SMC Corporation Case Study | Industrial Distribution

SMC Achieves 93% Same-Day Shipping with Warehouse Automation

SMC Corporation, a manufacturer of automatic control equipment, was founded in Japan in 1959 and has grown to over 80 subsidiaries and joint ventures around the world. With goals for its North American headquarters to reach $1 billion (and eventually $2 billion) in revenue, their existing distribution center in Indianapolis had become obsolete. SMC approached long-time partner Bastian Solutions for help selecting and planning their new facility.

Bastian Solutions has been helping SMC meet their growing demand for years. The previous facility’s automated material handling system and software was designed and integrated by Bastian. This system, along with a detailed continuous improvement plan, helped SMC reach their previous 10-year growth goal in just 5 years. Even with this success, the facility’s limited space had reached its capacity, and a new facility with new technology was needed.

The result is a new 1.1 million-sf facility that has more than doubled picking speed and allowed for 93% of orders to be shipped same-day, providing a huge benefit to customers.

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Key Technologies

“Working with the Bastian Solutions team for the implementation of the AutoStore was a very good experience. Everybody was very collaborative on what we were doing, what we were achieving, and how we were going to get there.” – Jennifer Fleming, Director of Logistics, SMC Corporation

AutoStore, red line
- 81 R5 bots, 16 carousel ports, 8 conveyor ports
- 162,580 bins
Exacta intralogistics software
- Exacta WES (warehouse execution system)
- Exacta Touch to manage the inventory within autostore
- Exacta AOR (automated order routing software) diverts and merges the cartons and traveling through the facility on the conveyor
Lumipick within AutoStore pick bins (illuminated picks within bins)
Hytrol conveyor and sortation
Bastian Solutions technical training
End of line automation
- Sealing, weighers, labelers, scanners

Results

“[The] individuals that we’ve worked with at Bastian actually understand how our business operates and it’s made it a really good partnership to bring the right solutions to us for what we need to continue to grow our business.” – Jennifer Fleming, Director of Logistics, SMC Corporation

200%+ increase in picking speed (new system - 1200-1400 lines per hour; old system – 400-500 per hour).
93% of processed orders are shipped same day.
Stocks 65,000 SKUs
- 53,000 SKUs are housed within the AutoStore.
Improved employee safety and ergonomics.
Fast employee onboarding due to comprehensive automation training.
Room for automation expansion to meet future company growth and customer needs.