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Tag: picking

Webinar: Empowering People, Enhancing Performance

Posted on by David Priestman

A new Webinar from Logistics Business is now available to watch on-demand. In association with Koerber Supply Chain and BES, Editor Peter MacLeod talks to Alex Parkinson, Business Analyst at Koerber about a warehouse upgrade project for BES in Birmingham. BES Operations Manager Steve Standley explains the before and after set-up for picking and ecommerce and what benefits automation, WMS and voice tech have brought.

Watch the Webinar here now.

BES are a plumbing, gas and heating trade supplier selling products and brands ranging from Bosch tools to Danfoss thermostats, Grohe taps to Grundfos pumps, Triton showers to Bostik glue. This inventory, in a 80,000 sq. ft. DC in central Birmingham, with 15000 SKUs and 1500 orders per day is a challenge in terms of suitable storage, picking and despatch. The company went from a paper-based operation to an automated voice and WMS solution in a project with Koerber Supply Chain.

The key benefits were:
• 15% reduction in total staff hours used
• 43% increase in productivity
• 88% reduction in training time for new staff
• 50% reduction in staff needed to check orders after picking
• 5 tonnes of paper saved per year (750,000 sheets) + printing costs
• Pick-up times on collection orders reduced to 30 minutes

Flexible Solution Required

“We brought technology to the workplace,” Operations Manager Steve Standley says. BES is a 45-year-old company and ecommerce took-off during covid. “Initially, for the extra orders, we just hired more staff. But that made us top-heavy for pick and pack. We needed to speed up and possibly reduce the head count,” he explains. The old system saw orders generate two copies of every despatch note. One went round the warehouse and one to the customer. There was a lot of walking involved as staff went round the facility to find and collect each item for an order. Having automated these processes considerable efficiencies have been made. BES upped staff pay and amended hours as well.

“It was a bit chicken and egg,” Standley says. “Should we introduce technology first or introduce efficient practises?” A new picking solution was required to help with the additional volumes. Installation, which commenced in March 2023 and was completed last August, needed to be done whilst order numbers continued to grow. “Testing was straightforward. Training is easy. Showing new starters the aisle and stock locations is the main thing.”

Empowering People
Empowering People

Major customers order in big quantities. Plumbers purchase parts for regular jobs. Consumers buy items for home delivery. BES ship via DX for odd sized and large products (overnight via the DX network), DPD for regular parcels and Royal Mail for items under 2kg. The decision was made to divide the DC into four zones, accordingly, from bulk down to small, plus a VIP area. Workers now wheel a roll cage of small or medium totes to the appropriate zone to pick into up to 20 totes at a time, before returning to the loading area.

Order Prioritisation

Another challenge for the upgrade project was to reduce the time taken to pick items meant for collection by customers on-site to be halved, to just 30 minutes. Instead of printed orders being sifted through, the new picking system recognises the warehouse’s own postcode as the destination. “It then jumps to the front of the queue to pick immediately,” Standley informs. “Its hard to get the balance between collection orders and ones for delivery. An unique balance is achieved.”

The new system includes Koerber WMS, voice tech, modules and middleware, plus the four Kardex Megamat carousels (pictured) that were already in use at the DC. The picker no longer needs to input part numbers on the carousel’s control panel. This is a no-touch solution thanks to the Koerber API ordering items in batches. Quite a lot of work was done by Koerber in achieving this interface. “We did have two staff per machine,” Standley continues, “now one person goes to it (and says ‘Ready’) when around 30 orders are ready. So they can go, pick elsewhere and come back. There’s less walking involved.”

What about fast-moving items and stock location? “We wanted accuracy. Quality was paramount.” Standley emphasised. “Phase 2 of the project will take us further, handling inbound products from suppliers and maybe having a dedicated area for fast-movers. We’re also looking at same-day delivery options.”

Watch more webinars here

Peak Season Robot Picks Surge

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a market leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for fulfilment warehouses, released its annual Cyber Week recap announcing a record-breaking 331 million units picked globally on behalf of its retail and third-party logistics partners, a 66% increase over last year.

