• Full case and broken case picks go directly onto conveyors
• Reduced handling and labor
• Increased efficiency and productivity

New picking efficiencies are gained by bringing in two, three-level pick modules, one for full cases and the other for broken cases. Conveyors move full cases and totes of picked items to shipping and packing, creating much better flow than lift trucks did.

A sorter helps with flow still further by moving items to their next destinations in a measured manner. A pop-up wheel sorter automatically diverts cases and totes to a consolidation, pool point or parcel lane. Store consolidation items are palletized by store. Pool point items are palletized to a pool point. Parcel lane items are manifested and loaded onto a parcel truck. All shipments are staged prior to shipping. An improved information system coordinates the movement of cases and totes.

• Higher shipping volumes
• Better space utilization
• Faster turnaround to stores

For high-volume operations, the extreme make-over approach is best. And once again, sorters are key to improving flow.

Here, a mezzanine with secondary sorter expedites parcel bundling. By automatically sorting cartons to bundling locations, this approach takes flow to another level beyond the conveyor sort fingers used in the previous scenario. Payback for this additional sortation step is generally less than a year due to the heightened flow of outbound parcels.

Another improvement is the addition of crossdocking capabilities. Pre-allocated cartons are received on an extendible conveyor, creating fluid unloading. They are then inducted directly onto the shipping sorter, and diverted to the correct shipping lane and loaded immediately on an outbound trailer.