Navigating Warehouse Relocation:
A strategic model to support warehouse relocation decisions (for smooth transition and operational continuity) – Bausch+Lomb

 Overview

Company Description

Bausch + Lomb is a company with over 150 years of experience in eye health. The Bausch + Lomb Amsterdam Logistic Center (ALC) is situated at Schiphol-Rijk and is the main European warehouse to distribute our products to various regions across the globe. From this site daily shipments are made for contact lenses, surgical products and promotion material to for example Europe, South America, Asia, Africa and other regions. Roughly the orders can be divided into 3 categories: small, daily orders to opticians, hospital and eye clinics, orders for our Inter companies and distributor orders. Some figures:
ALC warehouse storage capacity:
280.000 OSR stock locations ● 30.000 ASRS stock locations ● 600 flow rack locations ● 2500 shelf rack locations ● 300 cool room pallet locations ● 10.000 pallet locations ● highly automated ● temperature controlled.
ALC throughput (annually):

Inbound: 1.800 shipments / 26.000 pallets
Outbound: 29 M packs / 7.2 M order lines

The current building at Schiphol-Rijk is utilized for over 25 years and upgraded with an automated warehouse management system (WMS) in 2008. The current system has 3 different picking & storage systems: ASRS: pick to light system with single unit pick locations and automated full carton picking/storage. OSR: pick to light system for single units & full cartons, location to man principle. And a Pick to Belt system for larger size items and products that do not require repack before shipment. The systems all have different functionalities, possibilities and restrictions looking at the way we book the product in stock and how we pick/pack the items.

Project Description

Project description:

As a result of expansion of the Bausch+Lomb product portfolio and expected growth in the coming years due to product launches, the current warehouse operation needs to be upgraded. For that reason, the decision was made to move the current operation from Schiphol-Rijk to Aalsmeer, to a new and larger building for which the casco handover is planned in Q3 2024. Together with the new building, there will also be a new WMS/WCS (Warehouse Control System) and the warehouse will be utilized with new, state of the art picking & storage systems. We expect to move and start shipping products from the new facility in Q1 2026, with a goal to be fully operational in Q3 2026.
Next to the regular pick/pack/ship activities, various, different VAS (Value Added Services) take place. On high level, these activities can be categorized as:

• Repacking: 6pack- into 3pack/or 1pack, branded into generic, white packaging and branded product into customer packaging. Manual process and a machine for new lot number creation and pack closure.
  
• Custom Brand Labeling (CBL): apply customer label to generic packs The machine validates right product vs right LOT vs right label and applies the label accordingly if correct, one by one.
  
• Labeling: adding labels to products for legal purposes, an after-sort process, where a machine does the actual labeling, after a manual sorting of products.
• Cabinet Build: build fit sets for opticians, a manual activity, but with a rigid system process.
  For these VAS activities, there are several different machines linked to both WMS, as to software in our middle ware (system that connects our WMS system with our ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning). The VAS activities are sometimes MTO (Made to Order) and sometimes MTS (Made to stock) and some of our products need to go through multiple VAS process, before they can be shipped to the customer. Also, a product can be linked to different VAS activities for different purpose.

Goals of the project:

The project will develop models and decision support approaches for the planning of the transition of goods to the new facility. A smooth transition of goods depends on several factors, for example: product category characteristics, pick processes, stock situations, incoming goods, product launches and the relation to VAS (Value Added Services) activities, not limited to those examples. In addition, we will need to plan manpower and transport to cover the transition and at the same time, the current operation in Schiphol-Rijk. The student will collect and analyze relevant data. The final goal is to design and validate a model which can be used to plan and execute the transition in a timely manner, while assuring the service to our customers, preferably without out of stock situations.

Deliverables:

A model to support:

• Identify products and the correct timing to move based on certain characteristics
  
• Maximizing Product Availability During Transition
  
• A modeling tool(s) that is able to calculate the following:
  
  • Quantities to be moved taking stock levels, safety stock and product launches into consideration
    

Essential student knowledge:

• Fluent in the English language
  
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management: Understanding of fundamental logistics concepts such as transportation, warehousing, inventory management, and supply chain networks.
  
• Familiarity with quantitative methods and modeling techniques commonly used in operations research, such as linear programming, simulation, and optimization algorithms
  
• Data Analysis and Modeling: Proficiency in data analysis tools and techniques for processing and analyzing large datasets, as well as experience with modeling and simulation software
  
• Knowledge of value-added services activities and their impact on warehouse operations and supply chain efficiency
• Strong communication skills to interact with stakeholders, gather requirements, and present findings and recommendations effectively.

More information: escf@tue.nl