Market Trends: Pick-to-light
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/1/2007
Pick-to-light technology has been accelerating order fulfillment since the early 1980s. The market for pick-to-light is still growing today, but the technology faces stiff new competition from voice-directed picking systems. In response to this change in the market, suppliers who once focused solely on pick-to-light now provide a range of picking technologies. Today's pick-to-light hardware and software is incredibly flexible, and many companies who implemented pick-to-light a decade ago are now retrofitting their systems to take advantage of these improvements.
| U.S. pick-to-light manufacturers | |
| Picking system suppliers | Materials handling system suppliers |
| AL Systems | ASAP Automation |
| CAPE Systems | Dematic |
| Innovative Picking Technologies, Inc. | Diamond Phoenix |
| Lighthouse Selection | FKI Logistex |
| Lightning Pick | Knapp Logistics & Automation |
| Reddwerks | Remstar |
| Working Machines | Schaefer Systems International |
| White Systems | |
| 9% of companies in a recent Aberdeen Group survey reported using pick-to-light.12% of companies in a recent Supply Chain Consortium survey reported using pick-to-light. |
| Technology trends Flexibility comes standard. Today's pick-to-light systems are designed to be modular—no more inflexible hardwiring. More than lights. Sophisticated new systems incorporate LED screens to display product images, descriptions and special instructions. Improved analytics. Advanced software helps monitor and measure performance. |
| Usage trends What's old is new again. Many companies are retrofitting legacy systems to take advantage of hardware and software advances. Competing with voice. Voice-directed picking is giving pick-to-light a run for its money. Not just order fulfillment. From quality control to managing work-in-process, pick-to-light is being applied to a broad range of manufacturing and distribution processes. |
Talkback
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