Increasing output and efficiency for a 3PL can be obtained by evaluating the current speed of your packing operations.
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5 Economical Ways to Avoid Conveyor System Downtime
Conveyor system downtime is a constant threat to a continuously profitable operation. The importance of proper maintenance and ongoing support is paramount to keeping orders shipped on time and clients satisfied. Unplanned downtime can cost companies up to $250,000 per hour, with 82% of businesses experiencing at least one system outage over the past three years (source).
How do you avoid those monumental losses? Here are a few options your business can take to proactively prepare against downtime.
- Preventative Maintenance Service Plans
- Hotline Support Agreements
- On-site Repair Services
- Spare Parts Inventory Management Programs
- System Retrofits & Modernizations
1. Preventative Maintenance Service Plan
Some systems run 24/7 and are vital to keeping your operations effective. With hundreds of moving parts and sometimes a complex controls network, it is inevitable something will need to be replaced or repaired, often at the worst possible time.
Avoid the costs and frustrations of downtime and schedule a system audit followed by a comprehensive quarterly, or bi-yearly preventive maintenance program.
A team of experienced certified technicians will walk through your system validating each unit/component, age and condition, available working hours, and more during the initial audit. An optimized Preventative Maintenance plan and associated cost will then be developed for review and implementation.
2. Hotline Live Support (24/7)
Certain integrators may offer live digital support, to guide your designated controls engineer to a solution. This can be achieved by using a VPN to remotely control your system, allowing the support agent to view all error codes, make corrections, and guide your team accordingly.
For example, if an emergency stop cord is pulled, it is a relatively easy fix via the control system, but only if your controller can identify the issue. Instead of sending out a maintenance team, a support agent can remotely clear the codes and restore the system quickly.
When contracting with an integrator, ensure that they have this service as part of the proposal. Century Conveyor Systems includes a year of hotline support with every solution purchase, as well as multi-tiered options depending on the complexity.
3. On-call Emergency Repair
System downtime can occur due to factors often outside the control of normal operations. Life cycle wear, operator errors, power fluctuations, etc. cannot be predicted from an occurrence perspective. Even with an internal maintenance team, a specialist may be needed to address and remedy the situation.
Century can dispatch a team of certified technicians to your location in 24-48 hours and when layered with a Hotline Support Agreement, may even be able to resolve the problem within hours.
Our emergency repair service is within a call away as a safety net in the event of a system failure.
4. Spare Parts Optimization Programs
Downtime is typically the issue of a single component failing, bringing operations to a stop. Like a chain, if one link is broken, nothing works. Now you are scrambling to order a new part from the manufacturer, and then need to get it installed. Unfortunately, depending on the part, you could be waiting weeks or even months.
The solution? Allocate some space in your warehouse (ideally a small section of shelving) towards spare parts. Proactively order components and replenish anything that is used. This can span from common cables and photo eyes to large motors and compressors.
The upfront cost of a spare part is negligible compared to the monetary loss of a system shutdown until the part is received and installed.
If you’re looking to stock up on spare conveyor parts, we may be able to help out.
5. System Retrofits and Modernization
The business drivers of a facility operation are constantly changing with things like labor shortages, SKU proliferation, and the shift to e-commerce fulfillment changing order profiles and product handling requirements. This often requires adjustments to existing systems to accommodate these changes.
Technology is always advancing very rapidly in the material handling industry. Automation is constantly being upgraded to something faster, more efficient & accurate providing improved throughput and functionality.
As demand for distribution efficiency increases due to many influencing factors, now may be the time to evaluate your system. Adjustments can be made piecemeal to keep overall system costs lower, but still benefit the functionality and efficiency of your system.
Don’t find your operations stalled and unable to produce the scheduled output. Build a maintenance plan, explore support and emergency options, keep a spare parts supply stock, and retrofit older systems. Century Conveyor Systems is dedicated to the integrity of your operations. We offer all these services and more as a full-service automation integrator. Bring us your problems and we will work towards an innovative solution, together.
Our Conveyor Systems & Services Help Companies Maximize their Potential.