LocusBots picked almost 7 million average daily units, an increase of 107% vs. 2022.

“We are thrilled to have delivered another record-breaking peak shopping season for our customers. The 66% increase in units picked compared to last year shows the growing demand for warehouse automation and the proven scalability of the Locus solution,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “As online shopping continues to accelerate, our intelligent robots enable customers to keep pace while also optimising productivity.”

According to Adobe Analytics data, shoppers spent more than $38 billion in total online global sales from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. Cyber Monday was the largest online shopping day in history with $12.4 billion in sales, a 9.6% increase. Mobile shopping continues its continued upwards trajectory, representing 54% of all online orders in 2023, a 10.4% increase over 2022.

Locus has now picked more than 2.5 billion units worldwide, with the last million picks taking just 26 days compared to its first million which took more than 1,500 days.

2023 Peak Season insights:

• The holiday shopping period began earlier, expanding to several weeks with retailers starting sales events as early as late-September to lure consumers to shop early.
• Online shopping is here to stay as the convenience and ease of use of online ordering is driving growth across not just retail, but all business channels, including B2B and industrial.
• Mobile has become the shopping mode of choice with more than 54% of all orders in 2023 made via mobile apps, up 10.4% vs. 2022.
• The labour shortage is still a concern: Recruiting and retaining workers continues to be a concern for bricks-and-mortar retailers, warehouses, and transportation. Collaborative robotic automation has become a necessity required to meet the constantly increasing volume of orders.

With more consumers choosing to shop online, Locus has proven to be a valued resource for helping retailers and 3PL operators seamlessly scale to meet and exceed the growing volume demands today, and into the future.

similar news

5000 Locus AMRs Deployed by DHL

 

DHL Supply Chain and AutoStore Partner

Posted on by David Priestman

DHL Supply Chain, global leader in contract logistics, and AutoStore™, a pioneering robotic technology company specializing in automated storage and retrieval systems, are expanding their partnership in a move set to further automated warehouse operations on global scale.

DHL Supply Chain, already involved in nine operational AutoStore warehouse projects with four more in the planning stage, is poised to become one of AutoStore’s largest 3PL clients, reinforcing their commitment to digitalization and automation. The nine existing Systems effectively operate 800,000 bins, with the forthcoming four Systems elevating the total number of bins to a remarkable 1.2 million. In the future, DHL also intends to construct five further facilities in addition to those already in operation or planning.

This innovative automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) technology has been developed to efficiently manage and optimize inventory using vastly reduced space within warehouses. Its highly modular and scalable design makes it a preferred solution for e-commerce and businesses handling smaller products such as fashion and tech items. The strategic aim of DHL and AutoStore through this partnership is to accelerate the implementation of this ground-breaking technology that enhances abilities to meet diverse client needs.

Fleet of more than 1,000 robots will enhance operational efficiency and throughput

Markus Voss, COO and CIO at DHL Supply Chain, emphasizes the importance of this collaboration: “We are pleased to expand our existing relationship with AutoStore as we continue to implement our digitalization and automation strategy in a growing number of warehouses, allowing us to better and faster serve our customers. AutoStore’s standardized and modular technology perfectly aligns with our aim to make our operations more efficient, enabling swift scalability and adaptability across various use cases and end-markets – a crucial factor for us as a third-party logistics provider. Through a standardized approach and dedicated stock availability we will be able to significantly drive down implementation times. Additionally, AutoStore’s network of partners is invaluable in supporting our growth strategy across multiple geographies.”

Since 2012, DHL Supply Chain and AutoStore have partnered to implement cutting-edge solutions across sites in Singapore, Poland, Germany, Australia, and the US. The ongoing collaboration has already led to expansions at all operational sites, resulting in a fleet of more than 1,000 Robots worldwide that significantly increasing operational efficiency and throughput.

Mats Hovland Vikse, CEO of AutoStore, expressed excitement about the expansion: “Our longstanding collaboration with DHL Supply Chain has showcased the strength, reliability, and efficiency of AutoStore’s technology. We are thrilled to further expand this valued partnership, supporting DHL Supply Chain’s global deployment of automated warehouse solutions. We are excited about the significant growth opportunity that this represents for AutoStore, as we continue to drive innovation in the world of logistics.”

