FastPic4 Software Automates
A Universal Workstation
Pick-to-Ship Zone In High
Volume Fulfillment Operation
A third-party fulfillment house, Halo Distribution
LLC, recently began its U.S. operations to pick, pack, and ship
products to the customers of retailer clients. Third-party
fulfillment, which was essentially non-existent five years ago,
is expected to grow into a 3-billion dollar business over the
next few years.
Halo headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, placed itself
on the ground floor of this fulfillment niche by developing a
highly flexible, 40,000 square foot distribution center (DC)
that can readily accommodate change as the mail order and
e-tailing business model continues climbing its learning curve.
Halo’s distribution system provides 24-hour shipping or four
to
six hour shipping optional via a wide range of carriers.
The key to fast, efficient, and accurate picking-to-shipping
carton operations is a workstation consisting of two Remstar
25-foot long, 20-carrier horizontal carousels with pick-to-light
control for split case picks. The horizontal carousels are
teamed with a pick-to-light flow rack system for full-carton
picks, plus a pick-to-light shipping carton batch table. Driving
the automation is FastPic Systems’ FastPic4 inventory
management software designed to manage multiple work
zones that include both automated and manual storage and
retrieval systems. At Halo, FastPic4 software operates the
storage and retrieval workstation and has been integrated
with the facility’s warehouse management system.
FastPic inventory management software, gave Halo an
advanced order processing module that improved their
systems efficiency and order picking accuracy while reducing
re-stocking time in Halo’s applications. “Our target
was to
pick 450 lines per hour with one operator covering both the carousels and flow racks,” commented Stu
Gilray, Halo General Manager.” Calculations
proved very accurate: as one operator has
been consistently able to pick 450 to 500
lines an hour, hour after hour, working at a
steady pace. If more output is needed, a
second operator pre-stages the light shipping
cartons and provides other assistance. With
two operators, output rises to 700 lines per
hour or so, depending on order profiles.”
A typical Halo client has a database of
several thousand consumers ordering
products on an irregular basis, such as food
supplements, hair care, packaging supplies,
bottled water, etc. The average shipment is
two lines totaling five items per carton. Halo’s
server receives orders from clients and
fulfillment is completed by controlled induction
of batched orders Halo ships OEM components
to its integrator customers for installation.
“ We investigated a variety of product
storage and picking schemes, and selected
FastPic4 it provided the highest productivity
for the least cost,” Gilray related.
Every pick is automatically doublechecked
- first by the pick-to-light light devices
on the carousels and flow racks, and second
by the put-to-light system on the batch table.
Further, a conveyor scale in packing confirms
carton weights and post-order audits have
shown 99.82% accuracy levels. |