“Exceeding customer expectations is the key to our success. We’re not satisfied with simply selling conveyor systems, we want to help you grow your company to reach its full potential.”
Century Conveyor Systems, Inc. is a nationwide systems integrator that has been providing Material Handling Systems, Installation, and Conveyor technical services since our founding in 1981. In 2017, Century Conveyor Systems was acquired by Lafayette Engineering Inc., which enabled us to grow and become an even more capable company with the ability to self-perform most of the work required for turnkey automated system solutions.
As a turn-key system integrator with many successful projects under our belt, we serve a variety of industries including: warehouse/ distribution centers, ecommerce facilities, beverage distribution, retail DC’s, plants, pharmaceutical, and various other manufacturing facilities. Our solutions are second to none allowing us to offer you a full-service approach for every project.
Through combined strategic planning and resource allocation with Lafayette Engineering, we are able to provide full project life cycle services that include System Design, Concepts, Project Implementation, and Operational/Technical Support based on specific client needs. We also offer a variety of in-house solutions such as PLC Controls (Programmable Logic Controller), Warehouse Control Systems for Semiconductor Processes Automation Consultations, or Installation. All projects come equipped with 24-7 On Site Service by qualified engineers who can get there quickly when you need them most.
Century Conveyor Systems, Inc continues to be a top engineering and integration company for material handling applications and systems in the U.S., with our strong dedication to ethical business practices and customer satisfaction. We work hard every day to maintain this status by producing valuable products that are essential for today’s leading manufacturing and distribution businesses.
With so many people buying online, the e-commerce industry is booming. This may be time to update your facility and increase efficiency. Call us for a quote today.
Fedway Associates
Background
Fedway Associates is a New Jersey-based wine and spirits wholesaler with a rich history. The company got its start in 1933 after prohibition. Today, it services licensed package stores, restaurants, and bars throughout the state. The company currently operates in a state-of-the-art 539,000-square-foot distribution facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Challenge
The company had been working with a nearly 20-year-old Hytrol system. They were looking to update that system in 2012. However, Hurricane Sandy would hit New Jersey later that year which compelled the company to find a new facility, thus a new conveyor system and Warehouse Control System (WCS) would need to be integrated.
Goals
- Increase product accuracy and throughput
- Incorporate a WCS
- Decrease product breakage
System Specifications
- Additional 106,000 SF mezzanine
- Double-stacked roll transfer
- 60-ft sliding shoe sorter
Results
Fedway Associates was able to reduce product breakage by more than 70 percent with the new system. An increase in throughput rate reduced the number of hours taken to process cases. The state-of-the-art WCS helped with product traceability and inventory accuracy which ensures the correct cartons are shipped.
- Reduced product breakage by more than 70%
- Increased throughput
- Increase product traceability
- Increased inventory accuracy
- Warehouse control system incorporated
Salson Logistics
Background
Salson Logistics is a port-to-shelf 3PL logistics services provider, servicing large retailers and consumer brand products. Their customer-focused capabilities and their desire to provide and accommodate their customer’s needs led them to seek a more automated solution for their warehousing operation.
Salson determined that their most pressing requirements were to increase accuracy and provide not only greater throughput but to be able to accommodate various carton identifiers, while still employing a common software system solution. The Material Handling system solution provided by Century Conveyor provided for an accurate read and receipt of inbound merchandise leading to a cross-dock sortation application, allowing hand palletization as well as direct truck fluid loading.
Challenge
Prior to the automated system, Salson had employed a rather manual process, with very limited conveyor automation. Upon receipt, labels were manually applied. Scanning and sortation were performed manually. All products were then hand palletized prior to disposition. Despite the reliance on manual operations, and multiple shifts, Salson was able to achieve daily volumes of up to 20,000 cartons per day.
Goals
- Increase throughput
- Increase accuracy
- Grow business
System Specifications
- 5-lane receiving area
- Hytrol Prosort 400 Sortation conveyor
- Hytrol EZLogic gapping
Integration
The Century team solution provided for all aspects for turn-key development, including such key functions as the warehouse control system, material handling hardware, physical implementation, controls, software, and the engineering and project management disciplines necessary to ensure a timely and correct final commissioning, startup and turnover.
