A quiet revolution is taking place in the world of clothing, shoes and e-commerce. As more and more pressure is placed on profits as a result of the increase in ecommerce, higher demands are placed on the need for flawless sorting, so as to ensure flawless deliveries.
DistriSort is a system integrator specialized in sorting and one of the world market leaders in this field thanks to its costsaving systems with patented technology. We create sorting concepts for high volume single item sorting. Our concepts are installed in various branches like: garment-, e-commerce-, postal-, pharmacy-, shoeindustry and more. But what does sorting mean in a logistical process?
Sorting literally means: putting together everything that belongs together. Sorting in a distribution centre, means sorting articles that belong to one order or occupy one unique position in the stock (SKUs). For automatic sorting it is important that the volume is large enough, because major cost benefits arise when as many products as possible are handled by as few people as possible.
The key logistics flows where sorting can be of help in a distribution centre are in: ordering process, e-commerce, but also flows for goods-in, returns and cross docking can be sorted.
Automatic sorting is complementary to the picking process. Where picking becomes more complex with increasing amounts of orders, ordering rules and numbers of products, automatic sorting provides a solution. When a number of orders are merged into one large order picking instruction (batching), the sorting machine can sort the batch back into individual orders. Order batching therefore means merging the customer’s instructions. It does not matter for a sorting solution whether 50 or 500 orders are provided simultaneously. Sorting is a very attractive logistics process to reduce order lead times, handling costs and costs per product.
Automatic sorting in the ordering process?
Large efficiency win since there is no need for every individual order to be made in the distribution centre. A large number of orders are merged into one picking instruction (batching), this leads to less traffic in the picking area (fewer people do more work), walking distances are significantly shortened (time gains) and productivity (number) per orderpicker is increased. Picking errors are discovered in the automatic sorting process by a final check on numbers in the batch.
Sorting for the purpose of e-commerce
Because of its increasing success, ecommerce is being integrated into normal daily business. In order to integrate ecommerce orders into the normal process, there is an important difference that ecommerce orders are characterised by a high number of orders with only few products per order. The hallmark of the “traditional” order is many products per order. By configuring a sorting machine with pre-sorting or special e-commerce exits, there is no problem combining e-commerce orders and other mentioned flows in the ordering process. Automatic sorting solutions are therefore also very suitable for e-commerce orders.
All the systems have been designed so that the sorting activities in the logistical chain run independently. It is a stand-alone machine. The sorting data is obtained from a file from the host system, so that it knows exactly which orders must be processed. You can have as many outlets as you want and it is only the size of the building that determines the maximum number of outlets. The biggest system that we have installed so far is 800 metres long and has more than 700 outlets.”
Patented technology
DistriSort has from start been focusing on customized sorting. During this time they used all new knowledge continually to update its systems. Many of the developed technologies have been patented. For example, the new Twin Push Tray system was developed from an existing solution.
Distrisort explained, “That system is extremely suitable for products with an irregular shape. A generally recognized problem is that thin products can get stuck, which leads to sorting errors. We studied the path the products take and altered the angle, result: always the correct outlet. That is our innovation.”
DistriSort is one of the few specialists to have made its systems self-supportive, which leads to large savings and low total cosat of ownership. One example of a self-supportive feature is diagnosis software, developed by the inhouse software development. It allows customers to preventatively test their systems. If this is done in the morning, the problem of the sorting process coming to a standstill is avoided. Because that is one of the largest expenses any enterprise is encountering. At Distrisort sorting solutions, when there is a mechanical fault, the users of the system can solve about 95% of the problems themselves, thanks to the training they have received from DistriSort. Only a healthy degree of technical knowledge is all need. However, the customer’s independence certainly does not mean that DistriSort does not offer support. If necessary, a service engineer is always available to provide help online or on the spot.
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