Staples makes logistics improvement with mobile order fulfillment system

Staff -- Logistics Management, 1/11/2006

WOBURN, Mass.—Kiva Systems, a Woburn, Mass.-based developer of mobile order-fulfillment systems, recently announced that office supply giant Staples, Inc. will deploy Kiva’s Mobile Fulfillment System (MFS) in a fulfillment center located in Chambersburg, Pa.

Kiva’s MFS is an automated storage and retrieval system that brings selected items to pick station operators at any time. It is comprised of a miniature robotic platform with a compartmentalized shelving system on top of it, containing various warehouse items—in Staples’ case, typical items may include notebooks, binders, and pens. The shelving system can hold up to 1,000 pounds—or half a pallet—worth of inventory.

The robots bring items directly to operators through a barcode-based item ordering system, where a paper order ticket is generated and its bar code is scanned. At this point the requested item is delivered and sent along with other requested items in the same shelving systems, via a robot, to the picker.

Kiva and Staples originally collaborated on a pilot program in 2005 at a Staples fulfillment center in Coppell, Texas, where supply orders were packed for delivery to business and home office customers. MFS’ efficiency and resulting increase in productivity during the pilot period drove Staples’ decision to go forward and implement it in the company’s Chambersburg facility.