Shortly after its new ambient distribution center was finalized, Foodstuffs, a grocery retailer, had a key priority: To introduce automation for high-volume, split-case items and small bulk picking. After all, the DC supports an improvement in accuracy and an increase in productivity and service levels. Key design initiatives included minimizing the site footprint to reduce travel time between picks and optimizing system flexibility to enable the efficient handling of various SKUs and order types. A feature of the retailer's order fulfillment systems is a two-level zone route pick module. Controlled by order fulfilment software, order totes travel through the pick module on a conveyor, automatically diverting only into zones where picks are required. Operators, equipped with voice-directed terminals, then batch pick individual items and small bulk packs from thousands of shelving and carton live storage locations into the order totes, which are transported through the system until all items required for an order have been picked.
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