This expanded partnership between DHL Supply Chain and AutoStore promises to redefine the future of warehousing, offering scalable, adaptable, and efficient solutions that cater to the ever-evolving needs of customers worldwide.

Robotic Fulfilment Provider Doubles Picks in 11 Months

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a global leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for warehouse automation, has announced that its AMR solutions have now picked more than two billion units, reinforcing the company’s position as a premier robotic fulfilment provider for the warehouse and logistics industry. This new milestone comes just 11 months after reaching the industry-first landmark of 1 billion picks in 2022.

“Achieving the two billion picks milestone is an incredible accomplishment for our company and for our customers,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “This event is a testament to the dedication and innovation of our incredible team and the dramatic productivity improvements we deliver to drive our customers’ growth and success.”

Reaching this milestone took just 358 days, with the last 100 million picks taking just 27 days – an average of 3.7 million picks per day. By comparison, it took more than six years to make the first billion picks, and 1,542 days to pick the first 100 million units. LocusBots have now traveled more than 37 million miles in customers’ warehouses, the equivalent of more than 1,370 times around the Earth or 77 round trips to the Moon.

“Achieving the remarkable milestone of two billion picks demonstrates how Locus’s intelligent automation solution can transform warehouse operations,” said Keith Price, CIO of Concordance Healthcare. “We look forward to continuing to work with the Locus team to leverage the power of advanced robotics and automation to drive even greater warehouse fulfillment optimisation in the years ahead.”

“Locus’s consistent innovation, user-centric approach, and genuine dedication to customer relationships puts them at the forefront of warehouse automation,” said Alan McDonald, vice president of continuous improvement at Geodis. “This milestone is a testament to its technological leadership and synergistic collaboration. We look forward to building on our work together and driving even greater efficiency improvements in the future.”

The AI and data science-driven LocusOne platform serves as an enterprise-level fleet manager, overseeing complex warehouse fulfilment workflows that support diverse use cases, clustering tasks to create optimal robot missions and reduce unproductive worker walking time. Locus’s unique multi-bot approach decouples workers from orders and tasks to dramatically improve worker productivity.

Proven at enterprise scale, labour-challenged 3PL, retail, health care, and manufacturing operators can seamlessly add robots to increase capacity or meet growth in any operation in just minutes to optimise productivity in their operations, reduce costs, and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving e-commerce landscape.

The LocusOne warehouse automation execution platform enables the smooth orchestration of multiple robotic form factors at enterprise-scale within a single coordinated platform. It provides real-time optimisation of tasks to be completed within the four walls and across multiple levels in warehousing and manufacturing environments. LocusOne optimises robotic task allocation, route planning, and resource use, while delivering real-time business insights into warehouse operations.

Locus Robotics is an enterprise-level, warehouse automation solution, incorporating powerful and intelligent, AI-driven autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that operate collaboratively with human workers to dramatically improve product movement and productivity 2–3X. Supporting more than 120+ of the world’s top brands and deployed at 270+ sites around the world, Locus Robotics enables retailers, 3PLs and specialty warehouses to efficiently meet and exceed the increasingly complex and demanding requirements of today’s fulfilment environments.

Kite Packaging Launches Custom Packing Benches

Posted on by David Priestman

Kite Packaging, a leading online UK packaging supplier, has launched modular custom packing benches. These are made from ready-built units to the customer’s specification for a bench which better suits their industry, operation and environment.

The benches are available in widths of 1200mm and 1800mm and are constructed from 40mm box steel which is welded together, ensuring maximum strength and durability for all high usage applications. The fully-faced, wipe-clean melamine worktop is hardwearing and able to withstand busy pick, pack and despatch areas.

Customised packing benches

Customisation options include extra shelves for greater storage, adjustable toast racks for organisation and a void fill hopper for storage. Customers can also add a choice of two small side tables as well as a printer tray for attachments, keyboard tray and monitor arm for those using warehouse management systems. These features ensure employees have the right materials and tools to hand, enabling them to efficiently and securely pack items.

