Overview
A distribution center for a home furnishing chain struggling with the fulfillment of online orders from over 10,000 skus. The company faced major challenges with order processing efficiency and speed that was needed to fulfill and consolidate increasing orders for same and next day deliveries. With the benefit of robotic “Butlers”, goods stored in flexible mobile racks are automatically delivered to various picking stations, thereby eliminating walking for the associates
Challenge
- Total volume of orders was increasing while lines per order decreasing due to changing online customer demands, causing delay in order processing More customers were expecting same and next day delivery putting pressure on their existing manual and rigid automation systems to handle
- New SKUS frequently added into inventory as well the need to accommodate seasonal goods for extended periods of time required extensive planning Existing systems were rigid and inflexible
Resolution
- The GreyOrange Butler robotics delivery system accelerated order processing by delivering goods to directly to operator pick stations, all queued up in proper sequence Using artificial intelligence the Butler system places racks of goods with the more popular items closer to the pick stations, increasing overall efficiency
- In real time, the Butlers use continuous ABC analysis to optimize where racks should be positioned within the warehouse, which is helpful for seasonal items. New system highly flexible, modular, and scalable.
