The Material Handling Blog

With the boom in the ecommerce market, companies will have to optimize outbound processes in order to keep up with the race and continue to meet customer expectations – correct orders with on time fulfilment. Let's look at how.

Streamlining the complex processes of getting products from inbound receiving to outbound truck loading requires thoughtful orchestration of functions within the four walls of distribution and fulfillment centers that extends beyond selecting the right automated technology. Let’s take a look at five more areas that you’ll want to consider during the planning phase to unlock even more efficiency opportunities.

“Our existing 26,000 square foot facility was just not enough.” Gerrie Electric turned to small scale automation to unlock warehouse footprint and productivity opportunities quickly and reliably. The result – error-free picking, a boost in throughput, a trajectory to achieve and beat a targeted 3-year ROI and room to accommodate their immediate growth for additional robots and ports to handle the increased demand. As the largest independent, electrical lighting and automation distributor in Ontario, Canada, Gerrie Electric serves customers ranging from car and steel OEMs, pharmaceuticals and individual contractors performing on-site electrical installations.

Before products can be sent on their way to individual doorsteps or stores, there are a lot of individual yet highly connected functions. All of these tasks are housed in a single DC (distribution center). As straightforward as it may seem to get products from inbound receiving docks to outbound shipping and truck loading, there are a few key considerations to avoid common mistakes in layout and design. Unlocking efficiency opportunities means thinking through safety considerations, the placement of functions and technologies in the warehouse, understanding of drawbacks or potential challenges, and evaluating what can and cannot or should not be automated. Let’s take a look at some of the common mistakes and considerations to avoid them.

The testing phase is one of the most crucial and often overlooked project phases when planning for an AS/RS (automated storage and retrieval system). Selecting an optimal technology for a customer’s specific needs is only the first step of the process, testing helps to highlight additional opportunities, refine warehouse operations with the new automation, as well as mitigate unforeseen challenges. As we look into what goes into a typical test plan for an AS/RS, there are four stages that can be considered testing staples: remote interface testing, internal integration testing, integration testing with the customer and UAT (user acceptance testing) with the customer.

One of the biggest pain points in the life of a maintenance technician or installer is conveyor belt tracking. Here are a few helpful tips to lookout for and an easy, 3-step process to get your belt running right down the middle.

O Diretor de Fulfillment atribui a você um projeto para especificar um novo sistema de triagem e transportador capaz de "dobrar" as capacidades atuais. Por onde começar? Primeiro, comece entendendo e desafiando a verdadeira triagem e os requisitos do sistema. Os sistemas de transporte e triagem são soluções projetadas. Como a maioria dos problemas de engenharia, a solução geralmente é tão boa quanto suas entradas.

For decades, conveyor systems have been crucial for warehousing and logistics operations. Conveyor systems are used in all fundamental warehouse processes to transport raw materials out of storage to the production line, move products into other storage devices, and move final product into packaging lines, or transport packaged products to shipping. It is the most basic automation for anyone in the facility to transfer materials between long distances on varying elevations.

From a mechanical standpoint, a goods-to-person system certainly can attain the tote delivery rate advertised on a vendor’s website.  However, these advertised rates do not consider the primary determinant for the throughput rate that is actually realized at a goods-to-person work station – the pick cycle time.  Read: Key Factors in Goods-to-Person Throughput Design

The need for third-party logistics companies (3PLs) has grown significantly over the past few years. In fact, Third-Party Logistics Warehouse Benchmark Report noted that 85% of 3PLs experienced order growth in 2021. With the increased demand for ecommerce fulfillment and varied distribution channels, more and more companies do not wish to manage the varied distribution expectations. Realizing these challenges, many of those companies are now looking to experienced 3PLs to provide the logistics.

Putting a bag on a pallet and conveying it is a simple enough concept; however, the variations in product must always be kept in mind if you want to prevent product damage and misaligned pallets. Here are five points to remember when using bag palletizing systems... Read More >>

India is welcoming the festive season and ready to celebrate with great enthusiasm while adapting to the new normal brought on by the pandemic. Festive months are generally a time to indulge in heavy shopping, which increases our budget spent in light of the ongoing festive vibe and running promotional sales offers. Festive season 2021 is expected to bring numerous opportunities for retailers and ecommerce companies. Festive sale offers have already begun and with buyers becoming more comfortable with online shopping, Forrester Research expects online retailers to generate about $9.2 billion in sales during this period. That’s a 42 percent year over year increase from their evaluation of $6.5 billion in festival months sales during 2020. We are excited to witness this exponential jump in India’s ecommerce market. As per the estimates by RedSeer Consulting, ecommerce platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon India got $2.7 billion in the first four days of festive sales that began on 2 October 2021. The excitement with festive promotional sales offers will create massive online traffic, impact product sales and company turnover, and put enormous pressure on companies’ supply chain processes. Companies might equate the ecommerce platform as the “brain” and the supply chain as its “heart”. Both must perform in tandem to fully meet and satisfy customer expectations. Festive months are a crucial period when companies can make a lasting, positive impact on consumers.