Maximising the value locked in returns

Ecommerce retailers have a problem. They are suffering from a high rate of returns - up to 50% in many cases. A knock on problem is the struggle to put goods quickly into storage so that they can be resold and are available for picking again.

What does SDI offer to help with this problem?

"The Monalisa system is a sorter system designed to hold multiple items together with hanging garments. We’ve found the system also helps with the processing of returns. The system allows the retailer to avoid putting returned goods away onto the shelves again, which is a manual, labour intensive process.

"Instead, the operator puts a returned flat item into a pouch or attaches a hanging item to it on the outside and we store it automatically in a dynamic buffer area where we can pull off any item when it has been ordered again by someone else.

"In essence, what we hear from eCommerce companies is that they are reselling about 90% of returned merchandise within three days. So this automated buffering system saves a tremendous amount of labour for put away and re-picking, making a big difference in efficiency for an eCommerce fashion retailer.

"This is particularly suited to special offers. In a promotional period you can be certain that an item will be ordered several times a day. So placing returned items into a pouch and sending them off into a dynamic storage and buffering system, you can immediately recall it to fulfill the new order. The process of making returned goods available for sale again is very fast - efficiency is very high.”

What are the challenges faced by multi-channel retailers in assembling orders for e-fulfillment?

"If you say, order 3 or 4 items from an online fashion retailer, then you might have a dress that is stored in a hanging condition, and you might have other things like shoes or a shirt that are in a static storage position, and these items have to be consolidated in one order to be shipped for delivery. So how do you do this efficiently?



"The MonaLisa adapter and pouch system allows hanging and flat garments to be transported together in an overhead conveyor system, storing items in dynamic picking loops which enables them to be accessed rapidly whenever an order is called off by the warehouse management system for the packing stations.”

What sort speeds are we talking about?

"We have designed the MonaLisa system in a modular way. Each module can sort up to 7,500 items/h. If a customer has a requirement for a sorting capacity of more than that, we would add a second sort module. The actual transfer areas can go as fast as 12,000 items per hour, but sortation is lower because there is dead-time for reloading and clearing the sorter areas, so the 7,500 is a safe figure.”

Is it expensive to install?

"Price wise it is comparable with any fully automated single hanging garment system. If you compare it with a shuttle or miniload system – often used for this type of operation – it’s probably cheaper. It’s lighter and uses less energy, because it’s friction driven.

"One German fashion retailer with a strong eCommerce operation, which is commissioning MonaLisa right now, has one conveyor that crosses various areas and is more than 600m long. It is one enclosed conveyor and we just add additional drives to it – so it’s very efficient. And we have a second system underway in the UK.”

What is the build quality like?

"One major thing is the friction driven conveyors. Also we are not using common metal chains, we are using plastic moulded linked wheel sets, which roll within an aluminium profile. This is far superior to the traditional metal chains used in hanging goods systems – such chains generate a lot of friction, creating wear and absorbing a lot of energy. These systems are limited to a conveyor length of approx. 30-40m in length and then they have to start a new drive and a new chain, and you have a join between two conveyors. With our technology, the friction driven plastic chain is propelled forward by rollers, with far less friction, reducing energy consumption and enabling much longer conveyor runs.



"The MonaLisa is that it’s an overhead system which maximises the use of space above the floor, and you can build it in silos so you have various levels of dynamic buffering inside a high density storage area.”