Fast order picking
eCommerce presents interesting opportunities, but there are also risks which are difficult to assess. Getting intralogistics right can be key to profitability.
Since the end of 2013, the Danish online retailer NiceHair.dk has been using an automated system from Kardex Remstar for fast order picking and space-saving storage.
The retailer is a young company with offices, warehouse, shipping department – everything – under one roof. Around 10,000 different products are stored in the warehouse.
“We wanted to simplify our processes,” says partner Lasse Andersen explaining the reasons for investing in the Kardex Remstar storage system. “Our criteria were as follows: speed up order picking, save storage space, and create more ergonomic workspaces.”
Since the end of 2013, around 80% of the product range has been stored in six Megamat RS 350 automated vertical carousels from Kardex Remstar. That is a total of 70,000 articles on floor space covering 36 sq m. The storage units are supported by software-assisted strategies such as “put-to-fill.” New articles are stored in places where similar articles are already stored. This saves space and time when retrieving them. Returns for NiceHair.dk are low – around 2%. If something does get sent back, it is simply returned to the Megamats.
Power Pick Global WMS is used for order picking. Using the paternoster principle, the articles – which are stored on dynamic carriers – automatically take the shortest path to the access opening. Various picking strategies, such as batch picking, pick to clear and color picking system, can further increase the speed and efficiency of the system. Incidentally, goods can also be stored at the same time as the picking process thanks to Power Pick Global.
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The system means 5-6,000 order lines are handled at NiceHair.dk in one shift. Further measures to increase efficiency are easily possible. 90% of orders are delivered the following day, if they are ordered by 3 pm. As soon as the system receives an order, various color-coded trolleys are each loaded with 36 order boxes. The employees initially take the trolleys to the pallet warehouse where the fast-moving goods are located. These products are not worth storing away, because they disappear into an order box almost as soon as they arrive at the warehouse.
Afterwards, the goods move on to the automatic storage paternosters where the employees quickly, but calmly, pick further order lines and place them in the boxes. The trolleys with the completed orders are then brought to the shipping department. Along with the picking, inbound can be performed in the same process.
Productivity in the warehouse has risen by approximately 150% since having the automated storage and retrieval systems from Kardex Remstar.