Kite’s custom packing benches are well-designed, of high quality and built to last, providing employees with a user-friendly packing area which is tailored specifically to their requirements, making their job quicker and easier. The company loves solving packing problems using expertise to ensure customers are using the right range of products for their business. No matter how simple or complicated packaging is, Kite’s claimed skill is ensuring the right solution. With over 2,500 standard products and tens of thousands bespoke lines in stock, Kite provide a Just-in-Time solution.

What Influences Retail Manual Pick Rates?

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ecommerce has become one of the fastest growing sectors within the supply chain, making pick rates key. With this growth each business faces a number of challenges, not just scaling up the operation to cope with demand, but also investing in equipment that can adapt as the process changes and improve the operation to make savings wherever possible.

The right warehouse fulfilment plan will not only improve productivity but will also make the whole operation more efficient. However any plan has to take into account a number of factors. Without the right equipment designed for your applications to help achieve the above, implementing the right WMS, tackling productivity or perhaps outsourcing the picking to a 3PL can’t be looked at until the hands on ‘’Picking’’ operation is defined, yet in many cases businesses will look at ‘’Off the shelf solutions’’ instead of a’’ tailor made solution’’, that’s is not only right for the current process but can adapt as and when the fulfilment process changes in the future. And in many cases, this can also take place towards the end of the planning process.

When we look for IT solutions such as WMS, or even the building we occupy how often is the right solution available without some changes? But more importantly how often are today’s requirements the same as those in two or even three years ago? Obviously one of the most important areas we have to consider is order fulfilment, what impacts our output and how this can it be improved. Can time be saved in areas, and thus reduce waste (time or material) Aside from the equipment used the wellbeing of staff has to be a key consideration after all ‘’A happy worker is a productive worker’’.

Speaking to a wide range of retail companies any improvements are the key to achieving profitability and in some cases saving just 2 seconds on a picking operation can have financial benefits to a business , obviously this is dependent on the number of picks carried out, but how many businesses do not want to grow and increase? So what items of equipment can we identify as the ones that will require the most changes over the years and what are the factors influencing change. Take for instance a picking trolley, how difficult is it to move when fully loaded, how does this impact on pick route times, can the picker load all product onto the trolley, are the shelves at the right height, is the handle to move the trolley at the right height for the operator, does the picker need steps to pick items occasionally?

Picking /Packing stations, how many items are required to complete the process? PC, Label printer, boxes, envelopes, protective packaging, how long will the operator have to stand at station, is the work surface the correct height, and are all the items within easy reach and easy to locate? Custom built solutions designed to take the all the above into account and are the obvious solution to answer many of these questions, ‘’Aren’t they expensive compared to off the shelf?’’ Yes is the quick answer, however when you look at a flexible solution that can adapt as your process/workload changes the ROI is unquestionable with so many businesses having to either ‘’Make do’’ or worse still scrap their equipment and start again it does make custom flexible solutions the unequivocal choice to the issues faced not just in E-procurement order fulfilment, but also the far wider order picking market place.

Flowstore offer a wide range of custom built applications into market sectors looking find the right solution that will stand the test of time and adapt as the demand on the supplier changes with the market place, put simply ‘’Smart solutions that work ‘’ With a dedicated team who will visit site understand your process to offer the best solutions.

Improving Manual Ecommerce Picking

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ecommerce over the last three years has become one of the fastest-growing sectors within the supply chain. With this growth, businesses faces a number of challenges, not just scaling up the operation to cope with demand, but also investing in equipment that can adapt as the process changes and improve the operation to make savings wherever possible.

The right warehouse fulfilment plan will not only improve productivity but will also make the whole operation more efficient. However, any plan has to take into account a number of factors.

Without the right equipment designed for your applications to help achieve the above, implementing the right WMS, tackling productivity or perhaps outsourcing the picking to a 3PL can’t be looked at until the hands-on picking operation is defined, yet in many cases businesses will look at off-the-shelf solutions instead of a tailor-made solution that’s not only right for the current process but can adapt as and when the fulfilment process changes in the future. In many cases, this can also take place towards the end of the planning process.

