"What we have here is basically an AS/RS on steroids." That's how Cory Flemings, vice president of sales and marketing for Knapp North America, describes a new order, storage and retrieval (OSR) system. The OSR system is designed to expedite storage, handling and order fulfillment of the slower movers that account for the 80% of inventory in most warehouses and distribution centers. "Typically, these items represent the highest cost per unit picked because of travel time involved to get the items. That is why we developed the OSR system," said Flemings. Compared to most manual order picking processes, the OSR improves throughput, eliminates worker travel time, reduces labor requirements, and maximizes storage density, he says.