Dürkopp Fördertechnik technology enables leading clothing hire group to pick 1000 outfits an hour

ACS Limited, Europe’s largest formal dress hire group and best known for its Cameron Ross brand, has boosted picking capacity to around 1,000 outfits an hour by investing in new equipment from Dürkopp Fördertechnik.

Dürkopp had previously installed a € multi-million sortation system at ACS’s distribution centre in Lanarkshire. Now automation has been further increased with a new automatic induction system and adapter handling bunker which will increase operational efficiency giving faster throughput.

Anthony Burns, Operations Manager at ACS, said: “Dürkopp’s equipment is ideal for e-commerce and is being used by major retailers across the UK and Europe. Their proven Roll Adapter technology gives us higher productivity, increased reliability and – in a first for our industry – real time stock inventory as well. It also enables us to assemble sets of garments for a whole wedding party from a single order.”

Mr Burns added that the speed of installation had also been very impressive. “We got the keys to our new warehouse which can accommodate up to one million hire items in October 2012. Everything had to be ready for our peak selling period which starts in May and we first had to install a large racking system and mezzanine floor. This meant that Dürkopp were unable to start until December but everything was completed to schedule and the main system was fully commissioned by April 2013 and the automatic induct was installed and commissioned in February 2014.”

Dürkopp’s system enables ACS to track individual garments using RFID technology. When an order comes in, ACS’s warehouse management system communicates seamlessly with Dürkopp’s control technology. The Dürkopp WCS first checks outfit availability in the seven dynamic buffers – which can each hold 5,000 items each – using RFID tags for selection and tracking, the correct garments are then released to the fast sortation stage.

Here they are sorted automatically into customer order sequence and joined by any items that have had to be picked in other areas. This process helps ensure that ACS can meet last minute orders which are then despatched for next day delivery to the retailer.

ACS, which stocks both formal and Highland dress wear, is primarily involved in hiring garments for weddings and events such as school proms. The business has an annual turnover of some £13 million and employs up to 240 people during peak periods.