Hercules Sealing Products Case Study

Next-day delivery and improved kitting with faster order processing and increased storage density

Hercules Sealing Products, headquartered in Clearwater, Florida, is a distributor of seals, O-rings and hydraulic equipment. They offer the largest OEM parts selection in the industry; carrying repair parts for brands such as Caterpillar®, John Deere® and Komatsu.

When Hercules' customers need parts, most need them ASAP, to get their equipment and operations back up and running. In fact, 95% of their orders use next-day delivery, meaning parts must be picked and shipped as fast as possible. In order to maintain next-day delivery as they grow and extend order cut-off times to improve customer experience, Hercules collaborated with Bastian Solutions to design a new facility close to the UPS Worldport in Louisville, Kentucky.

“Every time we’ve had any type of requirement to improve automation, or improve throughput or efficiency, the first conversation we have is to Bastian.” – Gerry Gonzales, Vice President of Operations, Hercules Sealing Products, Inc.

With over 22 million parts including pre-assembled repair kits, storage density is vital. To meet Hercules’ goals, Bastian Solutions designed a new automated distribution center with an AutoStore goods to person system, Exacta WES (warehouse execution system) software, and our in-house conveyor.

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Hercules Sealing Products

Key Technologies

“Because Bastian Solutions is an independent integrator, we weren’t locked in to one type of technology or one type of automation. They gave us the license to look around and pick the solution that was best for us.” – Gerry Gonzales, Vice President of Operations, Hercules Sealing Products, Inc.

 

Results

  • Increased storage capacity and density capable of holding 22,000,000+ total units, with 43,000 SKUs
  • Faster order picking with 1800 order lines per hour, when fully staffed
  • Improved order cycle time
  • Room and flexibility to store completed kit sets in the AutoStore for later pickup
  • Improved order accuracy with AutoStore's bin section illumination that tells operators exactly which item to pick
  • Improved customer experience with kitting, allowing customers to order a single replacement kit instead of individual parts
  • Extended order cut off times (11p.m.) for next-day delivery, due to location near UPS Worldport in Louisville, KY
 

Photos

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  • AutoStore bin illumination makes picking easy
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