Electronics distributor Newark InOne takes great pride in same-day shipping of in-stock product to North, Central and

South America. Unfortunately, its customers were requesting many components that the company did not keep in stock at its 180,000 square foot distribution center in Gaffrey, S.C.

That's when top management decided the DC would add those 60,000 additional stock keeping units (SKUs) to its inventory, a 50% increase. "We needed more space to accommodate the substantial inventory increase," says Thomas Mayfield, operations project manager. "Expanding the building was not an option because it would have taken too long to complete."

The solution was a 23,000 square foot mezzanine (W.A. Schmidt, 800-523-6719, www.waschmidt.com) that would add a new storage and order processing area 10 feet above the DC's 32 horizontal carousels.

The DC also added a zero pressure accumulation conveyor and a belt conveyor (Siemens Dematic, 877-725-7500, www.siemens-dematic.us) to route products to and from the new mezzanine. Both systems are integrated into the facility's existing inbound and outbound conveyor lines.

Received inventory is stored in carousels for small items, shelving for larger products, case reserve, and the new mezzanine storage area. Identical to the bin sizes within the carousels below, the mezzanine storage locations measure 24 inches deep, 5 inches high and have various widths of 8, 12, 16 and 24 inches.

As part of the inbound line, items are scanned on the new accumulation conveyor and either diverted to the mezzanine or sent on to other storage locations. Workers then scan the product and place it into the storage location indicated.

Newark InOne wave picks with all items sent to a tilt tray sorter. Those items picked on the mezzanine first travel by the new belt conveyor to the outbound conveyor, which feeds the tilt tray sorter. There, an overhead scanner reads an item's bar code for final sortation.

"With the additional mezzanine in place, we are now able to stock approximately 180,000 SKUs," says Mayfield. "This will enable us to provide our customers with same-day shipment on even more products."