Better conveyor returns
At the L.L. Bean returns processing center, a new conveyor system has improved productivity and efficiency.
By Noël P. Bodenburg, Managing Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 6/1/2007
When you buy something from L.L. Bean, you know it can be returned any time for any reason. But that's a challenge when you're the returns processing department at the Freeport, Maine, retailer.
We're talking about a lot of returns here. Of the 48 million units shipped last year, 6 million were returned—most during holiday peak periods. Typically, about 85% of returns are refunds and 15% are exchanges.
“I look at returns as the protector of the guarantee,” says Mike Perkins, vice president of distribution and returns operations for L.L. Bean, which sells clothing and outdoor equipment. “We've already disappointed the customer once. In order to protect that guarantee it absolutely has to be right the second time.”
That said, the retailer's 15-year old system was not built to accommodate today's returns volumes. As a result, the Reverse Logistics Service worked with a system integrator (VARGO, 614-876-1163) to update its conveyor system, increasing productivity by 10% and reducing worker injury by 50%. In the 135,000-square-foot facility, units processed per employee per hour is up from 16.5 to 18.
The new pull-based system replaced one that literally pushed returns to operators, effectively changing the workflow. Today, two 450-foot processing loops of conveyor surround multiple workstations staffed with workers. Return packages are received and conveyed to these workstations using a spreader and automatic speed control to transfer packages from one conveyor to another.
The conveyor system meters flow by controlling the speed of multiple conveyor units and transitions of product from one conveyor to the next. Packages recirculate on the conveyor loop until the worker is ready. When ready, the worker simply grabs any package off the conveyor, opens it, decides how to process it, and puts it in the appropriate bin for the next stage.
A single worker now handles a product from the time it's picked up off a conveyor belt to be scanned, processed and prepped to the time it's sorted to a tote and placed back on the conveyor for reintroduction into the inventory system. Once the workers process the return, spiral conveyors take finished product away. “By eliminating two handoffs, we have improved our merchandise process and maintained “first in, first out” customer returns processing,” says Wayne Steele, L.L. Bean's industrial engineering supervisor.
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