A highly flexible split-case picking system has allowed Canadian pharmaceutical and variety retailer London Drugs to double its warehouse capacity for split-case orders, quadruple worker productivity, and assume distribution of 4,000 SKUs of merchandise that previously had been delivered by vendor/suppliers directly to its retail outlets.
Rapid growth in new store locations created severe space, delivery turnaround, and cost factors in repacking split-case quantities of merchandise from the 8,000 product lines carried by the company's single distribution service center (DSC). Additionally, its previous method of picking from shelving and flow racks into totes on carts had become too time consuming, labor intensive, and mistake prone.
The London Drugs DSC is now equipped with 24 Remstar horizontal carousels that provide high density storage as well as added productivity and accuracy for split-case merchandise picking. The carousel system is flanked by flow racks and shelving for reserve product to support carousel replenishment and storage of full-case quantities of merchandise. On average, 510 SKUs are picked at each workstation every hour. The number of workstations will vary from 6-12 depending on that day's staffing and picking requirements. The 4,000 additional SKUs brought in following implementation of the system brings to 12,000 the number of split-case line varieties now handled at this suburban Vancouver, BC DSC.
Remstar's Flexi-Pod™ design allows organizations to dynamically change the number of carousels in each workstation to meet current workflow requirements. Seasonal variations in demand at London Drugs create major differences in picking requirements. This design permits distribution centers to staff picking operations at variable levels, allowing them to ramp up to meet a spike in demand while, at the same time, retaining the ability to operate at efficient employment levels at other times throughout the year.
"Designing a cost-effective system able to meet peak demands and seasonal lows was a challenge," says Ken Booth, manager, Split Case Distribution Operations for London Drugs. "The ability to add personnel during peak periods was easy with flow rack and shelving. Being able to get the benefits of automated carousels and the flexibility to double our staffing or cut it in half provides London Drugs with the best solution."
During periods of light demand when fewer workers typically are employed, the system permits one operator to handle as many as four carousels. This flexibility translates into being able to decrease picking labor by 50% without losing the efficiencies.
The benefits to London Drugs include elimination of wholesaler distribution to stores, faster order turnaround, more frequent store distribution, improved in-stock position at the retail outlets, and more economical shipping from the DC.