Some of the features of this system include traversing trailer unloaders, allowing five traversing unload conveyors the ability to service multiple inbound dock doors, Receiving scan tunnels, on each pair of receiving lines that allow for the capture of all carton received merchandise, ( can scan all sides of carton except bottom) along with no read divert for correction, right at scan location. 16 cartons per minute rate at each receiving location. Upon receipt, cartons accumulate and are queued up on indexing slug belts prior to a merge point. Five accumulation lanes feeding a merge, provide for an outbound rate of 95 per minute.
Merge releases to a bi-directional slat sorter where cartons are read. Thru the WMS/WCS communication, 95 cartons per minute run through the bidirectional sorter which has 23 left hand palletizing divert lanes and 12 right-hand fluid load truck fill lanes, along with another 10 hand palletizing lanes. Palletizing lanes having provisions for hand scanning with label generation for manifesting.
The Result
The solution Century provided for all aspects of turn-key development, including such key functions as the warehouse control system, material handling hardware, physical implementation, controls, software, and the engineering and project management disciplines necessary to ensure a timely and correct final commissioning, startup and turnover.
SalSon Logistics no longer has to rely on their labor force to sort, scan, and deliver products. Now with an automated system, the company is about to process 100,000 cartons compared to the 20,000 their labor force alone could do. This innovation and others in the system offered savings in labor, speed and accuracy.
Barnes & Noble
Background
Barnes & Noble, a Fortune 500 company, is the world’s largest bookseller. In addition to extensive eCommerce sales, they operate at the time of writing they operated approximately 800 stores in 50 states. The logistics of timely store replenishment and rapid, accurate fulfillment of Internet orders presents an enormous challenge at this level of business.
Century Conveyor Systems, Inc., a New Jersey-based automation systems integrator, was awarded the contract for integration and supply of the carton and tote materials handling system. The design team, now joined by Century Conveyor Systems, Inc., finalized the operational details and implementation plan for the new system. At the same time, the construction of the 1.2 million square foot facility was underway and on target for a December 2004 completion.
The Solution
The distribution center houses over 1 million book titles in quantities ranging from multiple trailer loads of popular titles to one or two volumes of very obscure books. Accordingly, inventory storage media varies from high-rise, narrow aisle pallet rack to flow rack and finally to acres of multi-level shelving.
Virtually all aspects of the distribution process are automated. Tracking labels are generated and automatically applied to cartons at receiving. Multiple sortation systems deliver inventory to storage and picking locations. Batch picking is directed by RF interface and routed through zones by scanner directed diverters. Book orders are simultaneously assembled from each picking batch by tilt tray sorters.
Over 13 miles of Hytrol conveyor carries cartons and totes through all of the distribution processes, from receiving to shipping. The entire system is monitored from a central control room equipped with displays that indicate the status of all areas of operation.
Receiving
For receipts of less than pallet load quantities, inbound cartons are conveyed to a mezzanine above the receiving dock where they are scanned and matched to a database of purchases. A 380-foot long Hytrol Prosort shoe sorter directs cartons to a series of receipt processing and audit stations. After processing, cartons are reintroduced into the receiving sorter for routing to pick locations, cross-dock, or active order fulfillment. Sortation is performed at rates up to 140 cartons per minute.
Inventory Replenishment
Forward pick locations and shelving mezzanines are supplied by a series of conveyors and sorters that deliver replenishment inventory. Cartons arriving from either bulk storage or the receiving subsystem are sorted to the three levels, and then by specific zone within each module for put-away to dynamic primary pick locations.
Picking
Each of the eight picking modules in the system is three levels high. Order selectors are given location and quantity instructions through scanner equipped radio frequency devices. Within each level, a series of scanners and diverters automatically direct cartons to only those zones where picks are required. Orders that can be completed within a single 3-tier pick module are conveyed directly to carton sealing and labeling stations. Batch picked cartons and totes containing books needed to fill multiple orders are conveyed to the packing sorter.
