Beauty supply distributor Aerial Co. had a messy problem. As the company's business grew, its Marinette, Wisc., DC was becoming increasingly crowded—too many people, too many carts, too much congestion.

The company was filling as many as 1,200 daily orders for shampoo, nail polish and other professional beauty supply products through a largely manual process. Employees carried paper lists as they pushed carts, filling orders one at a time.

"We decided it was time to look at a new technology to gain efficiency and to utilize our space better," says production manager Heather Nelson. "You can only add so many bodies."

So, the company dramatically upgraded its DC, introducing several new technologies and practices. Radio frequency and light-directed picking replaced paper lists. Meanwhile, a powered conveyor system and horizontal carousels (Remstar International, 800-639-5805) reduced travel time and congestion for pickers. Zone and batch picking have also contributed to higher efficiencies.

As a result, the operation is now running beautifully. Aerial is filling more orders with less labor and has plenty of flexibility to accommodate future growth.

Aerial is a $100 million family-owned business, shipping beauty products—from brands such as Matrix and Paul Mitchell—to nearly 10,000 salons and 49 professional beauty supply stores in the Midwest. The company's Marinette DC manages between 6,500 and 7,000 stock keeping units (SKUs), depending on the season. Order volumes are highly variable, spiking as much as 50% in a given week to accommodate special sales and promotions.

Initially, Aerial installed a warehouse management system (WMS) with real-time inventory tracking capabilities to better manage fluctuating volumes. The WMS also allows the company to support multiple shifts of employees working flexible hours.

But the WMS was just the beginning. Aerial later automated the DC's picking procedures, significantly increasing productivity.

Before, each employee picked complete orders from shelving and flow rack to carts, walking nearly 10 miles a day.

To cut down travel distance and time, the company added eight horizontal carousels—four on the ground level and four on a new mezzanine. A pick-to-light system on each carousel guides operators, who can pick up to eight orders simultaneously with minimal travel. In all, the carousels hold approximately 5,000 SKUs of slow- to medium-moving products, with capacity for 1,000 more.

"Having the product brought to the operators increased our productivity significantly," says Brenda Beyer, director of logistics for Aerial. "The products picked in the carousels are picked three times as fast as they used to be."

Aerial added a second pick module, this one radio frequency directed, for medium- to fast-moving products. About 1,100 SKUs of medium movers are in carton flow rack, while fast movers are in pallet flow rack. The two-level pick module is divided into several zones. Employees pick only in their zones, reducing walking time and increasing productivity.

The company also added two consolidation zones for picked orders, one for store orders and one for salon orders. The salon consolidation zone uses put-to-light racking for sorting and consolidating orders.

To connect all these areas to each other, Aerial added 360 feet of static and powered roller conveyor. Employees pick products into plastic totes, and the conveyor carries the totes from the pick modules to the consolidation zones.

Most recently, Aerial added 23,000 square feet to its DC (making a total of 90,000 square feet) and still more automation. The additional space accommodates more bulk storage and a larger receiving department. The automation adds efficiencies in consolidation operations and is ready for growth.

Aerial's expanded salon consolidation zone has two new carousels alongside existing racking. The carousels, which are fed by two lanes of accumulation conveyor, are the primary consolidation zone for salon orders.

"The reason we put in the carousels," says Beyer, "was to gain efficiencies by eliminating walk time. Previously, our handlers had to walk as far as 35 feet in order to place a tote in the consolidation area."

Aerial also expanded its packing area, adding four stations to the five it already had. The company ships store orders in its plastic totes, and the stores later return the empty totes for reuse. Salon orders, however, must be packed into corrugated boxes. The company plans to add more salon customers, which will require the extra packing stations.

Employees at the packing stations are also responsible for conducting quality inspections. Before, Aerial checked every order for accuracy before shipping it to a customer.

"Now we just do random inspections," says Nelson. "The technology got better, so we were able to increase our accuracy in picking."

Aerial's accuracy rate, she says, is 99.2%. This is particularly impressive considering the short turnaround time on orders. "We have an obligation to our customers," says Nelson. "If you place an order by 2 p.m., the order will ship that same day."

Transitioning to an automated DC was not without challenges, says Beyer. "Every day we would tweak the system in order to improve the flow, and every day we would be encouraged by the results of the adjustments."

"We also learned to increase our zone sizes," says Nelson. When Aerial switched to a zone picking methodology, she says, the DC was divided into many small zones. After a few weeks, it became clear that picking could be accomplished with fewer employees in larger zones without jeopardizing productivity. Increasing the zone sizes also helped reduce the number of totes in the system.

These adjustments were made quickly, says Beyer, and the system is running smoothly. The equipment easily adjusts from low volume to top speed, so Aerial can accommodate fluctuations in orders and is ready for future growth.