Features/Benefits Provided: Picking & Returns Handled in One High Throughput System Productivity Increased Up to 30% 66% Reduction of Labor

Overwhelmed with an expanding number of orders, a continuous flow of distributing and restocking activity and a need for an expansion, a Kansas City publisher installed a horizontal carousel system to solve the problems.

Currently the publisher ships up to 1,475 orders consisting of 4,000 to 8,500 lines per day supplying wholesale books and literature to Christian bookstores as well as individual churches. The publisher must also pack and ship kits for over 300 yearly events they host. In addition the events cause them to handle up to 50,000 lines of returns. The need to combine all sales and returns into one high throughput, labor efficient and accurate system lead them to research and choose horizontal carousel.

The horizontal carousel system designed for this publisher is strategically arranged into three workstations with four carousels per workstation. The workers are filling orders faster than they can pack them for shipment so the company had to separate the picking process from the packing to capitalize on the increased speeds. Customer Service manager says the overall productivity of the distribution operation increased up to 30%. The carousels have helped the publisher eliminate downtime that was previously associated with cycle counting.

The system saved the company 66% in labor costs requiring only four people to run the carousels. In comparison, the previous system required 12 pickers and utilized static shelving and printed packing lists to direct their pickers' activities.

The pick-and-pass methodology allows SKUs to be located in any one of the carousels, eliminating multiple positions and reducing inventory. An order is sent from Workstation 1 to Workstation 2 and on to Workstation 3 via conveyor. If none of the carousels in a workstation have any SKUs for the tote, the tote is automatically routed to the next workstation via take-away conveyor. A large carton area has SKUs that are stored on static shelving due to their size or low velocity and are combined to complete the order.

The carousels are an integral element of the overall expansion and improvement of the company's distribution. Just by combining all sales and returns into this high throughput system, the publishing company's productivity has increased by 30% and reduced labor by 66%.

 
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