Inside Allied Electronics & Automation Distribution Center: Automation electronics distribution

Allied Electronics & Automation
Fort Worth, Texas
Square Footage: 520,000 square feet
Products Handled: Industrial automation, interconnect, cabling and electromechanical products
SKUs: 200,000
Throughput: Currently processing 11,000 order lines a day, with capability of delivering 23,000
Shifts: Presently two 8-hour shifts, 5 days per week

You can read the Allied Electronics & Automation Systems Report story here.

To update an aging distribution center and prepare for the future, Allied Electronics & Automation built an addition (1) to its original facility (2) for order fulfillment that includes a variety of automation technologies, ranging from goods-to-person picking enabled by shuttle and pocket sortation systems. The two sections are connected by a tote-handling conveyor system (3) that delivers totes from the original building into the various processing areas in the new space. Automated pallet and tote transportation with automatic guided vehicles (AGVs) will soon follow. The drawing illustrates activities in the new section; the original facility is not shown.

Receiving

Packages and pallets arrive at the receiving dock (4) and are processed in the original facility (not shown). Using advance ship notifications or 2D bar code scanning, inventory is received into the system. The facility’s inventory management system identifies stock that can flow straight through the facility for immediate shipping. Inventory that will go into stock—either in reserve storage or automated storage—is scanned into the warehouse management system (WMS), which assigns a storage destination and location.

Putaway

Most newly received inventory will be inducted onto the conveyor system (3) that connects the two sections, and delivered to a shuttle system (4), where it will be automatically received and stored. The shuttle system is integrated into a four-level mezzanine that also includes pocket sortation and a shipping sorter. Large or non-conveyable products as well as bulk items are transferred on pallets to a high bay storage area (6) for putaway into pallet rack.

Picking

Orders are released in real time into the WMS. Product is then retrieved from the shuttle system and delivered to one of 35 goods-to-person pick stations (7). The system prioritizes the sequence of picks in order to support multiple service options, including various truck pull times. Once picked, are conveyed to packing (8). Boxes for packing are built in a box building area (9).

Packing

The facility packs multi-line and single line orders.

Multi-line order picks are inducted into the pocket sorter, located within the mezzanine (5). The pockets are then staged overhead in the ceiling until all the items for an order are available to be packed. Pockets are then delivered in sequence to a packer. The items for the order are removed from the appropriate pockets and placed onto a preformed tray (small or large) and conveyed to shipping (10).

Single line orders represent about 60% of all picks. They are sent directly to packing and placed in a tray.

Shipping

Any required value add is performed in the shipping area (10), prior to the trays containing the orders being folded to the most effective transportation size. Once value-added services are complete, a lid is automatically applied to the shipping tray, followed by automatic labeling. The shipping sorter then sends completed packages to the appropriate carrier/service lane, with the core services going along a boom conveyor directly into the trailer.

System suppliers

• System Design & Integration, WMS, Conveyors, Evo Shuttle System, Pocket Soration and AGV Systems: KNAPP
• Business ERP: SAP
• Automated Pallet Movers: Raymond/Seegrid AGV
• Racking and Shelving: Unarco & Nedcon in the shuttle system
• Automatic Tray Former/Case Sealer: B+ Equipment
• Print and Apply: Weber/Zebra
• Bar Code Scanning: SICK/Datalogic (fixed sortation) and Zebra Technologies (handheld)
• RF Devices: Zebra Technologies
• Lift Trucks: Raymond