Younique’s new order fulfillment system breaks performance barriers

Located in Lehi, Utah, Younique Products is a direct-sales company—with a product portfolio consisting primarily of makeup, color cosmetics, skin care and makeup tools—that markets and sells through social media, using virtual parties.

Operating from a 68,000-square-foot DC, Younique maintains more than 650 stock keeping units (SKUs), used to fulfill about 4,500 to 8,000 orders each day (with an average of about 4.5 items per order). Since order volume varies with significant peak-season demands, from time to time, the DC fulfills four times the company’s normal order volume.

Initially, Younique employed RF devices for order fulfillment. Products were stored in a single location and pickers fulfilled a single order at a time. The process was slow, there was an extensive learning curve and the method required multiple touches in replenishment, prior to being slotted for picking. A more streamlined picking process, along with supporting technologies, was needed to keep pace with Younique’s rapid growth.

Younique implemented a new concept that partitioned the picking area into multiple small areas with SKUs replicated in each area. By employing multiple small picking areas, the travel time that’s required to access products is minimized, while the congestion among pickers declines. All multimodal order fulfillment technology, using a combination of voice, bar code scanning and light-directed picking and putting, was supplied by a technology solutions provider, which is specially focused on the distribution and logistics industries.

As a result, multimodal, batch picking carts are used to pick as many as 43 orders on a single trip through one of the replicated picking areas. Voice output instructs the picker where to go, when to stop and how many products to pick. Lighted displays on product bays indicate pick locations and requested quantities, while displays on carts highlight target carton locations for picked items.

“The performance of the new system far exceeded our expectations. A new, inexperienced picker can be quickly trained to achieve picking rates that are double that of the old system, using RF guns,” says Randan Manuela, senior director of global DC operations at Younique. “Experienced pickers are achieving picking rates that are approximately three times that achieved with the old system, while the top pickers are achieving picking rates four times that of the old RF system.”

The performance can be linked to two primary factors: The first is using multimodal technologies—with lighted displays on picking bays, coupled with lighted displays on cart locations—to increase speed and accuracy while picking multiple orders on a single trip through the picking area. Meanwhile, the second is partitioning the picking area into multiple smaller picking areas, leading to a decline in travel time and congestion.

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