The Material Handling Blog

Automation is not all or nothing. Many businesses start small, expand over time, or implement larger systems when the volume and complexity of their operations require it. The key is to choose the level of automation that aligns with your goals, growth plans and available resources. Automation technologies are used to automate tasks such as inventory management, order fulfillment and material handling, reducing manual intervention and errors.

Are you looking for a way to eliminate waste within your picking process? Are you struggling to achieve accuracy metrics? Does your operation suffer from constant turnover or accommodate seasonality? If any of these scenarios hit a little too close to home, a pick to light solution may be a good choice to optimize your operation! In this article, I will go over the functionality, advantages and operations best suited for this technology.

In today’s fast-paced order fulfillment landscape, fulfillment centers power the seamless shopping experience consumers have come to expect—delivering speed, accuracy, and innovation like never before. To keep up with increasing demand and consumer expectations, operations must strike the perfect balance between speed and accuracy. Distribution centers continue to rely on automation solutions like order pick modules for a good reason. These proven and reliable order-picking systems have evolved with advanced technologies to meet the demands of modern fulfillment operations, maximizing throughput and efficiency. In an era dominated by automation and robotics, pick modules remain adaptable and cost-effective, seamlessly integrating into hybrid operations to handle both high-velocity SKUs and slower-moving items with unmatched versatility.

Warehouses are an integral part of the supply chain management system of any organization for storing and distributing goods efficiently and effectively. However, there are certain common mistakes that warehouse operators make that can negatively impact the productivity and efficiency of the warehouse.

All inbound and outbound warehouse operations such as receiving, putaway, picking or packing, for example, formulate a series of dependent events. These events occur in sequence and are, to some extent, interlinked to the events preceding or following them.

Você já precisou fazer compras em um mercado que nunca frequentou? Você fica com aquela sensação de impotência de tentar descobrir o que exatamente é uma “Fruta do Conde” e muito menos tentar localizá-la na seção de produtos (graças a Deus “fruta” está no nome). Claro, talvez você tenha algumas pistas para ajudá-lo a chegar lá (placas de corredor, intuição geral), mas sabe que terá uma frustrante caça ao tesouro na próxima hora para completar sua lista.

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.

Now with access to 75% of the U.S. population with 2-day ground service, Knipper can deliver product to customers faster, thus increasing customer satisfaction, creating unique opportunities, and greater specialization in direct to physician fulfillment.

Velocity slotting can drastically improve order pick time and operator productivity, if used correctly. Here's what you should keep in mind.

Goods-to-person picking, the new buzzword in material handling, is a great option for operations with a high number of SKU’s and a relatively low cubic velocity of SKU’s, but in an operation that has very fast moving or large items, it can be prohibitively expensive to use this technology throughout. Sometimes it is best to use, or supplement a goods-to-person operation, with a pick module.

You know what your operation needs: a better, faster, and more accurate order fulfillment solution. As with most things, however, the order fulfillment process is much more complex and involves people, resources, record keeping, and transportation—all of which require time and management.

Supply Chain Consultant Marvin Logan debates which is better: Pick-to-Light or Pick-to-Voice.