Maturity of the Warehousing function in Moroccan companies: a case study

* m.razik@uhp.ac.ma Abstract. In today’s competitive market environment, companies are continuously forced to improve their warehousing operations. To meet high performance goals, tools must be developed to improve efficiency in every aspect of warehousing function. In this paper, we propose a new approach to improve the performance of the warehousing function based on Maturity model, which may better identify, explain, assess and improve this critical function in a supply chain. The aim of this article is to validate the model developed by a case study in a Moroccan company by demonstrating its capacity of assessing the maturity of warehousing function and whether it can develop an improvement roadmap.


INTRODUCTION
Warehousing continue to play an important role in modern supply chains [1].In today's competitive market environment, companies are continuously forced to improve their warehousing operations [2].To meet high performance goals of warehousing, a way needs to be found to eliminate any waste from the warehouse, to streamline its operations, and improve efficiency in every aspect of warehousing activities [3].
Many works in various industrial sectors have shown the benefits of using maturity models and the correlation between the improvement of project maturity and project performance (Ibbs & al 2004 [4], Cooke-davies 2004 [5], Qureshi & al 2009 [6], Pöppelbuk & Röglinger 2011 [7]).They promote organizational learning as well as enabling efficient and effective assessment of the performance management practices of the organizations [8].Their use for self-assessment should result in growth in the maturity levels of performance management practices that should lead to improved levels of performance [8].
However, despite the existence of maturity models for the supply chain (McCormack & al 2008 [9], Reyes & al 2010 [10]) and performance measurement systems (Wettstein and Kueng 2002 [11]), there is no specific maturity model for the warehousing function.This is why we propose in this article a new approach to improve the performance of the warehousing function based on Maturity model, which may better identify, explain, assess and improve this critical function in a supply chain.
In this paper, we will describe a maturity model for the warehousing function in Moroccan companies developed using the concept of critical success factors (CSFs).In order to validate and to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed Model, we will present a case study in a Moroccan company.

The importance of the warehousing function in modern supply chains
Supply chain management (SCM) has been a major component of competitive strategy to enhance organizational productivity and profitability [12].They are characterized by many activities and actors that generally pursue conflicting objectives [13].The correct organization of all the logistic processes and activities that take place within a supply chain node could have a remarkable impact on both processes upstream and downstream the supply chain and on supply chain node internal costs as well [14].
Warehousing have an important role in modern supply chains [15].A survey of logistics costs in Europe identified the cost of warehousing as being 24% of total logistics costs [16].A similar study in the USA, found warehousing costs at 22% being close to the European figure [17].
As well as being significant in cost terms, warehousing is also important in terms of customer service, it being critical to the success or failure of many supply chains [18].According to Werling, the role of the warehouse has changed dramatically over the past 30 years, as customer and vendor compliance issues have surfaced and a greater emphasis has been placed on supply chain visibility and customer satisfaction [19].
Warehousing plays a critical role in ensuring high levels of customer service and overall supply chain performance [20].For logistics managers, the warehouse is at the center of reflections and challenges, as it has become a real factor in optimizing the supply chain.Warehouse management may strongly affect supply chain performances [14].While there are widely accepted benchmarks for individual warehouse functions such as order picking, little is known about the overall technical efficiency of warehouses [21].This creates therefore a need for development of tools for assessment the warehousing function for better its performance improvement.

The importance of the warehousing function in Moroccan companies
In Morocco, the awareness of the importance of improving the performance of critical business processes is currently greater.Indeed, The Moroccan Company operates in an environment characterized by a competitive offer increasingly strong requirement for competitiveness increasingly acute and expectations of customers increasingly high [22].To address these issues and to improve performance and competitiveness, all processes must be improved.
According to (Naciri, 2010), the organization of the supply chain of Moroccan companies generates costs that penalize competitiveness [23].The links in this chain must be therefore mastered and optimized to gain in overall performance.According to a report by the World Bank and the Ministry of Equipment and Transport of the Kingdom of Morocco in 2006, it was reported that the poor organization of warehousing is one of the obstacles to the development of modern logistics in Morocco [24].Furthermore and according to a study by the Centre for Transportation Studies for the Western Mediterranean, the level of warehousing services in Morocco is relatively low and the technical conditions under which it occurs are lower than the standards [25].
Particular intention must therefore be given to the performance of the warehousing in Moroccan companies, it is not the construction of warehouses that is difficult, but it is the management of these units that can be problematic because it requires needs in know -how Logistics [23].
On the other hand, Morocco lags far behind in terms of logistics platforms [26].this delay will be caught up with the national strategy of logistics development by creating a network of logistics centers in different morrocan cities [27].Once these projects are completed, it will be essential to master the warehousing function for better management and operation of these platforms.

Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for warehousing performance improvement
Across the supply chains, warehousing is an important element of activity in the distribution of goods, from raw materials and work in progress through to finished products.It is not a 'Stand-alone' element of activity and it must not be a weak link in the whole supply chain network [28].
As previously reported, warehousing is costly for enterprises, either in terms of the facilities and equipments required or in terms of human and management resources.Otherwise, the underperformance will risk the achievement of required customer service levels and the maintenance of stock integrity, and result in unnecessarily high costs [28].
Through a previous study [29], we have been determined Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for warehousing performance improvement.We have been classified them into four categories reflecting the four components of the warehousing function defined in our previous study.The table 1 summarizes them:

The concept of maturity models
Firms look increasingly to the development of new tools and models to better manage their projects for ensuring the fulfillment of objectives, for increasing the probability of success, and for ensuring the overall performance of the company.In this context, "more and more organizations are relying on process improvement to improve their probability of success" [30].The maturity models address the need of process improvement [31].
Maturity describes a "state of being complete, perfect or ready."[32].To reach a desired state of maturity, an evolutionary transformation path from an initial to a target stage needs to be progressed [33].
The concept of the process maturity was born in the Total Quality Management (TQM) movement and it was widely adopted in "Capability Maturity Model" for software organizations [34].Then this concept migrated to organizational process and project management [35].
Maturity models act as a structured framework for the revolutionary growth of performance within projects or programmes in organizations.They help in assessing the organizational strengths and weaknesses and in bringing the organization to the next level of maturity or achievement in accordance to the goal to be achieved [36].They provide means of identifying some crucial steps to be taken, the tasks that are necessary to accomplish and the sequence of events needed to realize significant and quantifiable results [37].
The basic concept of all models is based on the fact that things change over time and that most of these changes can be predicted and regulated [38].

Development of a maturity model for the warehousing function in Moroccan companies
Given the need for a model that assesses the maturity of the warehousing function, and given the absence in the literature of a specific maturity model to this function, we develop in a previous study [39] a preliminary version of a maturity model for warehousing function in Moroccan companies based on the concept of CSFs.The proposed model will be used to identify and exploit the strengths and weaknesses of the warehousing function in Moroccan companies.It will serve as an assessment tool that will improve warehousing performance and consequently that of the supply chain and companies in general.
The structure of the proposed maturity model is built upon the following three dimensions: 1. Maturity level dimension 2. The four main components of the warehousing function; 3. Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for warehousing performance improvement in Moroccan companies.
The first dimension is related to maturity levels, most maturity models measure the maturity through the achievement of some levels range in general from Level 1 to Level 5.In our case, we take a scale of 1 to 3 since we propose a new model that is not developed in the literature, and to facilitate its implementation by Moroccan companies: Level 1(initial): there is no process area and process is chaotic; Level 2 (defined) : is the level where warehousing function processes are documented, standardized, and integrated into a standard implementation process for the organization and; Level 3 (managed): warehousing function process and activities are controlled and managed based on quantitative models and tools.
As the performance of the warehousing depends on components related to CSFs presented above, the second dimension of our model will be the four main components of the warehousing function: The third dimension will be the CSFs for warehousing performance improvement in Moroccan companies.
The calculation of maturity level is as follows: The maturity level of the CSF j for component i : The maturity level of the component i : The maturity level of the Warehousing function : Based on this principle, we can locally assess the level of maturity and obtain a score for a given CSF, and consequently to a particular component of the warehousing function.The maturity level of a component may not be the same as in the previous one, as CSF for a component are not the same as for another, so the mastery of processes associated with each CSF must be assessed.We describe the proposed maturity model for the warehousing function in Moroccan companies in the table 2.

