Backround / Brief: Due to the projected growth and to accommodate the continued professional service level, CEF understood that they need to move from their existing distribution site to a larger purpose built DC. The new purpose built site offered 160,000 sq ft of floor space.

CEF required a solution to enhance the process from order placement through to despatch and provide increased throughputs. The system also needed to have a replenishment function. Solution: The design team at CSL needed to ensure the system layout maintained the functionality and was space efficient.

CSL employed the use of the Interroll 24v motorised roller conveyor which provides noncontact accumulation and zonal control for the entire system.

A web based WCS/SCADA was implemented by CSL to interface to the WMS system. The WCS provided all historical data as well as over-arching control of the entire conveyor solution. The client has the ability to dial into the WCS from a PC/Tablet anywhere that has an internet connection.

The scope was defined so inbound-replenishment stock was to be conveyed in a Grey tote, order picking in Red totes and despatched items to be all cartons. All totes had dedicated barcodes incorporated onto them.

As both inbound-replenishment and order picking totes shared the same conveyor which provided a dual function, whenever a tote was offloaded, the operator instantly could recognise it as an order pick requirement or replenishment stock.

Stock is booked in and then scanned into a tote, which is elevated immediately to high level, via a spiral. It was then conveyed all at high level using, ensuring no supports occupied ground floor space. The replenishment conveyor entered onto the 1st floor level and merged into the main conveyor system.

New orders were assigned to a tote which are inducted into the system at ground floor level and elevated via a spiral onto the 1st floor mezzanine area and combined the replenishment element into one common conveyor.

The replenishment and order picking function takes place over 2 mezzanine floor areas, and each floor has 4 offload transfers of which each offload has a bidirectional transfer and spur conveyor. This provides 8 locations per floor.

The routing of the totes is dictated by the clients WMS and the offloading is controlled via the WCS.

Should an order need consolidating from another location or it cannot access the required offload location, it will continue to visit all other locations required, and then elevate up onto the 2nd floor mezzanine via a spiral which is sited on the 1st floor mezzanine. The process is replicated on the 2nd floor. All completed order picks or empty replenishment totes are lowered to the ground floor using a 4th spiral and delivered to one of 40 pack benches using a two-tiered conveyor system.

Any item that has could not be offloaded to its required destination will be re-circulated through the system.

The dual sided pack benches share a common incline belt conveyor to which they load the packed and completed items. All despatch items merge onto the top tier of this 2 tier conveyor. At the end of the line a 4 way SICK scanning array sorts via a one of two High Performance Diverters to one of 4 despatch lanes.

CONVEYOR SYSTEMS

Sales Team: 01283 552255

Email: sales@conveyorsystemsltd.co.uk

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