store-ready "rainbow" pallets.

"In order to decrease days of supply, we need to find new and more creative ways to get products out to the store," Drury said.

"One of those that we think is important is mixed product pallet loads. There are only so many products you can send out to the stores in full-pallet quantities."