Design of the warehouse
Definition of an optimal location of the Warehouse The location of the Warehouse is not studied The location of the Warehouse is defined The location of the Warehouse is defined optimally Definition of an optimal design of the warehouse The design of the warehouse is not studied The design of the warehouse is defined The design of the warehouse is defined optimally

Definition of functional areas in the Warehouse
The functional areas are not defined in the Warehouse The functional areas are defined in the warehouse The functional areas are defined in the warehouse optimally

Definition of warehouse storage capacity
The warehouse storage capacity is not defined

The warehouse storage capacity is defined
The storage capacity is considered in the design of the warehouse

Definition of the developments of the warehouse storage capacity in the future
The evolution of the warehouse storage capacity in the future is not defined The evolution of the warehouse storage capacity in the future is defined The evolution of storage capacity in the future is considered in the design of the warehouse

Selection of the appropriate storage systems
The storage systems are not used The storage systems are used Storage systems used are optimized

Selection of the appropriate handling equipment
The handling equipment are not used The handling equipment are used Handling equipment used are optimized

Definition of the necessary and efficient warehouse staff
The warehouse staff is not defined The warehouse staff is defined The warehouse staff is defined optimally

Use of ICTs
ICTs are not used in the warehouse

ICTs are used in the warehouse
ICTs used in the warehouse are optimized

Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the functional areas
The allocation of products to functional areas is done randomly A rule for the allocation of products to the functional areas is defined The allocation of products to the functional areas is optimized Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the storage areas The allocation of products to the storage areas is done randomly A rule for the allocation of products to the storage areas is defined The allocation of products to the storage areas is optimized

Definition of a policy of picking
The picking policy is not defined The picking policy is defined The picking policy is optimized

Definition of a policy of delivery
The delivery policy is not defined The delivery policy is defined The delivery policy is optimized Setting a policy for the return processing The return processing policy is not set The return processing policy is defined The return processing policy is optimized

Optimization of internal logistics for operations in the warehouse
Internal logistics for operations in the warehouse is done randomly A rule for internal logistics for operations in the warehouse is defined Internal logistics for operations in the warehouse is optimized

Definition of inventory management policy
The inventory management policy is not set.

The inventory management policy is defined
The inventory management policy is optimized

Definition of the staff allocation procedure to different missions
The staff allocation procedure for different missions is not defined The staff allocation procedure to different missions is defined The staff allocation procedure to different missions is optimized

Definition of the quality control procedures in the warehouse
The quality control procedures in the warehouse are not defined The quality control procedures in the warehouse are defined The quality control procedures in the warehouse are used and improved continuously

Definition of the security control procedures in the warehouse
The s security control procedures in the warehouse are not defined The security control procedures in the warehouse are defined The security control procedures in the warehouse are used and improved continuously

Formalization of all working procedures
The working procedures in the warehouse are not defined The working procedures in the warehouse are formalized The formalized working procedures in the warehouse are used and improved continuously

A WMS is used in the warehouse
The WMS used in the warehouse is optimized

CASE STUDY: MATURITY OF THE WAREHOUSING FUNCTION IN A MOROCCAN COMPANY
The proposed model has two objectives: first provide a framework to assess maturity level of warehousing function in Moroccan companies, and second, provide support to companies to develop a roadmap for improving their warehousing functions.To validate our model and examine whether it is suitable for those two uses, we achieve a case study in a Moroccan company.It was created based on an internship with a student engineer in 2015.
We choose SICOTREM Company because its top management needs an action plan to improve the warehousing function.Indeed, SICOTREM suffers from several logistical problems, namely: Delivery delays because of shortages; the work without added value repeated in its warehouse; losses from the current way of managing the warehousing function.
SICOTREM is the Moroccan leader in the production of spikes, wire annealing, wire mesh and galvanized wire.He has over 40 years of experience in this field and with a production capacity of about 2000 tons / month.