When we look for IT solutions such as WMS or even the building we occupy, how often is the right solution available without some changes? But, more importantly, how often are today’s requirements the same as those two or even three years ago?

Obviously one of the most important areas we have to consider is order fulfilment, what impacts our output and how this can be improved. Can time be saved in certain areas, and thus reduce waste (time or material)? Aside from the equipment used, the wellbeing of staff has to be a key consideration. After all, a happy worker is a productive worker.

Speaking to a wide range of retail companies, any improvement can be key to achieving profitability;  in some cases, saving just two  seconds on a picking operation can have financial benefits to a business. Obviously, this is dependent on the number of picks carried out, but how many businesses do not want to grow?

Right Equipment for Ecommerce

So what items of equipment can we identify as the ones that will require the most changes over the years and what are the factors influencing change? Take, for instance, a picking trolley; how difficult is it to move when fully loaded, how does this impact on pick route times, can the picker load all product onto the trolley, are the shelves at the right  height, is the handle to move the trolley at the right height for the operator, does the picker need steps to pick items occasionally…?

Picking/packing stations: how many are required to complete the process? PC, label printer, boxes, envelopes and protective packaging. How long will the operator have to stand at the station? Is the work surface the correct height, and are all the items within easy reach and easy to locate?

Custom-built solutions designed to take the all the above into account are the obvious solution to answer many of these questions. In response to the question “are they expensive compared to off-the-shelf?” the quick answer is yes. However, when you look at a flexible solution that can adapt as your process/workload changes, the ROI is unquestionable. With so many businesses having to either make do or – worse still – scrap their equipment and start again, it does make custom flexible solutions the unequivocal solution to the issues faced, not just in Eprocurement order fulfilment, but also the far wider order picking market place.

Flowstore offers a wide range of custom-built applications into market sectors looking find the right solution that will stand the test of time and adapt as the demand on the supplier changes with the market place. Put simply, it says its provides “smart solutions that work” with a dedicated team who will visit your site, understand your processes, and try to offer the best solutions.

 

AutoStore Introduces Enhanced Workstations

Posted on by David Priestman

AutoStore™, the leading robotic technology company, announces the arrival of two new enhanced workstations that prioritize operational efficiency, operator productivity, and ergonomics: FusionPort™ and FusionPort Staging™. The workstations offer advanced integration capabilities to accommodate various automation technology solutions and are available worldwide from April 12.

Designed with the well-being of warehouse operators in mind, FusionPort maximizes employee performance by presenting two tilted order-picking Bin openings and visual picking aids. These features reduce the repetitive movements operators face as they manually transfer inventory from one location to another, while streamlining order picking by providing visual cues with a pick-to-light system for easy item identification. The station additionally includes an enhanced safety hatch that makes the Bins accessible only when the Port is ready for picking.

“Businesses today need to optimize their picking process if they are to meet evolving customer demands, but in order to achieve this, warehouses must be equipped with the tools that will enable their employees to work productively and safely,” said Carlos Fernandez, Chief Product Officer at AutoStore.

“This is why we’re excited to offer FusionPort and FusionPort Staging, which will enable businesses to best serve their staff while leveraging the world-class technology that AutoStore is known for.”

AutoStore developed FusionPort Staging based on an in-depth understanding of the space constraints that warehouses face by storing inventory in staging areas. The workstation consolidates order picking and staging to a single Port, allowing businesses to streamline operations and reduce real estate and costs by decreasing the space required for staging. Similar to the FusionPort, the workstation also features visual picking aids and a safety hatch. FusionPort Staging comes pre-assembled for easy installation and allows organizations to store consolidated orders dust-free.

Both workstations feature a compact exterior design for greater flexibility when integrating with additional automation technology, with FusionPort Staging offering up to four times more storage capacity for existing warehouse footprints.

RightHand Robotics Appoints New CEO

Posted on by David Priestman

RightHand Robotics, a leader in data-driven, autonomous robotic picking solutions for order fulfilment, announces the appointment of tech industry veteran Brian D. Owen (pictured) as Chief Executive Officer. With 30-plus years of experience and leadership in finance, technology, and commercial deployment, Owen will guide RightHand Robotics through its next phase of growth and lead the continued scale-up of its piece-picking business.

