Here are our each individual reflection on the field trip to Army Logistics Base (ALB)
Background:
On the 28th of November 2008, the Diploma in Logistics and Operations Management organised an educational field trip for the year two logistics students. We visited the Army Logistics Base (ALB) facilities located at 601 Old Choa Chu Kang Road.
Warehouses were scattered all over in Singapore, before it was commercialised in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
In 1998, the idea of a centralised warehouse was conceptualised and in 1999, Singapore Technologies Logistics Pte Ltd was awarded the contract to design, build and subsequently operate the ALB, which implements the through-flow layout.
ALB occupies a gross floor area of 60,000square-metre, about two storeys per warehousing floor in ALB and it can be filled with 12 football fields worth of inventory, with the help of a modern warehouse handling system that boosts the efficiency of material handling. The Army Logistics Base (ALB) is a good example of how MINDEF can leverage on the expertise of the commercial logistics sector to improve on military logistics capabilities.
Junhui:
Some of the material handling equipments (MHE) are the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), which is fully computerised and can provide a high storage density of 13,600 pallets and 29,850 bins. The ASRS can be accessed and operated from different floors within the ALB.
The powered Mobile Racking and Shelving system was found in the storage area on the ground level. It optimises storage space for fast moving items by having very narrow vertical aisles.
The vertical carousel systems are found in the medical warehouse, which has 74 layers, which consists of 5,578 tote bins, where each bin is a location for small light load items. The vertical carousel is linked to the warehouse management information system (WMS).
The receipt centre uses the laser guided vehicle to move items during hours at night when there are no employees around to operate the machines. The vehicle is charged during the working hours, and programmed to move items during after working hours such that time is not wasted.
With these, it reduces the average collection time of General Equipment, Rations, Spares and Medical Stores during mobilisation by up to 5 times and it brings us closer to achieving the goal of seamless delivery of quality material, services and engineering solutions across space and time.
Ronelle:
ALB uses Through-Flow for the layout of the
warehouse floor whereby the front of the warehouse is the inbound area and the back of the warehouse is the outbound area where the materials and stocks are ready for overseas shipping and local distribution.
Sorting out of the stock is done near the inbound area before it is being stored in the main store which is in between of the inbound and outbound, and also in other warehouse floors. However, other value-adding activities such as marshalling is done in other warehouse floors.
The whole warehouse space area is about 60,000 square-metres and there are 4-storeys in the warehouse which have the height of 18 to 20 metres tall in each warehouse floor. The different types of storage systems used are AS/RS, vertical carousel, powered mobile ranking and shelving. Each warehouse floor uses different storage system to fully utilize the space and floor area.
Powered Mobile Ranking is used on the ground floor as the narrow aisles enable the fast moving items to move about freely and reduce the time spent on movement. Vertical carousel is found in the medical warehouse floor, which have 74 layers and consist 5,578 tote bins storing the small items.
Not only that, quality checks on the QA surveillance is done every 1 and 2 years to ensure on the security and the quality issues. Stocktaking is being done everyday using a specific system on maintaining the accuracy of the stock quantity and also the accurate location of the stocks stored.
ALB provides different type of distribution services to their customers such as overseas shipping, home delivery and self-collection from ALB. For local distribution, ALB have a high number of drop-points up to 750 deliveries per day and the truck-load is up to 200 metre-cubed. For the relating weapons, the customers are to collect them from ALB personally due to the safety issues and other factors.
Yun Xia:
Singapore Technologies Logistics was awarded the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) contract in 1999 and worked together with the Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) and the SAF in the planning, design and development of the ALB.
The ALB is the region's most advanced and efficient military warehousing facility that enhances the efficiency of the SAF. An example is the use of modern Warehouse Management IT system. The intelligent system, besides providing supplies visibility, can track consumption patterns and give real-time inventory updates thereby reducing the need to hold excessive stocks. This will take the objective of fully customised Just-In-Time warehouse-to-soldier logistics a step closer to reality.
The ALB occupies a site area of 9.5 hectares and has a total warehouse space of about 12 football fields. Its storage area is only about 20% of the total land area occupied by the previous five army warehouses. With this centralised logistics base, an approximate 33.7 hectares of land, an equivalent of 45 football fields, was saved for other developments.
The ALB is also equipped with a modern warehouse handling system which includes the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), the Mobile Racking & Shelving System, the Vertical Carousel and the Laser-guided Vehicle. These technologies have brought about a productivity improvement of at least 25%. Within just three months of operation, the ALB has yielded about 25% savings in annual warehouse management fees.
1. The ALB uses through-flow system as their warehousing floor layout. It is identified as the inbound and outbound area are opposite of each other.
2. The estimated height of each warehousing floor of ALB building is 2 storeys. There are a total of 4 levels, which means the total height of the warehouse is 8 storeys.
3. There are 3 different types of storage systems. They are the Pallet ASRS, Bin ASRS and Mobile Racking.
4. The powered mobile racking system is seen at the warehouse and it’s used for storage.
5. The vertical carousel system is found in the medical warehouse. It is used to store items that need humidity control, e.g. Medical supplies. It has a total of 74 layers.
6. Very narrow aisle machine (VNA) and laser guided vehicles can be used at both the inbound and outbound of ALB.
7. The laser guided vehicle is seen at the receiving centre. It is used only after work hour. In the day, the laser guide vehicle is parked for charging and programming.
8. 10 foot container trucks are used at ALB. They are being docked at the outbound/dispatch area daily for loading of goods/products for delivery to customers.
