The Material Handling Blog

When new material handling automation equipment is introduced to a manufacturing or distribution center, it is easy to lose focus on continuous improvement efforts. Often it is assumed that technology and automation have created a process which completely maximizes efficiencies and therefore cannot be improved. Kaizen, meaning continuous improvement, is a core tenant in TPS (Toyota Production System) and empowers individual team members to identify areas for improvement and suggest immediate, yet practical solutions. A facility that focuses on continuous improvement does not stop once a process is automated.

Whether your company is headquartered or has locations in Central America, you know how important the region is to global manufacturing, warehouse distribution and cross continental freight. Mexico and other Central American country’s location in the western hemisphere is both strategic for global trade as well as in-country distribution. Their skilled yet cost competitive labor force make them very desirable for many consumer goods, farming and agriculture, petroleum, and other raw materials for manufacturing.

Growth. Striving for a $2 billion annual revenue goal, SMC Corporation needed a facility and automation technology solution that could meet them where they were and easily support their vision for growth. As a global leader and manufacturer of automatic control equipment, SMC had grown to over 80 subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. They serve customers in a variety of industries and had grown to 30% of global market share in the pneumatics industry.

Robotic order picking and sorting are becoming key technologies in warehouse automation and often provide huge advantages to distribution centers over more conventional order fulfillment methods. However, without a versatile WCS (warehouse control system) or WES (warehouse execution system), it can be difficult to integrate such technologies into a complex operation.

The fierce competition for warehouse space and fulfillment labor combined with growing customer demands and ever-evolving technology offerings can make it overwhelmingly noisy and difficult to navigate. That challenge can make it hard to identify the solution that will help companies meet business objectives today and in the future. To add to that complexity, the supply chain industry is ever-growing and evolving. Our team of engineers can help guide through the noise that companies may be facing. Bastian Solutions is eager to attend this year’s ProMat tradeshow March 20-23, 2023, to discuss some of these supply chain challenges with attendees.

From concept to micro-fulfillment reality, Decathlon and Bastian Solutions worked together to create an in-store, customer-facing micro-fulfillment system.

Bastian Solutions’ team of engineers can help guide you through your automation journey. You can schedule an in-person meeting to discuss your operational challenges with our experts at Pack Expo International 2022 – October 23 – 26, 2022.

Bringing products as close and as fast as possible to customers triggered a new way of looking at fulfillment centers. In addition to large regional warehouses, microfulfillment centers (MFCs) are popular topics in retail, ecommerce and food industries. Before implementing any solution, it’s key to carefully review applications and properly prepare for current and future scenarios. This step can help you avoid key mistakes and select the right technology. The last thing you want to do is to install a technology that doesn’t do the job the way you expected or needed.

Over the past few years, the phrase “goods to person” has become mainstream. As distribution facilities look to service customers more quickly, optimize warehouse space, and improve accuracy of order fulfillment, goods-to-person technologies have become a realistic option to accomplish these goals.

“Our existing 26,000 square foot facility was just not enough.” Gerrie Electric turned to small scale automation to unlock warehouse footprint and productivity opportunities quickly and reliably. The result – error-free picking, a boost in throughput, a trajectory to achieve and beat a targeted 3-year ROI and room to accommodate their immediate growth for additional robots and ports to handle the increased demand. As the largest independent, electrical lighting and automation distributor in Ontario, Canada, Gerrie Electric serves customers ranging from car and steel OEMs, pharmaceuticals and individual contractors performing on-site electrical installations.

« Notre installation existante de 26 000 pieds carrés n’était tout simplement plus suffisante ». Gerrie Electric s’est tourné vers l’automatisation à petite échelle pour lever les restrictions dues à la superficie d’entrepôt et permettre rapidement et de façon fiable des opportunités de productivité. Le résultat : un prélèvement exempt d’erreurs, une amélioration de la productivité, une trajectoire pour atteindre et surpasser un rendement du capital investi sur trois ans ciblé, et de l’espace pour accommoder la croissance immédiate pour des robots et des ports supplémentaires afin de traiter l’augmentation de la demande.

The question for today’s modern warehouses is no longer when should we automate, but how and where do we automate for the best impact? To help sort through these cutting-edge offerings, we’ve created a quick visual guide to understanding the basics of goods to person systems, including the different types, their benefits and important factors to consider. View the full-size infographic.