“For eight years, the team and I built, hardened, and scaled our product, improving the technology every year, deploying the robots across the U.S., Europe, and Japan and continuing to grow our customer base. Now is the time to build on these foundations by accelerating the scaling of customers and deployments. I’m very proud of this company and I look forward to working with Brian in my new role as chairman.” said Yaro Tenzer, co-founder, former CEO, and now Chairman of RightHand Robotics.

Owen is a six-time public and private company CEO of global enterprise hardware and software companies with experience driving corporate strategy, mission, and purpose, while fostering a culture of trust, responsibility, commitment, and innovation among employees, partners, and customers. He has served in numerous roles as executive and non-executive, chairman, and director in more than 25 technology companies – two of which were public – overseeing multiple financings, IPOs, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, and more than 15 exits while working alongside top-tier private equity investors.

Previously, Owen was the CEO and President of Cambridge Semantics Inc., a modern data management and enterprise analytics software company, where bookings grew 300 percent to $24 million during his leadership. He also served in senior roles at White Cup, SunGard, ORACLE Corporation, MapInfo and Computer Associates, among others. Owen earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from Boston College and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“I am thrilled to be joining RightHand Robotics as the next CEO and incredibly proud for the opportunity to build on eight years of progress that the team has accomplished,” said Owen. “The company’s piece-picking technology is in high demand in the market and I look forward to working with this amazing team to continue that momentum to grow the company worldwide. I’ve led six companies through various stages of growth and execution and have the scar tissue resulting from the many successes and lessons experienced along the way. I plan to apply that knowledge to this role and carry on the company’s mission and vision of ‘owning the pick in the supply chain so humans don’t have to.’”

Tenzer will remain in the company as Chairman to work with the management team on GTM strategy and business development.

Since the company’s $66 million Series C financing, RightHand Robotics has seen major developments in its business and made significant global moves. The company launched its Partner Integrator program, resulting in recent collaborations with leading players like Vanderlande and AutoStore™ integrator Asetec. RightHand Robotics also solidified its automated piece-picking leadership in the growing online pharmacy market with a new pharma customer, Apotea. With more growth to come and ambitious plans for the future, RightHand Robotics is ready for this natural next corporate step. To learn more about the company and its executive transition, visit the RightHand Robotics booth N8107 at ProMat 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, from March 20-23, 2023.

New Hybrid Picking Robots

Posted on by David Priestman

Geek+, supplier of mobile logistics robots, has released its latest solution, RoboShuttle Plus, achieving one-stop storage and picking of all types of goods and delivering higher throughput and flexibility. This marks a significant advance in the interoperability of Geek+’s various robot models and a stride towards full warehouse automation.

The upgraded solution fills the market gap for an all-in-one picking solution by coordinating of three types of robots around one centralized workstation: RoboShuttles handle vertical storage and retrieval of totes, P40 picking robots move smaller items, and P500 and P800 robots move medium to large items.

Totes and racks

Hongbo Li, Chief Technology Officer at Geek+, said: “The RoboShuttle series has been one of our most successful line of solutions enabling automated height storage for warehouses, and this latest version realizes the full potential of our technology as it adds more speed and higher throughput for customers. Entrusting all picking to RoboShuttle Plus allows businesses to centralize their operations and enables them to respond to business fluctuations quickly and easily.”

RoboShuttle Plus

Geek+’s warehouse management software coordinates the actions of all robots and optimizes the placement of goods in the inventory to ensure maximum efficiency and 99.99% picking accuracy. The solution makes full use of vertical warehouse space and removes the need for multi-zone operations by allowing items of all sizes to be handled by one solution at a centralized workstation.

Geek+ is a global technology company leading the intelligent logistics revolution. We apply advanced robotics and AI technologies to realize flexible, reliable, and highly efficient solutions for warehouses and supply chain management. Geek+ is trusted by over 700 global industry leaders and has been recognized as the world leader in autonomous mobile robots. Founded in 2015, Geek+ has over 1500 employees, with offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore

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