Order Consolidation
The packing sortation system is a tilt tray design. Individual books are placed on belts at induction stations and are sorted to chutes that each represents a single order. Indicator lights at the discharge of the chutes direct packers to remove the chute contents for packing as orders are completed. Chutes are reassigned to new orders as subsequent batches or waves arrive at the tilt tray induct stations.
Packing
Open cartons, containing completed orders, are conveyed to a series of taping and print & apply stations. Cartons are sealed, weighed, and labeled before they are automatically inducted into the shipping system. Single book orders, selected by batch into totes, are sorted to specially equipped packaging stations for quality inspection, packaging, and labeling before being sent to manifesting and shipping lines.
Shipping
The shipping sorter is a single loop tilt tray design, capable of sorting up to 170 cartons per. minute to shipping doors and small package Gaylord positions. Shipping door positions are equipped with flexible, extendible conveyors for truck loading.
The Result
“Barnes & Noble had previous experience with Hytrol and Century Conveyor Systems, Inc. and we knew Hytrol produced a quality and reliable conveyor. This previous experience was always very positive. Century and Hytrol stood behind their products and services and had become good partners through the years.”
“We had visited the Hytrol plant several years before when we were just starting the project. Meeting the Hytrol team that was going to be working with us on the system gave us a good comfort level.”
“Hytrol and Century made good on all their promises. The product was delivered when we needed it and it all worked out very well timewise. There have been so many advantages to the new system in place. The accuracy, the speed, and the throughput Hytrol affords us has improved our services to our customers. We are very happy with Hytrol.”
-William Duffy, ( Former) Executive Vice President of Distribution and Logistics, Barnes & Noble
AmerisourceBergen
Background
New picking technology combines with integrated conveyor system to help AmeriSource distribution center reach new levels of productivity and order accuracy.
When you’re in the business that AmeriSource Corporation is in, you have to be fast, efficient, and accurate.
This Malvern, Pennsylvania-based company is one of the country’s largest wholesale distributors of pharmaceuticals and related healthcare products and services.
From a network that includes 19 distribution centers around the country, AmeriSource ships these critical products to hospitals, healthcare facilities, and retail outlets that range from independent drug stores to the big mass merchandisers.
One of these centers-the regional D.C. in Thorofare, N.J., near Philadelphia-recently underwent a major expansion and upgrade to ensure the needed productivity and accuracy
Challenge
The new distribution center actually is a 156,000 square-foot expansion to an existing warehouse. That original facility, now used as a replenishment and full-case storage area, was a largely manual operation. But with AmeriSource’s business growing steadily, it had been struggling to keep pace with order demand.
In creating the new distribution center, management wanted to automate a large portion of the picking process and at the same time streamline order flow. Those objectives were accomplished through the combination of advanced computer controls, automated picking equipment, and a network of Hytrol conveyors that feature the EZ Logic accumulation system.
Facts
- Location: Thorofare, NJ
- Facility: Distribution center
- Solution: Hytrol liver roller and accumulating conveyor
- Product handled: Pharmaceuticals and health care products
Figures
- 156,000 sqf
- 168 employees
- 3,000 totes a day
- 2,300 cases a day
Automation Integration
The order-fulfillment process begins in the order origination area where operators scan the packing slips and select one of three types of totes depending on order size. Each tote carries a permanent bar-coded license plate that will direct it throughout the order-fulfillment process.
The totes are inducted into the system on a powered conveyor where a shipping label is generated. After scanning, the totes travel on a belt conveyor to a deflector arm that moves them to one of three accumulation conveyer lines (Model 190-SPEZ). These units have the EZ Logic feature, which senses product presence and controls the accumulation and release of product from zone to zone. The three lines provide the ability to segregate the totes by order size, manual or machine pick, replenishment priority, and so forth.
The totes then merge onto another accumulation conveyor prior to being sent to one of two picking areas in the main building. Totes containing orders to be picked manually travel on a powered takeaway unit for entry into the manual pick area. Totes with orders for machine-pick are diverted to the left by a pneumatic pusher and travel onto an accumulating conveyor to the “A-Frame” automated picker.
