Fender's new DC hits the right note
Fender Musical Instruments wanted the right mix of automation in its new California DC. An automated sorter, a multi-level pick module and a software upgrade helped achieve harmony.
By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 8/1/2007
- Miles of conveyor
- Automated sortation
- Pick modules
- Software upgrades
- New processes, better service to customers
- System suppliers
Four years ago, Fender Musical Instruments—maker of Fender, Jackson and Guild brand guitars—found its Corona, Calif., distribution center was out of tune with the company's growing business.
"We didn't have the room to really operate efficiently," says Ralph Thomas, senior vice president of logistics. "Business grew and our SKU count grew and we were maxed out."
When it became clear that adding satellite facilities was not the answer, Fender moved its distribution operations to a larger building in nearby Ontario.
As Fender and its systems integrator (Speedrack Integrated Systems Group, 616-887-0780) designed the materials handling system for the new 580,000 square feet of space, they strived for just the right amount of automated equipment—not too low-tech, but not too high priced.
"We wanted to right-size it," says Thomas. "We didn't want to over-buy the technology."
They considered switching from bar codes to RFID, he says, "but currently we have no customers that use RFID, so it didn't make sense to be bleeding edge." They also considered switching from RF-directed picking to a voice- or light-directed system, he says, "but the ROI at the time wasn't there."
In the end, Fender chose to keep equipment and technologies that were working well—wireless printers and handheld scanners, a warehouse management system (WMS), very-narrow-aisle turret trucks for bulk storage—and to introduce some significant upgrades:
-
2 miles of powered conveyor,
-
a high-speed sorter,
-
a multi-level pick module, and
-
significant software changes.
Fender increased throughput by 30% while improving order accuracy, all without adding labor. And the system is scalable, so adding capacity will be easy if sales continue their double-digit growth.
Miles of conveyor
Fender had no conveyor in its previous facility, so employees wasted a lot of time walking through picking aisles, says Thomas. And he knew wasted travel time would be an even bigger problem once the company moved to the larger DC.
His solution: 2 miles of picking, shipping and sortation conveyor.
In the old facility, order pickers walked through the storage aisles filling one order at a time and then walked all the way to the front of the facility with the completed order. Now they pick guitars and amplifiers from the shelves, place them on a conveyor and let the conveyor carry them away. (For more on Fender's order picking practices, see "Spreading the rock 'n' roll spirit." )
The change, says Thomas, has dramatically increased throughput. Pickers now spend less time walking and more time on tasks that improve operations. Assigning idle order pickers to cycle counting, for example, has increased inventory accuracy and eliminated the need for a year-end inventory count.
Automated sortation
Picking orders in one big batch and letting conveyor transport the products saved walking time, but it introduced the need to sort those products down the line. Fender didn't want to rely on an error-prone manual sorting process, so it invested in an automated sorter.
The sorter had to handle a variety of package sizes, from a 9-inch carton of guitar strings to a 52-inch box holding a bass guitar. Fender chose a narrow-belt, pop-up wheel sorter because it easily accommodates this range of products and because it transitions packages from the sorter to divert lanes very gently—an important consideration when you're handling $5,000 limited edition Stratocasters.
The pop-up wheel sorter also offered flexibility. "The pop-up mechanisms are easy to move," says Thomas, "so if we want to add more divert lanes or change their spacing, we can do that."
"We got what was right for us now and left room for what will be right in the future," he adds.
Pick modules
In addition to the guitars, amplifiers and other large items shipped from the Fender DC, the company also sells small items such as guitars picks, sheet music, drum sticks and t-shirts. When Thomas and his staff designed Fender's new facility, they created a three-level pick module for these small items.
Order picking in the module is directed by handheld RF units. Employees pick products from shelves and flow rack in their picking zones, put them in plastic totes and place the totes on conveyor that carries them to the next zone.
The pick module has increased Fender's picking speed enough that order pickers handle twice the number of orders per shift. This means the company can please twice as many customers with same-day shipping of their parts and accessories orders.
The racking and conveyor needed for the pick modules were a comfortable investment, says Thomas, because pick modules are a proven solution. "We looked at other industries with similar product characteristics and similar volumes," says Thomas, "and we saw that pick modules worked for them."
"But our business didn't lend itself the next level of technology—pick-to-light or voice-directed picking," he says. The pick modules were designed with upgrades in mind, though, so light- or voice-directed technologies can be easily added if picking needs change, he adds.
And, if volumes increase enough that it makes sense to pick fast-moving products from full pallets rather than from cartons in flow rack, the pick module is strong enough to hold full pallets on any of its three levels.
Software upgrades
When Fender executives decided several years ago to implement the warehouse module of its enterprise resource planning software instead of buying a best-of-breed WMS, they knew they'd have to customize the software to get the functionality they wanted.
Much of that customization work took place when Fender implemented the software in its previous DC. But as they prepared to move into the Ontario facility, Thomas and his staff requested further customization to give them even better functionality in the new building and to streamline some of the user interfaces.
"We wanted to make it as simple as possible for the user," he says. "It reduces errors and makes training easier."
Moving to a more automated DC also required implementation of a warehouse control system (WCS). In addition to directing the automated equipment, the WCS gives Fender useful monitoring and reporting capabilities and allows precise carton tracking.
New processes, better service to customers
Increased space and new equipment allowed Fender to change its order picking processes, resulting in more timely and accurate order fulfillment.
Instead of picking orders one at a time, DC employees now pick multiple orders at once. This makes order picking faster, helping Fender get orders to customers on time.
The system also frees up storage aisles for a more effective cycle-counting program. Better inventory counts mean better inventory accuracy. Combine that with a new automated weight checking system for outgoing orders, and Fender's order accuracy is now 99%, an increase of about two percentage points.
The new processes and equipment are in harmony with Fender's vibrant business, says Thomas. The DC isn't filled with overly expensive technology, yet it's automated enough to handle order volumes efficiently, and the system appears scalable enough to handle years of growth.
|
|
|
|
| Search: | Product / Service | Company |
|
Accurate order picking counts more than ever
04/03/2007
View All On-Demand Webcasts
