Transporte

white paper
“Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

Dematic Corp. 507 Plymouth Ave. NE Grand Rapids, MI 49505 Tel: (877) 725-7500 USInfo@dematic.com www.dematic.us September 2009

“Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

Introduction
Engineering order fulfillment systems for distribution operations includes the consideration of many factors. Finding the design that is optimal for a particularapplication depends on the information from two key areas: the activity profile and the user’s business objectives. Elements of the activity profile (the data & facts) include daily unit volume, units per order, lines per order, packing sequence, unit cube & cube movement, unit structure, cartons per order, total SKUs, % daily SKU’s active, order download, % volume cross-docked, etc. A solidunderstanding of the activity profile will point the way to the most appropriate solution. Operational drivers that are strategic to the business objectives include: extend order cut off time, accommodate spikes in throughput, perform order fulfillment on 1 shift of operation, expandability for future growth, ergonomic design, initial investment cost, manageability, total labor, accuracy, productsecurity, space, and speed. These business drivers will also impact the selection of the most appropriate order fulfillment solution. Distribution facility managers will find that their analysis will often point the way to more than one solution that will satisfy their requirements. Comparing and contrasting the various order fulfillment configurations (pick to cart, pick to pallet, put to pallet, pickto conveyor, batch pick & sort, pick & pass, zone route, goods to person, etc.) is a topic for another report. This white paper will focus on the attributes of a major solution category for order fulfillment called “goods to person”.

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Dematic I “Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

“Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

What is Goods to Person?
“Goods to person” means that the orderpicker stays in one place, and the system brings the “goods” or SKUs (stock keeping units) to the person. The SKU is picked and then sent back to a storage location. The basic system components consist of a storage medium for the product inventory, a conveyance method to bring the SKUs to the pick station, an ergonomic workstation, and software to control the flow. There are various systemconfigurations; for example: one SKU to one order container, or one SKU to multiple order containers, pick only station, combined pick and pack station, etc.

Typical “goods to person” layout featuring staging of inventory in the ASRS connected by conveyor to pick and pack stations

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Dematic I “Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

“Goods to Person” Order Fulfillment

Benefits of Goods to PersonOrder Fulfillment
Significant benefits can be realized with the use of a “goods to person” system. Even though there are many variations on how a system can be configured, most all the designs allow the following benefits: Eliminate picker travel time, use less labor – Order pickers do not need to roam the warehouse walking to and from the dedicated pick faces. Travel time is the largest timecomponent of a traditional order picker in a “person to goods” arrangement. By minimizing this time component, productivity is increased and labor to operate the facility is reduced. Omit the dedicated pick face – Typically, a “goods to person” system involves staging the inventory in an automated device such as an automated storage & retrieval system (ASRS). Think of it as a black box where all theSKUs are stored; a SKU is retrieved when it is required. This omits the need for SKU slotting and ongoing re-slotting management (moving the pick faces as activity rates change) that is typical of a “person to the goods” warehouse. Reduce system footprint – The space required for a “goods to person” design is less than conventional “person to goods”. If the storage medium is high density,...