The Material Handling Blog

Pick to light has become a staple of warehouse distribution and order picking. Here are the top 5 benefits. What if there was an easier, automated way to locate these items? Say, when you want to find an item a beacon of light illuminates to direct you to the appropriate aisle, and then another beacon of light illuminates to get you to the correct shelf, and eventually the exact location on the shelf.

Se seu centro de distribuição cresceu em ambos os SKU e o volume de pedidos e seu pedido típico mudou de varejo para vendas de comércio eletrônico, resultando em solicitações maiores de pedidos pequenos, é possível que sua produtividade de separação não seja adequada. Você também pode estar com dificuldades de encontrar mão de obra para enviar pedidos rapidamente e cumprir os acordos de nível de serviço. Esses são apenas alguns desafios que grandes e pequenas empresas de todo o mundo estão enfrentando enquanto se adaptam às mudanças de mercado e mudam as operações de atendimento para cumprir as últimas demandas do comércio eletrônico.

Si en su centro de distribución ha crecido el número de SKU y el volumen de pedidos, o si el pedido típico ha pasado de las ventas de retail a las de comercio electrónico, aumentando las peticiones de pedidos más pequeños, es posible que su productividad de picking no sea la correcta. Además, es posible que tenga dificultades en la contratación de mano de obra para despachar pedidos con rapidez y cumplir sus acuerdos de nivel de servicio. Estas son solo algunas de las dificultades a las que se enfrentan empresas grandes y pequeñas de todo el mundo al adaptarse a los cambios del mercado y pasar de las operaciones de servicio de pedidos a las últimas demandas del comercio electrónico.

The holiday season is in full swing and shoppers have already started browsing and buying. Despite current supply chain complexities, the National Retail Federation reports, “Consumers are spending just as much this year on gifts and other items to celebrate the spirit of the holidays.” Holiday sales are expected to reach between $843.4 billion and $859 billion in November and December, that’s an 8.5 and 10.5 percentage growth from last year. That does not include automobile, gas station or restaurant data. Consumer demand remains strong when it comes to retail ecommerce. For warehouse and distribution center operations that means putting processes to the test. No matter how much automation is currently installed, handling seasonal peaks requires a smooth process that allows for operations to thrive – accurate orders, reliable fulfillment and scalable operations – during this hectic, bustling time. As we gear up for 2022, experts at Adobe predict we will be facing the first ever trillion dollar year in ecommerce sales – it’s never too soon to prepare for an uptick in sales year-round.

A seleção, o empacotamento e o envio é bastante simples. Mas com pressões cada vez maiores para processar pedidos de forma mais rápida, essas tarefas podem dar à sua empresa uma vantagem competitiva. Quando analiso para o centro de distribuição do cliente, há certos indicadores que procuro para encontrar oportunidades de melhoria. Para uma empresa que processa pedidos de comércio eletrônico, os tanques de coleta estão no topo dessa lista. Embora algumas vezes eles sejam necessários, costumam ser uma bandeira vermelha para ineficiências operacionais subjacentes. No entanto, essas ineficiências são facilmente solucionadas por meio de uma combinação de atualizações do fluxo do processo e nova automação. Esses projetos geralmente têm um ROI incrível, pagando o investimento inicial em um a dois anos. Além disso, são escolhas fáceis para o cliente implementar.

There’s no question that online grocery ordering is here to stay. Access to fresh produce, milk, eggs, toilet paper and many more grocery items isn’t changing. However, the process by which those products get delivered to the consumer from distribution centers – that is being re-envisioned to meet changing consumer demands. And, with that come new challenges, technologies and strategies. Let’s first look back at history.

Pick, pack and ship is fairly straightforward but with increasing pressures to process orders faster and faster, these tasks can give your company a competitive edge. When I’m looking at a customer’s distribution center, there are certain indicators I look for to try to find improvement opportunities. For a company that processes ecommerce orders, pick totes are at the top of that list. While they’re sometimes necessary, they’re often a red flag for underlying operational inefficiencies. However, these inefficiencies are easily remedied through a combination of process flow updates and new automation. These projects often have a fantastic ROI, paying back the initial investment in one to two years. To top it off, they’re easy choices for our customers to implement.

Scalability and flexibility are no doubt the focus of today and the future in distribution and production. Utilizing bins, bots and ports, the AutoStore goods to person technology brings a grid-based approach that allows customers to shrink their storage space exponentially while increasing their capacity for smarter, faster operations. Working together since 2013, last year Bastian Solutions expanded its portfolio of global partners with AutoStore to further support customers wherever they may be, providing them increased capacity, flexibility and accuracy.

Sin duda el comercio electrónico ha revolucionado la manera en la que las personas realzan sus compras. No sólo ha incrementado la participación comercial del comercio electrónico en el mundo, si no que en los años recientes el crecimiento exponencial representa una amenaza para el comercio tradicional. Read: El Comercio Electrónico en México

As the global effects of COVID-19 continue to play out, demand for contactless shopping via eCommerce is increasing putting pressure on fulfillment. Businesses are scrambling to identify opportunities to increase supply across their distribution networks. Many are seeking support from automation systems integrators (conveyor, robotics, software, controls) across several fulfillment sites at once. While multi-site implementations can be challenging, when executed successfully they can achieve greater results than single-site implementations.

In the first installment of our Supply Chain Explained: LIVE webinar series, Director of National Accounts Matt Kuper discussed the massive impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the ecommerce supply chain. With retailers shifting to more online sales, grocers managing more buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) orders, and supply chain interruptions across the globe hindering the ability to order parts or products, we saw a major shift in buying patterns for both B2B and B2C.

The term “microfulfillment center” has quickly become one of the top buzzwords in material handling. But what is it and is investing in it the right decision for your supply chain?