Background:
On the 28th of November 2008, the Diploma in Logistics and Operations Management organised an educational field trip for the year two logistics students. We visited the Army Logistics Base (ALB) facilities located at 601 Old Choa Chu Kang Road.
Warehouses were scattered all over in Singapore, before it was commercialised in 1992, 1993 and 1994.
In 1998, the idea of a centralised warehouse was conceptualised and in 1999, Singapore Technologies Logistics Pte Ltd was awarded the contract to design, build and subsequently operate the ALB, which implements the through-flow layout.
ALB occupies a gross floor area of 60,000square-metre, about two storeys per warehousing floor in ALB and it can be filled with 12 football fields worth of inventory, with the help of a modern warehouse handling system that boosts the efficiency of material handling. The Army Logistics Base (ALB) is a good example of how MINDEF can leverage on the expertise of the commercial logistics sector to improve on military logistics capabilities.
Junhui:
Some of the material handling equipments (MHE) are the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), which is fully computerised and can provide a high storage density of 13,600 pallets and 29,850 bins. The ASRS can be accessed and operated from different floors within the ALB.
The powered Mobile Racking and Shelving system was found in the storage area on the ground level. It optimises storage space for fast moving items by having very narrow vertical aisles.
The vertical carousel systems are found in the medical warehouse, which has 74 layers, which consists of 5,578 tote bins, where each bin is a location for small light load items. The vertical carousel is linked to the warehouse management information system (WMS).The receipt centre uses the laser guided vehicle to move items during hours at night when there are no employees around to operate the machines. The vehicle is charged during the working hours, and programmed to move items during after working hours such that time is not wasted.
With these, it reduces the average collection time of General Equipment, Rations, Spares and Medical Stores during mobilisation by up to 5 times and it brings us closer to achieving the goal of seamless delivery of quality material, services and engineering solutions across space and time.
Ronelle:
ALB uses Through-Flow for the layout of the
warehouse floor whereby the front of the warehouse is the inbound area and the back of the warehouse is the outbound area where the materials and stocks are ready for overseas shipping and local distribution.Sorting out of the stock is done near the inbound area before it is being stored in the main store which is in between of the inbound and outbound, and also in other warehouse floors. However, other value-adding activities such as marshalling is done in other warehouse floors.
The whole warehouse space area is about 60,000 square-metres and there are 4-storeys in the warehouse which have the height of 18 to 20 metres tall in each warehouse floor. The different types of storage systems used are AS/RS, vertical carousel, powered mobile ranking and shelving. Each warehouse floor uses different storage system to fully utilize the space and floor area.
Powered Mobile Ranking is used on the ground floor as the narrow aisles enable the fast moving items to move about freely and reduce the time spent on movement. Vertical carousel is found in the medical warehouse floor, which have 74 layers and consist 5,578 tote bins storing the small items.
Not only that, quality checks on the QA surveillance is done every 1 and 2 years to ensure on the security and the quality issues. Stocktaking is being done everyday using a specific system on maintaining the accuracy of the stock quantity and also the accurate location of the stocks stored.
ALB provides different type of distribution services to their customers such as overseas shipping, home delivery and self-collection from ALB. For local distribution, ALB have a high number of drop-points up to 750 deliveries per day and the truck-load is up to 200 metre-cubed. For the relating weapons, the customers are to collect them from ALB personally due to the safety issues and other factors.
Yun Xia:
Singapore Technologies Logistics was awarded the Design-Build-Operate (DBO) contract in 1999 and worked together with the Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA) and the SAF in the planning, design and development of the ALB.
The ALB is the region's most advanced and efficient military warehousing facility that enhances the efficiency of the SAF. An example is the use of modern Warehouse Management IT system. The intelligent system, besides providing supplies visibility, can track consumption patterns and give real-time inventory updates thereby reducing the need to hold excessive stocks. This will take the objective of fully customised Just-In-Time warehouse-to-soldier logistics a step closer to reality.
The ALB occupies a site area of 9.5 hectares and has a total warehouse space of about 12 football fields. Its storage area is only about 20% of the total land area occupied by the previous five army warehouses. With this centralised logistics base, an approximate 33.7 hectares of land, an equivalent of 45 football fields, was saved for other developments.
The ALB is also equipped with a modern warehouse handling system which includes the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS), the Mobile Racking & Shelving System, the Vertical Carousel and the Laser-guided Vehicle. These technologies have brought about a productivity improvement of at least 25%. Within just three months of operation, the ALB has yielded about 25% savings in annual warehouse management fees.
1. The ALB uses through-flow system as their warehousing floor layout. It is identified as the inbound and outbound area are opposite of each other.
2. The estimated height of each warehousing floor of ALB building is 2 storeys. There are a total of 4 levels, which means the total height of the warehouse is 8 storeys.
3. There are 3 different types of storage systems. They are the Pallet ASRS, Bin ASRS and Mobile Racking.
4. The powered mobile racking system is seen at the warehouse and it’s used for storage.
5. The vertical carousel system is found in the medical warehouse. It is used to store items that need humidity control, e.g. Medical supplies. It has a total of 74 layers.
6. Very narrow aisle machine (VNA) and laser guided vehicles can be used at both the inbound and outbound of ALB.
7. The laser guided vehicle is seen at the receiving centre. It is used only after work hour. In the day, the laser guide vehicle is parked for charging and programming.8. 10 foot container trucks are used at ALB. They are being docked at the outbound/dispatch area daily for loading of goods/products for delivery to customers.
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