Retailer automates packing process
Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 10/2/2001
Newport News used to pack all of its orders by hand. With some 50% of orders for a single item, that made the packing process very labor intensive for this catalog and e-commerce retailer of soft goods, primarily women's fashions and home decor items.
The old manual packing process included manually matching invoice with product; hand collating literature; inserting product, invoice, and literature in a shipping package; and hand applying a shipping label. Then a package was put on to a sortation conveyor.
In creating a new automated order fulfillment system, Newport News brought in a distributor who recommended various equipment for the system. Included is a print-and-apply labeler with an applicator module that accommodates packages of varying thicknesses. Modular flexibility of the labeler enabled it to be easily and affordably integrated into the total system.
Now order data from the mainframe launches a fulfillment process that generates an invoice, scans bar codes and matches invoice with picked product, collates and merges literature, and then automatically wraps and seals the packaged order. Next the packaged order goes to an in-line scale where it is weighed.
Finally, shipping data and other product information are merged and sent to the print-and-apply labeler. This sub-system then prints and applies the correct label, which is then verified by automated bar code scanning.
Labor productivity has risen: Newport News' manual packing process, which once required 20 people per line, is now automatically performed by only 3 operators. Output is up too: from 2 packages per minute to 30 per minute.
The total system is saving Newport News more than $600,000 in labor costs while also improving customer service.
Paragon Labeling Systems
888-317-2633
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