Southern Wine and Spirits: How the system works

Southern Wine & Spirits, Atlantic Street Facility
Union City, Calif.
Size: 334,000 square feet
Products: Wine, spirits, craft beers, water and energy drinks
SKUs: 12,500 SKUs
Throughput: 45,000 cases per day; 75,000 cases per day at peak
Warehouse employees: 205
Shifts per day/Days per week: 3 shifts per day/5 days per week

Receiving: Once pallets are received (1) and staged (2) on the docks, the receiving team verifies the receipt against the purchase order. The warehouse management system (WMS) then determines whether product will be stored in the automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) (3) or the conventional reserve storage area (4).

Put-away: Pallets destined for the AS/RS (3) are delivered to one of two induction points (5). Once inducted, storage and retrieval machines (SRMs) pick up the pallets and deliver them to a storage location in the system. The SRMs can move two pallets at a time.

Pallets headed to the reserve storage area (4) are scanned by a lift truck operator, who scans the license plate bar code label. The WMS directs the operator to a storage location. The operator scans the pallet and storage location bar codes to confirm the put-away.

Picking: Orders are received throughout the day. Since trucks leave early in the morning to begin deliveries, order picking begins late in the afternoon. System-directed picking processes are designed to minimize travel and the number of times an order selector visits a pick face during a shift. Picking is coordinated by the warehouse execution system (WES).

AS/RS integrated pick modules:  There are two types of pick locations in the (AS/RS) pick modules (6): A dedicated location has room for four pallets of the same SKU. A cluster location holds three different SKUs and one reserve pallet. When a wave begins, pick labels are handed to order selectors who go to a pick location, apply labels to the cartons being picked and place them on a pick conveyor. Cases are automatically scanned by a fixed bar code scanner at the end of the pick modules to confirm the pick. Cases are then conveyed (7) to a pre-merge area (8).

Bottle pick: Split-case orders are picked to shipping cartons in a bottle pick area (9) and a cold room (10) where high-end wines are stored. First, the WMS creates a cube for each case and then sends picking instructions to an order selector’s voice headset. Fast-moving SKUs are picked from carton flow racks on the first level. Once all of the items have been picked, they can travel on an Express Lane conveyor (11) to a pre-merge area (8); or, they can travel on a Local Line to the second level, where slower-moving SKUs are picked from shelves. Once those orders are complete, the cartons are conveyed to the pre-merge area (8).

Other picking: Full cases of slow-moving SKUs are picked in batches to pallet from the reserve storage area (4) and then inducted onto the conveyor system for delivery to a pre-merge area (8). Southern also stocks some product that does not convey well. Those items are picked to a pallet and delivered to a shipping door (12), where they are loaded onto an outbound truck.

Double sort and order consolidation: When it is time to load the trucks, cases that have accumulated in the pre-merge area (8) are first broken down into smaller waves; those waves are further broken down with a second sort into orders that will be conveyed to a shipping dock. After the second sort, full cases are married with cases from the bottle pick area and reserve storage. They are then sorted (13) to the right shipping dock for that delivery where they are floor stacked onto the route trucks in the right order for the route stops.

Replenishment: During the shift, the AS/RS monitors activity at the pick locations and automatically replenishes pallets as needed. At the end of the night, order selectors in the AS/RS pick modules pick cases to replenish the bottle room for the next day’s orders. Instead of accumulating in the pre-merge area (8), those cases are conveyed to the bottle room (9) where they are scanned into pick locations.

System Suppliers
Systems integration and warehouse control and execution systems: W&H Systems
Automated storage and retrieval system and associated software (Savanna.net): Westfalia
Warehouse management system (WMs) and voice picking software: Manhattan Associates
Voice recognition technology: Vocollect by Honeywell
Conveyor and sortation equipment: Intelligrated
Spiral conveyors: AmbaFlex and Hilmot
Adjustable conveyor: Stewart Glapat
Fixed scanners: Datalogic
Lift trucks: Toyota; Stock pickers: Raymond; Reach trucks: Bendi
Pallet Rack: Frazier  
Bottle room rack: Interlake Mecalux; Span-Track
Route delivery software: Roadnet Logistics Systems