Goods to Picker

Significant benefits can be realized with the use of a goods-to-person system. Even though there are many variations on how a system can be configured, most of the designs allow the following benefits,

• Ergonomic workstations: The pick stations can be designed for employee comfort. Working heights, range of motion and environment (lighting, temperature) can be optimized for the employee. Some designs omit the requirement to move and lift totes/cartons. Furthermore, workstations can be outfitted to support special needs employees, thereby allowing universal access.
• Speed in order selection: The pick station design allows high worker productivity. Since there is little or no travel time and the item to be picked is ergonomically served to the worker, high rates of order selection are achieved. Most operations obtain rates of 500 to 1,000 lines picked per hour per operator. The goods-to-person system allows fast- and slow-moving SKUs to be treated equally, which removes the need for separate pick areas based on SKU velocity. This is important for applications where SKU velocity changes on a daily basis.
• Accuracy: Order picking using a goods-to-person station is more accurate because operators are typically handling one SKU at a time, making errors less likely. Most goods-to-person stations utilize put-to-light technology to indicate quantity and location to place the item, further enhancing accuracy. The picking process is performed by one person, thereby improving traceability.
• Decoupled workstations: Staff can work in parallel, unaffected by each other. Stations can be opened and closed according to business volume on a particular shift of operation. There is redundancy in this configuration since items can be processed at any location as the workstations are completely decoupled.
• High-utilization workstations: Work flows into the pick station smoothly and consistently. Order pickers are highly utilized, since they do not need to wait for work. Worker productivity is not affected by the structure typical of a traditional pick module (high activity in one zone, little activity in another zone, pace issues in a pick-and-pass environment, etc).
• Sequencing: When building a customer order, a precise sequence of SKUs can be achieved. For example, items can be presented to the order selector by weight (heavy to light). Or, in another example, orders can be built in sequence by family group.
• Order profile: The system is not affected by changes in order profile. For example, single-item orders and multi-item orders are accommodated with equal efficiency. This means that trends such as more orders with fewer order lines do not compromise productivity. This feature adds to the ability of goods-to-person systems to accommodate change as order profiles change in the future. Efficiently accommodates SKU growth. If more SKUs are added, the storage system can absorb the new loads (if sized for growth) or the system can be expanded with additional automated storage modules, or existing modules can be extended.

Examples of goods-to-picker systems are as follows.

Compact picking system

The goods-to-picker-based compact picking system is ideal for slow-moving products in retail and wholesale warehouses. It is also cost effective for warehouses handling parts and components for sectors such as the automotive industry which have a large range of SKUs and very high service levels. Product is retrieved from the storage area and taken by conveyor to the operator’s workstation. There it is consolidated with other items and placed in a shipping carton for dispatch.

Order distribution system

An order distribution system is ideal for business processes where a large number of order lines are fulfilled from a relatively small number of SKUs. Totes or cartons of single-line products are transported to operators who distribute goods into order totes controlled by put-to-light displays. This concept works efficiently in mail order and e-commerce sectors. In both the above operations the workstation plays a major part in the overall system.

Moreover, the picking stations feature optimal workplace lighting, large and comfortable operating controls and acknowledge buttons. Height- and rake-adjustable human–machine interaction (HMI) screens are also part of the ergonomic equipment package.

The HMI display provides the visual management of the pick processes. Its multicolor, high-resolution screen displays simple, intuitively under-stood symbols for article volumes, photos of the products to be picked and a 3D description of the positioning of the picks in the order carton. All these features contribute to accurate, safe order picking with virtually no error rates. As optional additional verification, volume weighing can be integrated into each picking station.

A further distinctive feature adding to the high throughput capacity of Rapid Pick is the possible configuration of the automated sequences in the picking process. In addition to the empty tote/carton management for the order cartons, the station can be equipped with two conveyor tracks – one behind for the donor totes, one in front for the order cartons. The donor totes are automatically presented at a frequency that is optimal for the packing sequence of order fulfillment and transferred to the picking station by the conveyor system. The totes/cartons are presented ergonomically to the operator to ensure that picking access is comfortable. Picking to the order carton is directed by the visual parameters shown on the display screen. Each placement in the order carton is confirmed via a terminal or an acknowledge button. Once the order is consolidated, the superimposed IT system triggers the automatic removal of the donor totes and order cartons. If totes become empty during picking, they are buffered in the station and used in the ongoing process as order cartons when directed to do so by the IT system.