Implementation of the maturity model for the warehousing function
For the implementation of the maturity model, we propose an evaluation methodology based on questionnaires that will provide the maturity levels for each CSF, and therefore by aggregation for a component, and for the warehousing function.We propose defining a team composed of logistic manager and the responsible for each component to assess, perform the audit and recover as much as possible information for giving a reliable rating for the maturity that best reflects the current state of the warehousing.
The questionnaires are constructed according to the maturity levels defined for each CSF j (each CSF corresponds to three questions).These questions are generic and can be applied in all components.The difference in the assessment is made by the answers that will depend on the state of the CSF.
For each question, there are three possible answers: yes, no and does not apply.To get the maturity level of a CSF j for a component i, M CSF ij, we compare the responses to maturity scales (ranging from level 1 to 3).To obtain it, a positive answer to the question of the same level is necessary, as in most maturity models (CMMI 2006 [79]) it must have completely crossed a maturity level before proceeding to the next.
The results of the evaluation are used to identify areas for improvement in the components of the warehousing function through the comparison between the levels of maturity.When the warehousing function reaches a specified maturity level in a CSF, the improvement roadmap includes the next level.If level 3 is reached, the company must keep it.

Maturity of the SICOTREM's Warehousing function
The maturity level of the SICOTREM's warehousing function is summarized in table 3 as it was assessed by SICOTREM's logistics manager.

Design of the warehouse
Definition of an optimal location of the Warehouse The location of the Warehouse must be defined Definition of an optimal design of the warehouse The design of the warehouse must be defined Definition of functional areas in the Warehouse The functional areas must be defined in the warehouse Definition of warehouse storage capacity The warehouse storage capacity must be defined Definition of the evolution of the warehouse storage capacity in the future The evolution of the warehouse storage capacity in the future must be defined

Means for the warehouse
Selection of the appropriate storage systems Definition of the storage systems to be used in the warehouse Selection of the appropriate handling equipment Optimization of the handling equipment used Definition of the necessary and efficient warehouse staff Optimization of the warehouse staff Use of ICTs Definition of the ICTs to be used in the warehouse

Operations in the warehouse
Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the functional areas A rule for the allocation of products to the functional areas must be defined Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the storage areas A rule for the allocation of products to the storage areas must be defined Definition of a policy of picking The picking policy must be defined Definition of a policy of delivery The delivery policy must be defined Setting a policy for the return processing The return processing policy must be defined Optimization of internal logistics for operations in the warehouse A rule for internal logistics for operations in the warehouse must be defined

Definition of inventory management policy
The inventory management policy must be defined Definition of the staff allocation procedure to different missions The staff allocation procedure to different missions must be defined Definition of the quality control procedures in the warehouse The quality control procedures in the warehouse must be defined Definition of the security control procedures in the warehouse The security control procedures in the warehouse must be defined

Formalization of all working procedures
The working procedures in the warehouse must be formalized Use of a warehouse management information system A WMS must be used in the warehouse

Conclusion
Based on the critical success factors and the concept of maturity, a four-component Maturity Model for the warehousing function in Moroccan companies has been developed.The suggested Maturity Model makes it possible for companies to identify, explain, assess and improve this critical function in a supply chain.
The results obtained from the case study to validate the proposed model are interesting.They allowed assessing the maturity level of the warehousing function and developing a roadmap for improving its performance.Indeed, the diagnostic results confirmed the concern of top management of the company subject of the case study likened to failures of the warehousing function.The "initial level" obtained for the case of this company shows that more actions need to be implemented to achieve higher levels of maturity.The roadmap obtained trace the priority improvements that need to be applied to achieve at least level two of maturity.
For future work, the maturity model suggested should be discussed with other empirical studies in different contexts.

Component 1 :
Design of the warehouse, Component 2 : Resources for the warehouse, Component 3 : Operations in the warehouse Component 4 : Management of the warehouse.

Table 1 .
[29]ical Success Factors (CSFs) for warehousing performance improvement[29]Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the functional areas Definition of a rule for the allocation of products to the storage areas Definition of a policy of picking Definition of a policy of delivery Setting a policy for the return processing Optimization of internal logistics for operations in the warehouse

Table 3 .
The maturity level of SICOTREM's Warehousing Function After the assessment of maturity level, based on the proposed model, we developed an improvement roadmap for SICOTREM Company's warehousing function as it is shown in table 4.

Table 4 .
The improvement roadmap for SICOTREM's Warehousing function