Lift trucks: Multi-level orderpicker helps optimize storage, slotting and picking

As one of the largest privately owned wholesalers/distributors of natural and organic products in the United States, Nature’s Best serves retailers throughout the western, central and southern United States, as well as Hawaii, Alaska and Asia. Facing unprecedented growth in the number of SKUs in its warehouse, the demand-driven business climate challenged the company to accommodate this surge without increasing the size of the facility.

Brian McCarthy, senior vice president of operations for Nature’s Best, says the team decided to re-think its slotting strategy and use a variable-height picking process with a multi-level order selector that increased pick height from 6 to 10 feet. As a result, the company added 33% to 45% more pick positions, increased SKUs per square foot, increased revenue per square foot, and significantly reduced product touches.

This new strategy placed slower-moving SKUs above the more accessible, faster-moving items. Because operators build the entire order on one pallet, the updated process eliminates unnecessary product touches and travel time.

“With the new forklifts, we’ve nearly doubled the space in our cooler and freezer areas,” McCarthy says. “The one-touch system for the upper pick zone also helps us consolidate and elevate slow-movers. We met our goal of picking 144 cases per hour.”

To date, the facility has decreased operating costs by 25% and saved more than $500,000 by minimizing the amount of steel racking needed. The company requires seven fewer operators and lift trucks, which is expected to save the company $2 million in labor alone over the next five years.

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