When electronic components distributor Eurodis Electron PLC combined eight independent distribution centers into a 151,000 square foot facility in Haaksbergen, Netherlands, it wanted shorter throughput times and greater flexibility.

But most important of all, Eurodis wanted a system that would enable operators to easily build pallets in the same sequence in which they would be shipped to the customer. The distributor not only achieved those goals, but improved productivity by 150%.

Essential to this success is a 20-aisle small parts miniload automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) that works in tandem with a series of 15 sequence buffers (viastore systems, 616-656-8876). Each sequence buffer consists of a stationary mast, or tower, with enough bin locations to hold totes for one complete shipment.

Despite filling 3,500 orders a day, Eurodis employees only touch a product twice during the order fulfillment process.

Incoming pallets are broken down into boxes of individual parts that are stored in totes in one of 105,000 container locations in the miniload system. When it's time to fill an order, those totes are retrieved by one of 17 storage/retrieval machines.

Totes for a specific order then travel by conveyor to a designated sequence buffer. Once all the totes for an order have accumulated in the buffer, they are released in the sequence needed for loading to one of 40 picking stations. A bar code reader in front of the station automatically scans the bar code to identify each tote. The operator receives on a computer screen instructions on the quantity to pick from the tote.

Boxes of parts are picked to a belt and delivered to a palletizing station. There they are manually picked to the pallet in the right sequence. Once an order is complete, the pallet travels by conveyor to the shipping docks, where it is loaded onto a truck for delivery.

At TOP-TOY's new 450,000 square foot distribution center near Copenhagen, nearly all orderpicking is automated. Key systems include an 11-aisle unit-load AS/RS for full and partial pallets, and a six-aisle miniload AS/RS for carton storage (Univeyor, 704-726-1177). Meanwhile, two, unique high-speed layer pickers depalletize as many as 2,500 cartons an hour for case picking.

The result is a 20% increase in productivity, better material flow and reduced picking errors. What's more, the system is flexible enough to grow as TOP-TOY's business expands.

In the miniload system, each storage/retrieval machine is equipped with a gripper to remove cartons from its 12,000 locations. Picked cartons travel by conveyor to a sortation line.

The unit-load system has 14,000 full pallet locations and 4,000 partial pallet storage locations. Picked pallets are first transported by conveyor to the layer picking area. There, two automatic layer pickers use vacuum technology to remove an entire layer of cartons from the pallets.

Cartons from the unit load that aren't needed immediately for an order are diverted to the miniload system, where they are automatically stored for a later order.

Cartons ready for delivery to a store are transported directly to the sortation line. There they are diverted to one of 46 workstations, and manually palletized. Once a pallet is loaded it's automatically stretch wrapped and delivered by conveyor to the shipping area, ready for shipment.

At Columbia Sportswear's 286,000 square foot distribution center in Cambri, France, a warehouse management system (WMS) controls manual and automated storage as well as error-free picking (Consultleague, 925-736-8680).

When an order is released, the WMS decides the most efficient combination of full cases, which are stored on carton racks, and partial cases, which are maintained in an AS/RS, to fill the order.

Partial cases are automatically retrieved by the AS/RS and deposited on an accumulation conveyor.

Full cases are manually picked by an operator to a manual cart, and then placed on the accumulation conveyor.

From the accumulation conveyor, pieces are picked up by a cross-belt sorter and delivered to divert points, where they drop into corrugated maxi-totes for multiple customer orders. Once a tote is filled, a lift truck operator moves it to a packing area.

At the packing station, items are scanned and placed into shipping boxes. That enables the WMS to verify the contents of a tote against expected contents and against order requirements.

A completed carton is then placed on a takeaway conveyor and transported to one of a dozen accumulation lanes in the shipping department. There, an operator scans the label again and loads the carton on the right pallet for that order. When the order is complete, the WMS creates the shipping documents that will travel with that pallet.

Click on the icon to read how Julius Blum uses automation to maximize space in Austria.