As e-commerce continues to change the way distribution centres shape their materials handling responses, the equipment suppliers are not slow to meet the demand for fast conveying and automated storage systems by developing newer devices. There is no shortage of equipment suppliers either, from whom buyers can choose but the list can be much reduced if one needs a specialist supplier to handle one particular type of product like, for example, hanging garments.

chazOn the other hand, the complexity in the decision-making process rises when a system buyer has a highly volatile demand for its products, which could see slow movers go to fast movers and back again several times in a the course of a year. In such situations this is where equipment flexibility is paramount, along with handling speeds, because time-to-market (consumer) is a key competitive issue in retailing. Gone are the days when the public would tolerate a month’s wait for goods to be delivered to their doors, and nor are they forgiving over mispicks, which highlights another key advantage in automated handling -picking accuracy.

A good example of this flexibility is Swisslog’s contract to kit out a multi-purpose logistics centre for fashion brand Fossil, who sell through bricks and mortar stores as well as online direct to customers’ doors. Fossil’s logistics challenge was high sales figures with strong seasonal fluctuations, a broad product range with constant additions, large and small order amounts from customers, as well as dramatic cuts in delivery times. Its former logistics approach could not keep pace with this development, and so big expansion of its former warehouse and picking capacity was needed. Swisslog’s solution was to combine an existing five-year old zone-to-zone picking system with its shuttle technology. The result is that every workstation is optimally utilized without idle time, and picking error rates are almost zero. The shuttle system concentrates on the slower moving B and C items, while the zone-to-zone picking system concentrates on the fast A movers. If, however, former B or C items suddenly become popular the SmartCarrier system of the shuttle technology automatically adds them to the zone-to-zone picking system, involving pick-to-light – an example of essential flexibility.

Another example of innovation with flexibility in mind, but for a narrow group of products like hanging garments, is SDI Group’s hanging pouch overhead conveyor sortation system, dubbed MonaLisa. This system allows sortation of both hanging garments and flat goods simultaneously, making it well suited for multi-channel fashion retailers wishing to combine several elements in a single order. Its high speed makes both picked and returned items available to be sent out later in the picking window. This speed allows e’commerce retailers to facilitate later cut-off times for online orders. The MonaLisa also puts smiles on users’ faces owing to its innovative software, which allows retailers to see in real time how their merchandise is being accessed and sold, an advantage that helps them improve predictability for stock forecasting. Owing to MonaLisa’s scaleable technology it allows retailers to start small and expand as and when needed, another example of flexibility.

The fact remains, however, that many large distribution centres use an army of order pickers burning shoe leather as they typically walk up to 11 miles a day picking products, albeit helped often by a voice picking systems to ensure accurate and faster picking. A good example of this is Amazon, but they are no slouch when it comes to knowledge of automated handling systems. They have, after all, bought Kiva Systems, a producer of AGVs. One cannot be sure what this means for future order picking labour requirements but it has been estimated that a switch to these AGVs, which are three times more productive, could save Amazon between $450 and $950 million every year. Clearly, automated warehouse handling has a bright future.

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