Modern Materials Handling - October 2011

modern productivity solutionedges the completion of the task.Orscheln has achieved improved productivity fromenhanced picking performance and more reliablesensing. The pick-to-light solution has reduced errorsand improved overall machine operations and flow.Orscheln also benefited from the ability to scale thesystem for different parts and bin sizes and number ofparts at each station to allow each station to be uniqueto the application.As a result of the significant improvement in productivity,Orscheln plans to implement additional pick-tolightsystems in the future.picking the light solutionLight-directed put stations aredesigned to help an apparelretailer optimize split casefulfillment and account for a300% improvement in pick rates.British apparel retailer, Next, markets homeproducts, clothing, footwear and accessoriesin its 500 stores throughout the United Kingdomand Ireland, and in 50 franchise branches inEurope, Asia and the Middle East.To keep up with demand and its changingbusiness requirements, Next installed a newgoods-to-person order fulfillment solution thathas enabled the company to achieve a dramaticincrease in distribution productivity and capacity.The high-rate order fulfillment system (Dematic,www.dematic.com) delivered a threefold increasein order picking rates, along with far greater peakcapacity.The fulfillment system, which is dedicated tothe company’s fast moving product lines, has 20stations that fill orders for up to 24 stores each. Ateach high-rate put station, an operator is directedby put-to-light displays to fulfill a series of orders, fed bya seamless, sequenced supply of products. The productsare automatically delivered to the station’s central pickingpoint from the automated storage and retrieval system.Each station holds up to 24 order totes destined forone of the retail outlets. The light displays at each locationindicate how many items must be put into each ofthe totes, allowing a single operator to work on up to 24store orders at the same time. When an order tote is full,the display instructs the operator to push it onto a takeawayconveyor for transfer to shipping.The high-rate put stations minimize the time anemployee must travel in the warehouse to access eachpick face. Instead, they are fed with a continual supplyof products, and the ergonomic design of the stationsensures that high productivity is combined with minimalphysical demands. The innovative design enablesoperators to achieve pick rates up to 1,000 items perhour depending on the order profile. An additional benefitof supplying stock to pickers is that errors are substantiallyreduced, improving accuracy and customerservice levels. Mmmh.com Modern Materials Handling / O c t o b e r 2 0 1 1 41