FEATURE Automated Warehousing
Meeting the complex demands of the fashion logistics industry
Understanding the hidden opportunities for pouch sortation in omnichannel and reverse logistics is crucial, writes Gregor Baumeister, Manager of Packaging and Palletising Systems at Beumer Group
T Support
Nowadays, logistics providers face a whole new set of order fulfi lment demands that directly aff ect how they operate. Fulfi lment facilities are becoming more like shops, with consumers buying items to try on and return, expecting same day or overnight delivery and beautiful packaging. B2B and B2C orders are structured
diff erently from each other in terms of the number of order lines and pieces per order, requiring the fulfi lment facility to have diff erent fulfi lment, packing and delivery processes. In addition, the volatility of online sales creates huge resource challenges for fulfi lment facilities. These range from working to clear backlog orders during busy peak seasons, to managing the dips in orders which can then result in over-resourcing. Such changing order structures can aff ect goods-to- person picking systems that are not designed to handle varying orders. And then, there is the problem of returns, which are expensive to handle, requiring intensive quality checks, relabelling and repacking, and must be made available for resale quickly to prevent lost revenue.
12 November 2021 | Automation
he surge in online shopping is dramatically impacting fulfi lment facilities, distribution centres and warehouses. Most distribution
facilities aren’t equipped to handle omnichannel distribution and the returns rate that e-commerce is generating. Without a well-developed logistics process, outbound and returns handling represent a major threat to profi tability. But there are ways in which distribution facilities can adjust their processes to make internal logistics less painful and even profi table.
The impact of returns A fulfi lment or distribution centre or 3PL warehouse can reduce the impact of returns by eliminating non-value-adding process steps, reducing their transportation and labour costs, and increasing processing speed. Previously labour-intensive processes have been replaced with a smart-logic high- end sortation system that assesses items, determines their destination within the warehouse and transports them. The only labour required is the initial visual inspection of the item, which is not a major component of the overall labour cost. A pouch sorter system can help distribution facilities deal eff ectively with the challenges of omnichannel order fulfi lment and product returns. Flexible unit sortation solutions are gaining popularity with their ability to simplify and streamline several steps here. The technology supports effi cient picking, smart handling of returned items, and easy processing of diff erent order lead times – all important factors in omnichannel fulfi lment. Beumer Group’s BG Pouch System technology is one such technology, designed to fi t into an existing warehouse setups. Its high sortation performance reduces equipment, enabling it to fi t into some 30% smaller footprint than conventional pouch technology systems. In addition, the system can be ceiling-mounted, freeing up precious fl oor space. The modular BG Pouch System design can also be scaled up quickly and easily as required. Beumer Group’s pouch technology
provides: ● Direct access to a single product, as each pouch holds a single item.
● Decoupling of storage and picking from the fulfi lment process, so there are fewer
touch points, which boosts picking capacity. ● A goods-to-person solution, making it less vulnerable to changes to order structures through batch picking, and reducing the long distances pickers have to walk to fi nd pieces to fulfi l an order. ● Buff ering, which enables fl exible
reactions to changes in the business and customer behaviour.
● Immediate availability of returns once inducted.
● Sorting (bringing the order together) and sequencing (sorting the pouches within the order, for shop-friendly order assembly, the merging of garments-on-hangers with fl at packs, and so on).
● Floor space optimisation. ● Low maintenance, with a robust and simple design.
● High payload, to 7kg.
● High sortation performance of 10,000 items per hour per module, with modular expandability. It also: • Improves the load balancing between omnichannel processes in the warehouse. • Reduces required peak labour and automation capacity through intelligent peak smoothing.
• Eliminates non-value adding process steps in returns handling. • Increases warehouse productivity. • Flexibility to handle diff erent product lines in one system; e.g., fl at packing and hanging garments. • Simplifi es technology and operation.
CONTACT:
Beumer Group
www.beumer.com
automationmagazine.co.uk
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