Movin' on down the line [Page 2]

-- Logistics Management, 4/1/2006

Page 2 of 2 -- That prompted the engineer to call SJF Material Handling, a systems integrator that Penguin had worked with in the past. SJF designed an automated conveyor system using equipment from several manufacturers and Diamond Phoenix carousels. Before installing the new system, Penguin consolidated its returns processing at the Kirkwood facility and closed the Pittson location.

Today books are still scanned as they arrive, which gives the customer credit for the return, Cox explains. Next, the books travel by transportation conveyor to a sorting area, where workers sort them onto three belts according to their condition. Books that can be repaired are transported in totes to the upper level of the mezzanine via a combination of roller, transportation, and accumulation conveyors. There the books are removed from the totes for reconditioning.

Once on the conveyor belt, "mint condition" books pass under another scanner. That scan controls a pop-up sorter that diverts each book to one of 12 accumulation conveyors. The books are scanned again, and they head down gravity roller conveyors that feed 12 storage carousels arranged in four pods. At the end of the lanes, the books are placed into totes, which are then loaded onto the carousels at locations specified by the system's control software. When the totes are full, they are placed on a powered conveyor for delivery to restocking locations.

Since the system was installed, the number of returned books has soared from 22 million to more than 35 million per year. Yet the company has been able to handle that increase in less time and with fewer employees. "We never would have been able to do this the old way," says Cox. "It has made a big difference all around."

Conveyors help Lenox consolidate

As a manufacturer of china, crystal, flatware, and giftware, Lenox is a company that needs to be extremely careful when moving products throughout its distribution centers.

Until two years ago, the shipper relied on four main distribution centers and 16 satellite facilities to store and distribute its products. Each of the four DCs was dedicated to a specific purpose: retail distribution, wholesale distribution, reserve storage, or receiving and quality control. But the large number of locations meant that the operation was somewhat fragmented. At the same time, customer service suffered because the DCs could not keep up with growing order volumes, according to Greg Petro, vice president of distribution. "The old system met our needs 30 years ago," he says. "It was no longer doing what we needed it to do today to meet turnaround times and handle the amount of orders we wanted it to do to increase our business."

In an effort to augment customer service and reduce duplicate inventories, the company decided to consolidate its distribution operations into a single, 500,000 square-foot facility in Hagerstown, Md.

In 2001 Lenox turned to Forte Systems for help in designing an automated picking and conveyor system. Petro notes that the design and engineering of that system was completed first, and the building was designed to accommodate that plan. Between the time initial plans were drawn up and the time the building was completed, though, Lenox's order profiles and product lines had changed, so more flexibility had to be designed into the system, Petro says.

In the new setup, 75 employees work in a three-tiered pick module with four fingers. The multi-tiered pick module created more flexibility for moving items from one level to another, as well as more efficient throughput to Lenox's "closeout" pick, pack, and ship operation, says Petro.

Picking is done in waves controlled by Manhattan Associates' PKMS software. When an order comes in, the picking system creates both picking and shipping labels that are then applied to cartons. The labels are scanned and the system routes the boxes to the appropriate level to begin the picking process. (Split-case picking is on levels two and three, while full-case picks are on level one.) When pickers finish on each level, they place the boxes on the conveyors for delivery to the next level. Another scan indicates whether they need to pick items from that level or send the box on its way. When a box has been completed, the system routes it to one of six lanes feeding the closeout area, where workers pack the fragile items. Each box is audited, sealed, and sent on to shipping. There the boxes are weighed, scanned, and assigned to one of 21 shipping lanes for consolidation and loading onto the proper trucks.

Since making the change to the new system, Lenox has doubled its number of units picked per hour. "We put a lot of effort into this design, and it is paying off," says Petro. "It has allowed us to increase our ability to ship on our start dates, rather than focusing on cancel dates, which we were often forced to do with the old system."