AmerisourceBergen

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amerisource bergen warehouse diagram

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.

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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.

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Johnson & Johnson

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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.

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HD Smith/AmerisourceBergen

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Background

Before the implementation of the conveyor system, H. D. Smith had only two separate pick lines, one for over-the-counter products and one for prescription products. The total conveyor system then was only about 100 feet of powered conveyor and 300 feet of gravity. In implementing the new conveyor system, the company’s main objectives were to increase primary pick locations from 15,000 to 30,000, increase worker productivity, and shorten cycle time.

Automation Integration

RECEIVING: All receiving is done at the north end of the building. The product is received and brought by pallet to the receiving stations and scanned into the system. Products are removed from every carton and placed into a barcoded tote. All corrugate is deposited into an overhead trash conveyor (Hytrol Model TH) which carries it to an automatic baler located outside the building. The product is then married to the tote. The mainframe computer communicates with the conveyor control system (CCS) and tells the CCS which zone to send the tote. The totes are then conveyed across the building to the pick module, sorted to the correct zone, and placed into the correct pick location.

PICKING: Orders are printed in waves at the order induction station. Each order has its barcode denoting an order identification number. The pick sheet is then married to a barcoded (license plate) pick tote. The host system then communicates to the CCS which pick zone or zones the tote must be sent. The tote is then routed only to the required pick zone(s).

CHECKING: Once an order is complete, the tote is conveyed to the checking area. The checkers remove the tote from the Hytrol zero-pressure accumulating conveyor (Model 190-ABEZ) and scan the pick ticket. Each item is then scanned and placed into a shipping tote. When the order has been confirmed complete and correct, a lid is placed on the tote. The tote is then placed onto the conveyor and moved to the shipping sortation conveyor (Hytrol Model SC). The computer communicates the license plate and its assigned sortation lane to the CCS.

SHIPPING: The totes are conveyed to and through an automatic strapper. The strapped totes are then inducted into the sortation system, the license plate is scanned, the appropriate sortation line determined, and the tote is sorted out.

EMPTY REPLENISHMENT TOTES: Once the replenishment totes are empty, they are placed on the line with the pick totes. On each pick level, there is a divert location where the empty replenishment totes are diverted off and conveyed back to the receiving station to be reused.

Outcome

Before the installation of this system, the average lines shipped per DC worker was 40 per hour. With the new system, the average is currently 104 lines per hour. Pickers are picking 250-300 lines per hour. Checkers are checking 350-400 lines per hour. In the past year, the volume has increased by 50%.

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