The Material Handling Blog

With continuing growth in ecommerce sales and mobile device usage, companies will need to master the art of fulfillment in minutes to meet same-day delivery requests.

By now, we all know the headache that is the world of grocery ecommerce. Between a global pandemic, supply chain issues, product shortages and changing consumer demands, many grocers are scrambling to make the best decision for their customers and their bottom line. The industry transitioning from “how a grocer is going to automate the instore fulfillment process?” to “how are they going to optimize the whole process, including last mile delivery?” Brick Meets Click data showed that online grocery sales for pickup or delivery were $6.6 billion in April of this year. That’s down from the $7.1 billion in grocery e-commerce sales in March of this year, but up from $5.3 billion in April 2020. Reducing the labor spend for filling orders in the store is the first step; what follows is a strategy that can help reduce the overall cost of getting orders into the hands of customers, regardless of the hand-off location. Being a high-volume and low-margin industry, grocers need microfulfillment automation and technologies that are proven, scalable, dense, fast AND have a quick, high return on investment, like these:

In many distribution centers, timely order fulfillment relies on operators having access to empty boxes so that they can quickly complete their picks. This is often completed by building a box and then delivering it to the operator within the pick module. The question is – “What is the best way to get the box from the box erector to the operator?”

There’s no question that online grocery ordering is here to stay. Access to fresh produce, milk, eggs, toilet paper and many more grocery items isn’t changing. However, the process by which those products get delivered to the consumer from distribution centers – that is being re-envisioned to meet changing consumer demands. And, with that come new challenges, technologies and strategies. Let’s first look back at history.

Serving more than 80,000 customers in both Canada and the United States, Richelieu aimed to increase customer satisfaction with faster, reliable order fulfillment. As an international importer, distributor and manufacturer of specialty hardware, Richelieu manages over 110,000 SKUs. In addition to a faster and more streamlined order fulfillment approach, Richelieu was able to consolidate external storage by leveraging their Montreal facility. They looked to Bastian Solutions to advise and implement the right combination of automation technology to add to Richelieu’s facility longevity and implement a system that helps them reliably maintain strong customer service.

Internet, desde su adopción en la década de 1990, es un lugar extraordinario que continuamente abre nuevas puertas y genera nuevas oportunidades. Los modelos de negocio siguen adaptándose a nuestra nueva realidad conectada. Los consumidores ascienden cada vez más en la cadena de suministro. Los minoristas fueron los primeros en percibir esta tendencia, ya que a los clientes les encanta eliminar las tiendas físicas de su actividad diaria y comprar directamente al almacén a través del mostrador digital. Esto ha conducido al desarrollo y el dominio de los modelos de distribución omnicanal, que ofrecen diversas mercancías y marcas a través de una sola empresa. Deben competir con minoristas exclusivamente online como Amazon. Esto ha significado un cambio trascendental para el centro de distribución.

Put walls aren’t new but their many operational benefits continue to stand out and help drive distribution center efficiencies, despite some common drawbacks. For companies with high order commonality and batch picking, put walls can easily have a dramatic impact to picking labor. Put walls are simply shelving units with several cubbies of the same or varying sizes, dependent on the orders being processed. Modern units have light indicators at the front and back of the wall to help direct operators to pick and put items.

Pick, pack and ship is fairly straightforward but with increasing pressures to process orders faster and faster, these tasks can give your company a competitive edge.

If your distribution center has grown in both SKUs and order volume or your typical order has shifted from retail to more ecommerce sales resulting in larger requests for smaller orders; it’s possible your picking productivity isn’t where it should be.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to force unprecedented shut downs, will the resulting changes to supply chains be temporary anomalies or permanent changes?

Learn how we helped Best Buy overhaul its omnichannel operations and supply chain network to stay competitive against Amazon.

While the “last mile” has long been a focus for retailers and carriers, one particularly challenging element is the “final 50 feet” of urban parcel delivery.