The manual picking area consists of a loop of powered conveyor that directs the totes to the right picking zones. Each of the eight zones consists of a series of flow rack and shelving units housing a variety of SKUs.
Once the manual picking is completed, the totes move onto an accumulation conveyer and head toward the machine picking area. A scanner identifies which orders are complete and which need further picking in the A-Frame. Completed orders are diverted by pneumatic pusher toward the weighing and strapping machines. The remaining totes travel straight ahead onto an accumulation conveyor where they enter a queue triggering the selection process in the A-Frame.
All completed orders pass through automated weighing and strapping stations. Once the totes are secured, they move on an elevated belt conveyor en route to the shipping sortation area.
The shipping system consists of a re-circulating loop of elevated power conveyors and a series of nine powered and gravity dispatch lines. The main live roller unit has nine high-speed diverts that direct the orders down the shipping lines. One important feature of the shipping area is the full-line sensing photo-cell. If a dispatch line becomes too full, the photo-cell automatically senses this and directs the order to the recirculation conveyor until the congestion eases up.
In addition to the two main picking areas, the AmeriSource facility includes a replenishment and full-case line picking section in the adjacent original warehouse. A powered roller conveyor brings these items through an opening in the wall and on to either the replenishment areas or to shipping. These cases accumulate in the shipping section where they can be merged with the tote orders.
The operation is not only streamlined and accurate, it’s also clean. An overhead trash takeaway conveyor from Hytrol (TH model) runs through the picking and replenishment areas efficiently removing corrugated and packing material from the work areas.
Outcome
Thanks to the advanced picking technology and the smooth-running conveyor operations, the Thorofare distribution center has been able to keep on top of the steadily growing order volume ever since it went into operation in late 1997. This high growth pattern is not expected to change anytime soon. But as systems manager Bob Fillman points out, that should not pose any problems.
“This operation could easily handle double the current volume,” he says. “We have the system and controls in place. It would mostly be a matter of adding some additional people.”
In addition to being well positioned for the future-and performing at that 99.9 percent order-accuracy level right now-AmeriSource has enjoyed another benefit. Payback on the new distribution center has been realized in a short 15 months.
F Schumacher & Co.
Low Maintenance, Reduced Manual Lifting
Utilization of work stations and multiple conveyor systems produce a system of operation ergonomically safer and more cost-efficient.
Three and a half years ago, F. Schumacher & Co., a distributor of renowned Waverly fabrics, Schumacher fabrics and wallcovering, and manufacturer of high-quality home fashion decorating accessories decided to upgrade and automate their production operations. Mr. Bud Randall, Corporate Facilities Manager responsible for overseeing this entire project from concept to completion, contacted Century Conveyor, Inc., a Hytrol sales & service center based in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
Based on past projects Century had completed, F. Schumacher & Co., was very confident that Century Conveyor Service, Inc. working with Mr. Randall could provide them with assistance in the design and layout of a conveyor system which would be cost-effective and efficient. Schumacher & Co. elected to construct a new 526,000 sq. ft. distribution facility in Richburg, South Carolina. The objective was the consolidation and relocation of their distribution operations for several of their facilities located in various parts of the country.
A primary concern of F. Schumacher & Co. was the automation of the material handling portion of their product line. This included handling of fabrics, wallcoverings, bedspreads, curtains, and pillows. Before the installation of the system, the majority of their production operations were handled manually, involving a great deal of lifting, and moving of products by carts.
Through the utilization of work stations and five individualized conveyor systems, Century and Hytrol greatly reduced the manual lifting requirements and produced a system of operation which was ergonomically safer and cost-efficient.
