Van Meter: Saving space while increasing throughput

Van Meter Inc.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Size: 300,000 square feet

THROUGHPUT: 4,500 lines per day

ITEMS: Electrical and automation supplies

SKUs: 30,000 in stock

SHIFTS: 2 shifts per day/5 days per week

A leading distributor of electrical supplies to construction sites, industrial customers and energy providers, Van Meter has relied on vertical lift modules (VLMs) in its primary distribution center.

Read the feature article on VanMeter's optimized distribution center.

Receiving

When product arrives at the receiving docks (1), it is unloaded onto a receiving processing area (2). Pallets scanned into the warehouse management system (WMS), which determines whether the product will be stored in a shelving area that is referred to internally as grey shelving (3), a high bay pallet storage area (4) or one of the VLM pods (5). Pallets destined for the high bay storage area are stored in a pickable primary location or a secondary reserve storage location accessible by lift trucks.

Product destined for the grey shelving area or the VLMs is decanted into totes that are then inducted onto the conveyor line (6) and transported to the right zone for put-away by an associate.

Once product is put away into one of the three areas, it’s available to promise to customers.

Picking

There is a relatively simple order flow through the facility. The fulfillment process begins when the WMS drops an order. First, a tote is scanned and inducted onto the conveyor line in the grey shelving area. This area consists of four storage zones, labeled A through D. The tote is then conveyed to the first zone where there is a pick. Once all items in the shelving area have been picked, or the tote travels through the D zone, it is conveyed to the VLM area. That area consists of 18 VLMs spread across four pods. There, an associate scans the tote and then picks items that have been presented by the VLM. Finally, once all the items have been picked in the VLM area, the tote may travel to the high bay area, where it is married with full pallets or large, non-conveyables.

Pack and ship

If the order calls for a pallet of material from the high bay area, the tote may remain with the pallet, which will be delivered by lift truck to a pallet packing area, where it is staged for shipping (7). Otherwise, totes that went through grey shelving and the VLM area are inducted onto the conveyor system and delivered to one of eight packing stations (8). There, a packer scans the tote, which provides instructions on how to pack the order. Each item is removed from the tote and scanned into the shipping carton. Once all of the items have been picked, the case is sealed, and a shipping label is applied. The cartons are then sorted (9) to the shipping staging area before being loaded onto outbound trucks at the shipping docks (10).

System suppliers

• Vertical Lift Modules: Kardex Remstar
• Conveyor System Design and Control: BoxLogix Automation
• ERP/WMS: Epicore Eclipse specializes in HVAC and electrical parts
• Mobile Computing and Bar Code Scanning: Zebra Technologies
• Lift Trucks: Yale