High-density storage system keeps pace with SKU growth

Overton’s/Gander Direct (Gander Mountain) is the nation’s largest retail network of outdoor specialty stores for shooting sports, hunting, fishing, camping, marine, apparel and footwear. A major concern was a massive influx of SKUs. Before it ran out of space, the company installed a high-density fabric cell storage solution to improve cube utilization, reduce wear and tear on existing bin boxes, and improve ergonomics for employees.

Previously, employees would often have to dig through pallets and totes on the ground or on shelves, while using step ladders to reach product stored overhead. As the apparel product category saw rapid SKU growth, the company found it didn’t have enough right-sized locations and couldn’t change pick slots dynamically.

The existing horizontal carousel system was not scalable enough to accommodate the growth, and Overton’s didn’t want to spread product over multiple locations. The company also avoided the additional cost of adding a pick module, as it would lead to more warehouse management system costs as well as automation and conveyance challenges.

The new storage cells (SpeedCell, speedcell.net) were tested in four bays during peak season before 88 more bays were installed in the 267,000-square-foot facility. The installation added 219 locations in each bay or 4,380 locations to each aisle for a total of more than 17,000 additional locations within the existing footprint. The project increased storage capacity by 86% per bay and reduced travel time for pickers.

A net result of this installation has been that Overton’s employees have increased picking and stocking efficiency by 25%.