Tag Archive for: software

Project Spotlight Smart Slotting

Project Spotlight: Smart Slotting

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You may have heard us mention our new Smart Slotting tool recently. In this project, the customer came to us looking for an answer to their low storage utilization percentage of 20% across the entire facility. With Smart Slotting, we were able to provide a practical answer to this problem, while also increasing productivity and efficiency.

By collecting some preliminary data, our experienced team uses Smart Slotting to provide a layout that best suits your needs. This new layout provides you lower operating cost, while also increasing the daily throughput of your facility.

In this example, the customer saw over a 12% decrease in their daily labor costs. They were able to find a location for all of their SKUs, and raise their storage utilization numbers over 70%. In addition, they were able to cut their storage mediums in half after the Smart Slotting evaluation. The new location types and sizes designed for stored items is much more efficient and simple.

This project had a significant impact on the customer’s operation by improving space utilization, reducing labor costs, and increasing throughput to lower operating costs. The new storage configuration also set the customer up with space for product growth for a minimum of five years.

Interested in learning more about the methodology and analysis behind this project? View the full case study here and contact us today to see how we can assist with your operational needs.

Put to Light Technology Solutions

Technology Solutions to Optimize Your Facility

One thing is certain in the world of technology, and it is continually changing. Sometimes it can be hard to keep up. Regardless, it’s essential to make sure you know what your options are to make sure you are using technology in your favor.

Technology to Advance Your Distribution Operation

With all the challenges with staffing in the distribution and fulfillment, technology solutions can help in keeping your facility running without missing a beat. When you have the right systems in place, you’re able to accomplish more work with fewer human resources. One of the most essential features of these offerings is their ease of use. They are user-friendly, cutting down on training time and enabling your staff to get up and running in no time. To help you reach or exceed your goals, moving toward technical assistance may be the right move for your facility.

How We Can Help

We offer a wide array of solutions and services to keep your facility moving. These can make your business more efficient, less expensive, and even safer. Pick-to-light and put-to-light solutions help speed up the picking and replenishment process by utilizing lights to show where the product should be placed. Voice-directed picking software can increase productivity by using vocal commands for picking, putting, receiving, and other warehouse functions. And finally, to tie everything in your facility together, there are Warehouse Control and Execution Systems (WCS & WES). These systems streamline all of your facility processes, helping you optimize activity flow in your warehouse or distribution center.

With so many options out there, it can be hard to know which technology is the best fit for your facility. Let our team help you work toward optimal efficiency in your operation with these offerings and more. Learn more about our technology solutions here to see how you can get started.

Workplace Productivity Increase with Ergonomics

Utilizing Warehouse Design & Ergonomics to Improve Warehouse Productivity

We often examine the positive effects an efficient warehouse design can have on your operation, but what does it mean for your employees? When it comes to warehouse productivity, one of the main components of keeping your facility moving is keeping employees safe. Taking small adjustments into account when setting up your warehouse can be huge for your employees in the long run.

Warehouse Ergonomics

Part of keeping your employees safe is keeping them comfortable. One way to do this is by storing items at the optimal level to reduce strain on pickers. Along with keeping items at a certain level, another aspect of warehouse ergonomics is keeping highly selected items around the same area to lower foot traffic in the facility.

Another way to keep your employees in good health is to integrate some type of automation within your facility. Automation will help you decrease the foot traffic needed to transport goods to all parts of your warehouse. Less exertion means fewer ergonomic issues down the line, helping you keep your staff healthy and comfortable. This will also assist with your overall warehouse productivity as well, which makes it an all-around win.

How We Can Help?

When it comes to keeping high pick volume items in the same area, we offer our newest service, Smart Slotting. This inventory slotting tool takes all of the data provided, such as picking and replenishment rates for different SKUs, and will give you the blueprint to optimize your space and help cut down on unnecessary movement around your facility.

Another way to support ergonomics is through automation. We offer a variety of dynamic solutions that can help with cutting down strenuous movement and wasted time. This includes powered conveyor to move items with ease throughout the facility, and Vertical Lift Machines (VLMs) to allow for fast and ergonomic picking with almost no walking being required.

Another dynamic solution we offer is Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs). AMRs give your employees the ability to stay in one area to work as opposed to moving around the facility. This keeps employees out of the way off forklifts and other machinery moving throughout the warehouse.

Want to learn more about how we can help you keep your facility safe and productive? Click here for more information on our Dynamic Solutions.

Riverside, MO, Automated WCS

Using a WCS Software to Provide a Completely Integrated & Automated Solution

Our latest project took us to Riverside, Missouri, where we were tasked with setting up a complete, automated warehouse solution for our client. Our warehousing veterans used their expertise in order to fulfill the customer’s needs.

This facility would be acting as a distribution hub, meaning that they would be sending out items of different size, weight, case type and more. The solution would also need a 100% visual quality assurance checkpoint, along with powered conveyors. Our customer needed a facility that would maximize productivity and handle increased business volume, without needing to increase labor.

Complete Automated Warehouse CAD Drawing

AutoCAD Drawing of the new facility

Above all, our solution was to create a facility with specialized sections, all for a certain task. The six sections included VLMs (Vertical Lift Machines), powered conveyor with a sorting function, broken and full case picking areas, a quality assurance area, and more!

At Storage Solutions, our team comes from decades of experience. Our experience, combined with our network of trusted partners, allowed us to get our client’s facility running at optimal efficiency while also sticking to their timeline and budget.

Take a scroll through the full case study here!