Speed and accuracy are the holy grail of online order fulfillment. But when it comes to groceries, especially perishables, expected performance levels are turned up still another notch.

Grocery Gateway of Toronto needed to find a way to handle the right groceries at the right time for its e-customers to make good on its pledge of 100% customer satisfaction and next-day order turnaround. But it has 5,000 products including canned goods, ice cream, vegetables, meats and drugstore items. That means orders are filled in many different environments including freezer, refrigerator and room temperature, across the distribution center.

A move to a pick-to-light system enables Grocery Gateway to profitably ship immediately upon receiving an order. An order processing system (OPS) coordinates and optimizes picking while a warehouse control system (WCS) provides timely and accurate delivery of totes to their next destination. A warehouse management system (WMS) provides the highest level of order fulfillment control in the distribution center. The result is very quick and efficient picking of orders.

When an order is received, the WMS sends pick task details to the OPS, which plans execution of the picks across all areas. To meet the company's next-day turnaround goal, the OPS minimizes the travel path required to complete the picks in each zone.

Orderpickers follow the lights of the pick-to-light system on the front of the racks when selecting individual items. When picking is completed for that tote, the WCS directs it to the assigned loading dock where totes are merged into complete orders and loaded on trucks for immediate delivery.