Rising to the challenge

SSI Schaefer business development manager Mike Alibone discusses the challenge of multichannel and how automation equipment can help

There are few more thorny issues for retailers in the UK than getting to grips with multichannel and gearing a distribution network to serve store replenishment and B2C orders equally well.

Automation equipment can play a part here, but SSI Schaefer business development manager Mike Alibone says choosing the best approach for your business is of paramount importance.

Indeed SSI Schaefer has tackled this challenge with one international multichannel fashion retailer, installing a dual picking system that tackles both eCommerce and store replenishment.

"It consists of a loop conveyor," explains Mike. "Imagine a capital I, that's the conveyor shape. The bottom part is for retail orders and the top part is a packing area for eCommerce orders." The store-bound orders are picked by carton quantity, and these go to various pick stations along the conveyor, each of which handles a number of retail outlets.

They scan the carton when it arrives, and pick, say, six items from one SKU for one, eight for another and so on. The items are picked into totes and put into carton live storage, where three channels are mounted over each other. Each store has three channels of eight totes and when these are full, the products are stacked on pallets and delivered to store.

Products for the eCommerce orders are in locations either side of the vertical bar of the I and when the operators get an eCommerce order they pick from there and put it on a tote and it will go to the top of the I along which are a number of packing stations. Here, products are put in Jiffy bags etc and shipped out via roll cages into vehicles.

"The clever part is that it provides one single loop upon which full cartons are inducted to satisfy both store and eCommerce orders," says Mike.

He adds there are many other ways to tackle similar challenges and each solution must be configured to the particular requirements of the company concerned.

For example, large retailers with a huge, multifaceted product range often have dedicated distribution centres to satisfy online orders.

Another popular way of tackling the issue is to count online orders as a 'store'.

In this model, a retailer will be accustomed to sorting products for delivery to various retail outlets. So, for internet orders, they are consolidated to one part of warehouse, which they call a 'store', then are shipped out to customers.

Mike adds: "We also have some customers for whom eCommerce is in its infancy and so the challenge is to provide solutions that can adapt as these operations are anticipated to enjoy fast growth."

Horses for courses SSI Schaefer applies this methodology to other challenges. SSI Schaefer kitted out the Office Depot DCs in Leicester and Manchester and faced an issue due to the wide range of products handled by the client and their very different characteristics.

"We undertook an analysis and split products out to be handled by different types of equipment solutions or subsolutions within the DC," explains Mike.

"For example, staples, pens, ink cartridges, and other small items are suitable for an A-frame automatic picking system because most of the orders they receive are for small quantities. As many larger pieces are shipped in full carton quantities, we chose pick-to-belt and used a sortation system to convey them to vehicles. For items in between we use both pick by light and Goods-to-Man systems." SSI Schaefer is also pressing ahead with boosting accuracy of picking processes.

For example, it has developed the Order Verifier. "We developed this for the pharmaceutical sector, although it will have applications elsewhere. With Order Verifier, if the orders are picked into a tote, they get delivered to a station unmanned," says Mike.

"The totes are inverted to tip products out, they move through an innovative conveyor system, over which they will turn, while omnidirectional barcode scanners and cameras verify and count the products and produce documentation before product is automatically returned to a shipping container. The system knows what is supposed to be there and it should be 100% accurate." In addition, SSI often deploys a light solution in a Goods-to-Man environment.

When a product goes from an automatic storage and retrieval system to the Goodsto- Man station in a tote, the operator has an illuminated sign come up, telling him how many items to pick, and allowing him to confirm how many items he has picked.

"The totes can also be split into compartments so they can store more than one SKU, but to make sure they pick the right item, there is a light beam that shines from overhead into the compartment of the tote where the pick item is situated," says Mike.