By Pcdata USA
The latest innovation in order fulfillment automation, pick-to-light Pickcarts (or Pickcarts for short) have become increasingly popular in the order fulfillment market, and rightfully so. Pickcarts may be the best order fulfillment tool yet, providing an optimum in operational flexibility, order picking speed and accuracy, while minimizing most all the drawbacks associated with alternative technologies, such as RF and voice.
With Pickcarts, multiple orders are picked to their
respective totes, in one go-around the warehouse. Orders are assigned to a cart
from a central server, with each LED light mounted on the cart representing and
individual order. The operator is directed, typically through a visual aid of
some kind, a LED or a computer tablet mounted on the cart, to a location in the
warehouse. The arrival at the specified location is confirmed through a scan of
the barcode at the location or the SKU.
The LEDs which represent the orders on the cart requiring this
specific SKU, will light up and show the operator how many to pick. Each pick,
once completed is confirmed through an acknowledgement button push which extinguishes
the LED light. Once all the orders on the cart are completed this way, the
operator is directed to the next SKU location at which point the process
repeats itself.
Pickcarts are being deployed in slower-moving SKU picking, in
high SKU – low line order intensity operations, e-commerce operations, and
multi-order picking scenarios.
The benefits of using any order pick technology solution over
paper picking are numerous and obvious. Less obvious perhaps are the benefits
of Pickcarts over RF or voice picking. Simplicity of operation for one. No
complicated menus or voice scripts need to be learned. Simply scan the indicated
SKU location, and the high
visibility LED displays on the Pickcart, provide a constant reminder of
quantities that need to be picked.
No extensive voice
interactions with the operating system, slowing down the order picking process
and isolating the operator from his/her work environment - as is the complaint
with voice picking. With a Pickcart the operator remains constantly aware of his/her
surroundings.
RF can be more cumbersome
still, with the operator having to hold or carry the RF device, to confirm each
pick, but also provide directions to the next location in the warehouse.
Pickcarts tend to be faster and more accurate as a result.
Many operations using RF and voice will resort to bulk-picking,
sorting the products at the end of the warehouse run. With Pickcarts bulk
picking is not necessary (let alone single order line picking) as the orders
are picked individually, directly on the cart. Depending on the order profiles
and products picked, Pickcarts can handle 20, 40 or even over 100 orders at one
time. It all depends on whatever works best for your operation.
Just make sure to partner with a Pickcart supplier who understands
your needs and can translate these needs to an optimal Pickcart layout.
So, what is most important when selecting from the various Pickcart
technology suppliers out there? There are a few factors to pay attention to;
Some suppliers only deliver complete solutions, i.e. including
the cart hardware itself, whereas other Pickcart suppliers provide the option
of supplying the lights and technology separately, allowing the user to
retrofit existing carts, which tend to work reasonably well from a layout
perspective, and thus minimize the investment.
Understanding your own operational flexibility needs, and
how well the Pickcart design fits with those needs is also an important factor.
If the operation changes often; How easily can the technology on the cart be
reconfigured? Can the layout of the cart be changed easily? Tote sizes increased
/ decreased? Can the number of lights on the cart be changed easily if the
order profile changes often? How flexible is the technology platform and the
software used?
Even if operational changes are not that frequent, making sure
the core of the Pickcart technology is as flexible as possible, keep options
open for future changes, and that can never be a bad thing.
Easy to replace, modular Pick-to-Light hardware and
components also ensure lower maintenance and support costs. Built-in displays
may look good, but can prove difficult and therefore expensive to replace.
Most difficult to assess is the operator interface; how easy
is it to configure, reconfigure, load orders and actually pick orders? Here too
there are significant differences. There are carts that require constant
communication to the WMS system, and therefore require good WiFi coverage
throughout the warehouse. This is no different than RF or voice, but there are
also Pickcart solutions that don’t. This potentially lowers the investment that
needs to be made, certainly if no pre-existing WiFi network exists in the
warehouse.
There are Pickcart solutions which actually will show the
operator the shortest route through the warehouse, to fulfill the orders loaded
on the cart walking the shortest distance. Not only more efficient, the
operators will appreciate this as well. A warehouse map uploaded into a
cart-mounted tablet showing the operator the optimal route, avoiding one way
systems, warehouse obstructions, or size restrictions.
Pickcarts are quickly becoming known as
the most effective and efficient order picking solutions for many warehouse
operations and rightfully so. As a stand-alone system or as part of a hybrid
order fulfillment solution Pickcarts will increase efficiency, create
transparency in an inventory process and improve overall quality to customers.
Pcdata USA is a global logistics systems leader for supply chain
automation. Creator of Flexible,
Simple & Smart, Warehouse Management Systems, Order Fulfillment and
Tracking Solutions. Contact Pcdata USA at (855) 844-1086. Follow Pcdata USA
on Twitter https://twitter.com/PcdataUSA