Integrating a variety of HYTROL conveyors, five independent systems were created:
- SYSTEM 1 – Transporting of “ready to ship” cases from the home fashion production areas to a staging area for shipping
- SYSTEM 2 – Three packing lines for conveying rolls of fabrics
- SYSTEM 3 – Wallcovering packing line
- SYSTEM 4 – Heavy freight line
- SYSTEM 5 – Shipping line for sample books of fabric and wallcoverings
Since its installation, the system has run perfectly. F. Schumacher & Co. has been very pleased with the system’s reliability and low maintenance, and Mr. Randall highly recommends the use of Hytrol equipment.
Application Data
The nature of products here required the use of a variety of conveyors. In some cases, the live roller was used for general transportation of boxes. In other areas, belt conveyors were used for transporting unboxed items. These slider bed units are also quieter. Heavy-duty 20-CR and 2514-CRA were used for conveying and accumulating heavier loads. Finally, boxes waiting for shipment are moved by an ABA zero pressure unit or in some cases a gravity unit.
System #1 starts in the sample manufacturing area. It uses a Hytrol Model SP. Items packaged in the home fashion area or showroom samples, using a special container, travel via an incline and ABA to the shipping area. LRC curves are also used and, to avoid accumulation in these curves, a photo-eye senses when the conveyor is full and shuts the unit down.
System #2 consists of three packing lines for fabrics. Fabric orders are picked from static shelving, placed in a cart, and pushed to a cutting station. There, the fabric is cut according to the order and placed on a roller bed belt unit which takes it to the packing station. The packer can control or feed items as needed to that station. After packing, they are placed on another roller bed conveyor which takes them to a scale area. Roller bed conveyor was preferred here because of the potentially higher loads. Some of the RB conveyors used a TW type frame which was more eye-pleasing and had no protruding edges. At the end of the packing conveyor are a scale and an operator who weighs the roll. The operator pushes the roll off the scale onto a conveyor with a flipper. The roll is then moved on a 5 ft. wide cleated belt which takes it to a rack. This rack travels to UPS and is returned after emptied.
System #3 is the wallpaper line. Wallpaper is picked from storage rack and placed near the packers who put the rolls of paper in boxes. Boxes are then placed on the conveyor. There are two slider bed Hytrol TL units side by side with work stations on one side. These belt conveyors end at a wide 20-CR (chain roller). The chain roller has a plow mounted to it controlled by the scale operators. These operators move the plow the direction necessary to get work in process. The 20-CR was used to provide good traction for diverting the heavy boxes. After the 20-CR, boxes accumulate on an ABA zero pressure waiting for shipping.
System #4 is the heavy-duty line for boxes of fabric weighing up to 400 lbs. Again, rolls of fabric are brought to the packing stations next to the conveyor, a 20-CR, used to best convey heavy boxes. At the workstation table, boxes are loaded and sealed. When finished, a set of rollers extending from the table to the 20-CR can be lifted by a foot-operated pedal. Boxed are then pushed onto the 20-CR. When the rollers are lowered, the box travels to the scale and strapping area. A break belt is located before the scale. When the operator calls for it, the box transfers to the scale is weighed and then sent to the binder. The binder bands it in one direction transfers it at 90 degrees with a heavy-duty push-off, bands it in the other direction then conveys it to a gravity line for removal by a lift truck.
System #5 is used for processing sample books of fabric and paper. Samples are staged on a gravity conveyor, transferred to a short Hytrol 1.9-SP then to an ABA via a special pop up o-ring transfer. Samples not boxed travel through a shrink wrap machine before shipping.
Johnson & Johnson
Background
When the need to consolidate operations came up, Johnson & Johnson realized that efficiencies could be upgraded as well. The company recently consolidated one of its major product lines from the Dallas and New Jersey warehouses into one Distribution center. The facility distributes operating room equipment, orthopedic equipment, catheters, and other similar products.
The original system in this building consisted of mostly gravity conveyor used in picking orders. Growth and consolidation necessitated changes. The company wanted to be able to move completed goods through the system more quickly and automatically sort them by destination in the shipping area.
Facts
- Location: New Jersey
- Facility: Distribution center
- Solution: Gravity, minimum and zero-pressure conveyor. TKF vertical lifts, QS 18 lane sorter.
