Finding a Better Way

Automating Storage and Order Picking for Lighter Weight, Bulky Items

By Tom Coyne, Chief Executive Officer

Unlike the rest of the material handling industry, storage and order picking for lighter weight, bulkier goods has not changed much in the last 20 years. Industries such as apparel and footwear distribution have seen many advances in conveyance and sortation, but the conventional approach to storage and picking is still high-bay shelving and RF.

Because of the expense, automated storage/retrieval and order picking have been limited to applications in niche areas where manual handling/picking is otherwise too difficult or labor intensive. From a business perspective, this makes sense. Material handling technology suppliers have focused on developing technologies that have the ability to handle the widest range of challenges and applications possible. This leads to less development engineering, but the cost of the product is higher.

Take horizontal carousels as an example. Most suppliers, including Diamond Phoenix, have developed a standard machine concept. When reviewing specific applications, suppliers match an appropriate standard bin for a product category. Therefore, the solution for a light-weight application would be a heavy-weight machine with lighter weight bins. In addition to the fact that this is not the most cost effective solution, the lightest standard bin in the carousel industry is generally set for up to 600 lbs. - in some industries, the requirement is less than half this weight. It is no surprise, then, that horizontal carousels often look great on paper but do not provide a compelling return on investment.

Our systems engineering, product development, marketing and management staff have been evaluating this situation for the last three years. Our goal was to develop a technology specifically designed for lighter weight, bulkier goods and to bring the cost of this technology down to a point where it makes financial sense for our customers.

We have now developed a new version of our horizontal carousel system designed for the lighter weight and bulkier items of the footwear and apparel industries. Using a new bin design (now physically the largest standard bin in the industry), this new carousel has dramatically reduced the cost/cube ratio for lightweight goods, providing carousel automation for less than half the cost previously seen. Additionally, we have system engineered the specific operating requirements for these industries, including sorter integration, ergonomics for both full and split case selection, pick to belt and pick to tote operations, aggregate picking and interleaved replenishment.

The financial benefits of this solution include:

• significant space savings due to the dense storage carousels provide
• reduced labor requirements while order picking
• the complete elimination of labor for replenishment as forward pick zones disappear
• fewer product touches
• an overall simpler operating environment
• in some environments, users will see pay-back in less than 2 years

Many of our clients are actively engaged in this new and exciting approach and are looking forward to the productivity gains they will experience. As we begin a new year, we look forward to playing an important role in improving the supply chain for the apparel and footwear industries.