Solutions

Solutions

Retail DC – Normal temperature DC

 

Nowadays, the number and density of convenience chain-stores in most places in Taiwan, especially in the metropolitan area, are many. It also brings up the multiple conveniences of daily living for the general public. Currently, three primary brands of convenience chain stores accounts for 90% of market shares.
 

These primary players do have their own Normal temperature DCs, and the primary assignment of these Normal temperature DCs is to provide distribution service for all the room-temp products selling in stores.

The pick-to-light system is major solution to be chosen to help the operator rapidly conduct the picking operation when these DCs expect to improve the service quality for chain stores and enhance competitiveness.
 

The pick-to-light system instructs the operator to pick up the specific products in certain quantity through the indication of LED light and display on the picking tag which is installed at the shelf instead of any types of paper-forms picking slips.
 

There are two primary picking methods by pick-to-light system are applied in the Normal temperature DC: the case picking for the full carton area and the piece picking. Due to the broadness, long traveling distance, and the large size of the product in the full cartons picking area, the picking operation is executed by the operator drives the power trolley in the way of one-picker for one-order based the pick-to-light’s efficient picking operation logic. One operator is responsible for the picking operation for one particular store's PO by obeying the designated operation flow by the system and picking up the product until the accomplishment.
 

In the piece picking area (with snack food, daily-living required items, wine, cigarettes) the product is concentrated bearing 70-80 types of product in just one single area; therefore, one operator is responsible for one specific area, called zone, all they need to do is to pick up the product within the zone and put it into the logistic box, and then have the conveyer deliver the pick-up finished box to next zone. The operator in the next zone will execute the pick-up operation accordingly.
 

The benefit the pick-to-light system brings up to the DCs is the error rate is two to ten thousandths; the required operation time can be reduced to two to three times less of time consumption. It may also decrease the number of pickers and minimize the cost of the workforce.