AcuSport moves from conventional to automated

AcuSport Corp.
Bellefontaine, Ohio
Size: 260,000 square feet in Ohio, including office space; 23,000 square feet in Utah.
Products: Hand guns, long guns, ammunition and shooting sports accessories
SKUs: 35,000
Throughput: 8,000 to 9,000 lines per day
Employees: 135 employees in operations
Shifts per day/days per week: 2 shifts per day, 6 days a week.

In AcuSport’s Central Ohio distribution center, technologies such as an automated multi-shuttle storage and retrieval system, a three-level case pick module and a conveyorized case pick line come together to fill orders for a network of independent retail customers.

Receiving: Roughly 90% of the product received in Bellefontaine is palletized. Product is staged in receiving (1) and verified by the receiving team. The warehouse management system (WMS) generates license plate bar code labels and determines the storage location.

Putaway: A lift truck operator scans the license plate bar code label and is directed by the WMS to a putaway location in reserve storage for pallets (2) and cases (3), the multi-shuttle (4), a pallet and case pick line (5) or a pick module (6).

• Reserve storage (2, 3) and pallet pick line (5): The operator confirms the putaway by scanning the location and the pallet bar code labels. The inventory is now available in the WMS.

• Multi-shuttle putaway: Pallets are delivered to a decant station (7) where items are scanned into a storage tote that can hold up to eight different products. The warehouse control system chooses the storage location.

• Pick module: At the pick module (6), cases are depalletized and scanned into a picking location.

Picking: The facility supports five picking processes.

1. Full case and pallet picking:  Order selectors are given a batch of orders and directed by the WMS to pick locations in the full pallet and case pick lines (5). Pallets are picked (5) and delivered to the shipping area (8). For case picks, associates apply a label and place the case on a takeaway conveyor (9). Cases are conveyed to a value-added packing area located on a mezzanine (10) over shipping. Cases are prepared for shipping, closed and conveyed to the shipping sorter (11).

2. Goods-to-person picking: The multi-shuttle (4) delivers totes to a goods-to-person station in the put wall area. When the associate scans a label on the tote, the system identifies the right sized shipping container for that order which is scanned into a cubby location in the put wall. The system then displays on a screen the item to be picked, its location in the storage tote and the required quantity. Once the items from that tote have been picked into shipping containers, the tote is automatically conveyed back to the multi-shuttle. Once all of the items for an order have been picked, the associate places the container on a takeaway conveyor. The shipping container can then be conveyed to the pick module (6) for more items or to packing (10) if the order is complete.

3. Pick module: The three-level pick module (6) is for faster moving SKUs. An order is initiated when an associate applies a label to a shipping container from the box erector (13) and inducts (14) it into the system. When the container arrives at one of the 18 pick zones, the associate scans the label and is directed by the WMS to a pick location; there, the associate scans the location label and is told what quantity of items to pick. Once the item and its serial number are scanned into the shipping container, it is pushed off onto a takeaway conveyor (9) and the associate repeats the process for the next pick.

4. Long guns and non-conveyable items: Long guns and non-conveyable accessories are batch picked to a pallet, with up to 80 items to a pallet. The pallet is then delivered to a long gun put wall (15) large enough to accommodate oversized items. On one side of the wall, an associate scans the bar code label and serial number of items and places them in a container in a cubby location. Once all of the orders for an item have been picked, a light on the other side of the put wall tells a packer that the order is complete. The packer erects a box; scans the appropriate serial numbers; and manually packs the box. Those items are then palletized and delivered to shipping (8).

5. Suppressors: Silencers and suppressors, which are highly regulated, are stored and picked from a vertical lift module (not shown).
Packing and shipping: Cases and shipping containers are conveyed to the pack station (10). The contents of the order are verified, any value-added services are performed and packing materials are added. Once a container is sealed, it is conveyed to one of four shipping sorters (11). Items are then sorted to an LTL shipping lane or to ground or express parcel carriers (8). Cases and containers are loaded into the appropriate truck and the order is closed out in the WMS.

System Suppliers
System Integrator, Shuttle System, put wall, light-directed picking and conveyor and sortation system: Dematic
Project consultant: Sikich
Lift Trucks and Pick Module: Crown Equipment Corp.
WMS: Manhattan Associates
Vertical lift module: Hanel Storage Systems
Pallet racking and shelving: Steel King Industries   
Carton Erectors: Pearson Packaging Systems
Packaging System: Sealed Air
Dunnage system: Day-Pak
Bar code labels: ID Label Inc.