The book on Koen's weighing and cubing system
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 9/15/1999
We've all heard that you can't judge a book by its cover. But that doesn't mean you can't judge it by its height and weight. And that's exactly what they do at Koen Book distributors.As part of the packing and shipping process at Koen, books pass through a weighing and cubing system that measures their height, width, and length as well as weight. Cubing allows the company's data management system to accurately determine proper shipping carton size, saving time in the packing process.
Using a precise scale, the system also double checks the accuracy of each book shipment. The filled carton weight is automatically compared against the expected weight to determine if the correct books have been included in the order.
The information is then used to create an advance shipment notice (ASN) for the book seller that placed the order. These include Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Amazon.com. Using an ASN, a book seller is electronically notified in advance what it will receive in its next receipt, saving the time and effort needed to input that data manually to the system.
"There are three primary ingredients to remaining competitive in the book distribution business," says Koen manager Chuck Lehman. "Having the right book at the right time; fast, accurate service; and same-day shipping guarantees. The cubing system with its highly accurate scale helps us meet the last two better than anyone else in the industry."
Lehman also says the cubing system has increased warehouse efficiency (a second unit is used to streamline receiving) and orderpicking speed. Estimated savings to date are about ten times what Koen paid for the system.
Setra Systems
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