Over the last decade warehouse activities have come under the microscope when analysing company profitability and cutting unnecessary costs. With the emphasis on making the warehouse as efficient as possible, implementing automated picking technologies to streamline processes will be vital for businesses in the coming years.
Technology has given us some excellent options for automated warehouse picking, increasing accuracy, productivity and flexibility.
How do you decide which option is best for you?
Depending on your order volumes there will be certain solutions that optimise your warehouse operations. Small inefficiencies can create huge lags in the productivity of your warehouse. Choosing the right order picking strategy will be totally dependent on your business needs.
Person to Goods
Person to Goods item picking is accomplished by directing staff to varying locations within the warehouse for order fulfillment. Whilst a more traditional approach, imio-WMS-Pick can offer the following solutions to help increase productivity, optimise space, ensure faster fulfillment, improve accuracy and deliver higher customer service levels, whilst utilising this method.
Voice-directed picking
Voice-directed picking is a voice-operated, paperless picking system, which can help accuracy and efficiency whilst also assisting manual processes.
Pros
- Hands free, very easy to carry
Users are not tied at all to a physical location
Picker Accountability
In some cases can support multiple languages
Cons
- Users must remember commands
Reading out barcodes is slow and error prone
Longer lead time
Could be hard to hear in noisy environments
RF-directed picking
RF-directed picking is again a paperless system that utilises mobile radio terminals. These radio terminals have user interfaces that show employees the shortest routes for order processing. This method often adds speed and accuracy to low-volume picking processes.
RF-Scanner
Pros
- Information on screen is always with the user
Users are not tied at all to a physical location
Picker Accountability
Cons
- Could be difficult to carry
User required to look at screen
Wearable Computing
Pros
- Information on screen is always with the user
Users are not tied at all to a physical location
Hands free, very easy to carry
Picker Accountability
Cons
- Questions around robustness of ring scanners
Questions around robustness of touchscreen
Hygiene
Light-directed picking
Pick-to-Light systems use light displays to direct operators to specific stock locations, often with the benefits of maximising order picking by boosting accuracy and productivity.
Pros
- Greater accuracy
Low training time
Picker accountability
Works best in zone picking
Cons
- Requires lights at all locations
Integration can take much longer than the other man to goods solutions
Much more rigid function than other system, in terms of the pick process
Still might need to incorporate extra error proofing, such as additional barcode scanning
With a high SKU population this solution become very costly
Goods to Person
Goods to Person (GTP) picking ensures items are automatically retrieved, conveyed and delivered to a workstation, where they are then manually picked. This picking method aims to reduce or remove the travelling time between pick locations. These solutions are normally used in conjunction with a method from the last section, but deployed on a much smaller scale. imio Software Solutions has an extensive range of GTP systems including:
Mini-load / ASRS
This picking product range enables flexible, energy-efficient storage and retrieval systems.
Pros
- Denser storage
Reduced labour cost
Increased safety / security
Cons
- Important to optimise the location and group of product improve picking
Important to get the number of mini loads Vs number of locations correct, so a system bottle neck is not created
Shuttle System
These systems automatically store and retrieve cases, totes or trays, which provides compact storage of goods and immediate access benefits.
Regular Shuttle System
Pros
- Easy to scale
High redundancy
Energy efficiency
Flexibility in layout
Low impact maintenance and servicing
Makes full use of warehouse height
Cons
- Shelves unit are fixed in size
Dimension limited to tote sizes
3D Shuttle System
Pros
- Rack free solution
High density storage (no aisle)
Highly flexible
Cons
- Product must fit in tote with no over hang
Robotic Picking
Order picking with Robotics is the latest concept in picking technology, which is supporting many distribution centers and fulfillment centers with flexibility, scalability and reduced reliance on temporary labour pools
Pros
- Rack free solution
High density storage (no aisle)
Highly flexible
Cons
- Product must fit in tote with no over hang
AGV Shuttle System
Order picking AGVs is the latest concept in picking technology, which is supporting many distribution centers and fulfillment centers with flexibility, scalability and reduced reliance on temporary labour pools
Pros
- Greater accuracy
Low training time
Picker accountability
Works best in zone picking
Cons
- Requires lights at all locations
Integration can take much longer than the other man to goods solutions
Much more rigid function than other system, in terms of the pick process
Still might need to incorporate extra error proofing, such as additional barcode scanning
With a high SKU population this solution become very costly
Carousel Storage Picking
Carousels are a high performance order picking technology option, as long as they are matched with the appropriate operations needs and applications.
Pros
- No travel time
High density storage
Can accommodate a high SKU variety in a small foot print
Cons
- Replenishment must be planned during downtime or it will slow the picking operation
Important to analyse SKU data, so bottle necks are not created in the system
Fully Automated
A fully automated system will pick full orders ready for dispatch. They tend to be highly specialised for a case with limited flexibility, but can help warehouses maximise large labour costs and allow for much higher pick rates.
Automated Dispensing Systems
Pros
- Extremely high volume >200k picks per day
Cons
- Limited product range suited for this system of system
Very large capital investment required
Find out more about how you can create digital pick lists to locate everything in the warehouse fast, pinpoint exact item locations and complete lightning-fast paperless stock takes with our recommended comprehensive Warehouse Management Software, imio-WMS.