- Product handled: Operating room equipment
Figures
- 235,000 sqf
- 85 employees
- 1350-1400 cartons per day
- 1.5 year ROI
- 35-40% throughput increase
Automation Integration
Much of the conveyor system has been designed for split case picking. Items are picked from gravity rack and placed into boxes. The boxes are moved along the gravity conveyor which is mounted on the rack. They serpentine through the system until filled. If orders are filled before reaching the end, they can be placed on one of three TKF vertical lifts. These take the completed orders to an overhead line consisting of zero-pressure ABA conveyor. If boxes reach the end of the line, they move up an incline to the ABA, or, they can be pushed onto an international shipping line.
From the overhead line, boxes drop down to the QS-1 8-lane sorter. They are sorted here by destination. Two Accu-Sort scanners located on the decline read labels on the top or side. Boxes which are misread, are UPS, or destined for a full line go to one of two overflow lines. All lines after the sorter are ACC minimum pressure accumulating conveyors.
From this warehouse, items are shipped to the entire United States, and some foreign countries. Shipments are mostly by truck, but some go by UPS. UPS packing stations are located on the UPS/overflow lines. Boxes going to the sort lines are palletized by hand.
Outcome
When asked about Century’s involvement, Johnson & Johnson was most positive; “They’ve done a tremendous job in terms of meeting the schedule given the time frame that we had. The system is just great. It is very quiet, smooth, and it works very well and seems to be very consistent. The real challenge was giving us what we needed in the amount of space we needed. Jim Baxter from Century was able to do much of the layout and planning during his first visit. They were not able to encroach on the full case side of the system, and with the help of Jim and Ray Roberts, they were able to put in a good system in a small amount of space.”
The technicians have already informed us that they are pushing fewer boxes physically along the gravity conveyor because now the completed ones have been removed from the system. And then we’ve noticed that our throughput has increased by about 35 to 40 percent in terms of the number of boxes in an eight-hour period. Before this new conveyor system, we were able to move about nine hundred to a thousand boxes throughout the system just pushing them manually in eight hours. Now, we can move about 1350 almost 1400 boxes using the conveyor system.”
Consolidating the suture product line into one warehouse allows the company to use the system at its peak efficiency, with no increase in labor. Payback on this system will be about 1.5 years. Much of this cost reduction will come from the cut in inventory.
Simon & Schuster
Background
Simon & Schuster, a division of CBS Corporation, is one of the largest book publishers in the United States of America. Beginning as a “Mom and Pop” operation in 1924, the first book they published was a crossword puzzle book. Since then, they have published many bestsellers and even Pulitzer prize-winning titles, becoming a significant force in publishing today.
The Riverside, NJ Distribution Center is one of two DCs, and services all of North America and caters to an international arena as well.
Challenge
Due to the Internet and today’s fast-paced environment, Simon & Schuster is challenged to get it’s product out in the market quicker. With a volume surge in 2002-2003, they collaborated with Century Conveyor Service, Inc. of South Plainfield, NJ to develop a two-phase operation to meet this challenge. The two-phased upgrade met the goals of Simon & Schuster with absolutely minimal downtime.
Solution
The first phase, implemented in July of 2007, overhauled the shipping system. The shipping sorter was replaced and put in the air, which doubled the speed and tripled the dock spots to meet the demands of the market. The second phase, completed in June of 2008, gave the picking system a much needed upgrade, adding sortation to the split case picking system.
The two-phased upgrade meets the goals of Simon & Schuster. “We did not add any man power to the operation…and cut our cycle time in half…[and] we’ve increased our accuracy,” said Schaeffer. The need for dependability, as well as speed and accuracy, is also a crucial factor in this demanding operation. The conveyor runs at least 16 hours a day; much more during peak seasons.
“…It keeps working and it works very well for us, very dependably,”. It works dependably, it’s reasonably priced, mechanically it’s simple enough to maintain, and it gets the job done. It’s hard to explain, but in this world of operations, being able to depend on something – to depend on something that works well and flawlessly every day for a reasonable price is a big thing.”
Dave Schaeffer, Vice President of Distribution and Fulfillment
