A DC for the Jetsons (page 2)
-- Logistics Management, 11/1/2005
Page 2 of 3
The Jetson-like ambience of the Freetown facility comes from its integration of computer intelligence, voice technology, and automated storage-and-retrieval systems to direct the putaway, storage, and retrieval of products.
The two warehouses operate independently, but a single warehouse management system (WMS) from EXE Technologies (now part of SSA Global software) oversees both operations. The Freetown warehouse employs version 5.3, the latest upgrade of the application. Stop & Shop's parent company, Royal Ahold N.V., wanted EXE's WMS installed in Freetown because the Dutch grocer uses that software at other facilities around the globe.
Beginning with receiving, the WMS directs almost all activities in the distribution center. When trucks loaded with product arrive at the receiving docks for either the perishables or the dry-goods warehouse, receiving clerks input the purchase order numbers. The computer system then generates labels for each pallet on that trailer. Receivers scan the bar code on those labels, and their scanning terminals transmit information about the pallets via radio frequency waves to the WMS.
The receivers then enter information about the quantity of items on each pallet into handheld terminals and place the stickers on the pallets. At that point pallets are ready for putaway.
Next, forklift operators scan the bar codes on the labels. On small computer screens attached to the lift trucks, the WMS directs the forklifts to specific aisles. The drivers place the pallets in any of five available pick-up and delivery (P&D) stations located at the end of the appropriate sections of the storage-and-retrieval area.
At this point, the automated storage-and-retrieval system, built by HK Systems Inc., takes over. Stop & Shop has a total of 77 AS/RS cranes—42 in the grocery warehouse and 35 in the perishables warehouse. "We have more cranes than any other distribution center in the country," DeVito says.
As part of the project installation, a team consisting of representatives from Stop & Shop, Royal Ahold, HK Systems, and EXE wrote the interfaces that allow the two systems to talk with one another. The grocery company handled the systems integration on its own without any outside help, says DeVito. "We created the business rules within the WMS."
The AS/RS cranes are directed by the WMS to take the loads from the P&D stations and shuttle them into the storage racks. The cranes move in two directions—horizontally along 300-foot tracks bolted to the floors, and vertically within the rack structure. The forks on each crane can support loads weighing up to one-and-a-half tons; the equipment can also spin around within an aisle to place or remove a load in a rack bin.
For safety's sake, each laser-guided crane is equipped with 25 infrared motion sensors; the sensors verify that the rack position is clear before depositing or removing a pallet. "If the crane detects anything, it will shut down," DeVito explains.
After the crane completes a move, it informs the WMS that the task has been completed. Both the WMS and AS/RS system controls maintain separate inventory tallies that Stop & Shop compares daily to ensure that inventory data are accurate.
The EXE system also oversees the removal of product from the storage racks for outbound shipment to stores. It keeps track of inventory locations, receives orders from the stores for replenishment, and assigns tasks to the order pickers.
The WMS communicates those orders to workers through a voice-technology system from Vocollect Inc. One big advantage of the voice system is that the headsets worn by order pickers to hear picking instructions allow them to keep their hands free. Continued...
View All Blogs
