New System Creates Opportunity for Order Cycle Time Reduction

Advanced technology and a streamlined conveyor network help Axxess Technologies improve responsiveness to meet retail customers' demands.

Hand held scanning technology, an advanced warehouse management system and an integrated network of conveyors from Hytrol are combining to deliver record levels of order processing productivity for Axxess Technologies. For this Tempe, Arizona based manufacturer, the upsurge in productivity has come just in time. Demand for its key duplication equipment and consumer operated identification engraving systems are up in a marketplace where customers are demanding higher levels of service.

Axxess Technologies' high-tech and conventional key duplication systems are found in hardware stores, home centers, and mass merchant retail chains across the country. Its computer controlled engraving machines which allow consumers to personalize information on identification tags, are prominent in Wal-Mart, Pet Smart, and other retail outlets. The company also markets a line of letters, numbers, and signs (such as "For Sale" signs) as well as key accessories.

Consolidating for Efficiency

To keep pace with burgeoning market demand, the company decided to consolidate its three existing warehouses-two in the Phoenix area and one in Cleveland-into one modern facility. The old warehouses were paper-based, heavily manual operations. In two of them, pickers would pull items off the carton flow racking and place them into pushcarts. The other facility had only a single powered takeaway unit and some gravity conveyor sin the picking areas. the orders were double-checked at a packing station to help ensure accuracy.

In this limiting kind of environment, pick rates were low and lines frequently backed up. Management recognized that updating its distribution technology would have long term benefits for the company and the customers it serves.

Working closely with Fortna Inc., a systems integrator and distributor of Hytrol equipment based in Phoenix, the company began designing a new consolidated pick module. Axxess Technologies wanted to dramatically increase current order throughput, while at the same time positioning themselves for future growth. Improved picking accuracy with a reduction in handling was a major objective, too.

The company also wanted a smooth and efficient network of conveyor that would speed orders from the initial picking stations all the way through to the shipping doors. It desired greater flexibility in its operations. And it wanted to be able to fully integrate the conveyor operations with he new WMS system-an objective that was accomplished with the "Fortna-Plus" software developed by the systems integrator.

"We're well on our way to accomplishing all of these goals with our new technology and conveyor system," says Mark Yeary, the company's vice president of manufacturing. "Already, we've been able to cut a full day out of our order processing time."

Axxess Technologies can now consistently meet its two-day order window, Yeary reports. If an order is received on Monday, for example, shipment is made by Wednesday or sooner. This kind of consistent responsiveness is critical in today's retail environment. Big customers like Wal-Mart drive their orders off their point-of-sale data. They won't accept anything less than an accurate rapid response from their suppliers. 

Conveyors Play Key Role

At the heart of the new pick module, which is part of a large manufacturing-distribution complex in Tempe, is the conveyor system. The equipment includes horizontal live roller conveyors with Hytrol's EZLogic accumulation feature, which senses product presence and controls accumulation and release of product from zone to zone. In addition, there are belt incline conveyors, gravity units, spool conveyors, and overhead paddle diverters. The distribution center also features two "spiral staircases," comprised of gravity skatewheel curve conveyors.

The order-fulfillment process begins on the floor level. There, orders are waved through the WMS and container calculated. Empty boxes are labeled and placed into totes and put onto a belt incline takeaway conveyor, which carriers them to the top tier of three picking levels. A live roller accumulation conveyor then transports the totes to one of ten picking stations on the top level. At each station, overhead paddle diverts send the totes either to the left or right onto gravity conveyors.

Operators at the picking stations rely on their hand-held scanners to tell them what to pick. After each pick, they scan the product and tote "license plate" to confirm the activity. This procedure serves as a valuable double check that has significantly enhanced order accuracy.

The order picking activities that take place on the top level are basically replicated on the middle and ground floor levels. The totes move between these levels on two innovative, cost-effective "spiral staircases." These are actually gravity skatewheel curve conveyors configured to transport the totes quickly and safely between the levels.

After the orders traverse the three picking levels, they are carried on a live roller takeaway conveyor toward the shipping area. But before proceeding to shipping, they pass a divert station. Any order that needs to re-circulate through the system (because a picking line was occupied when it first came by, for example) is sent back up the incline conveyor by an overhead paddle diverter. Completed orders move directly through to the dunnage, taping, weighing, and manifesting stations en route to shipping.

At the shipping area, a final paddle diverter sends the orders to one of two parcel shipping lanes (UPS or RPS) or to the LTL line. About 1,500 totes per day are processed through the Tempe facility.

From beginning to end, the order fulfillment process at the new DC goes smoothly and efficiently. The computer controls dictate where each order should go. And the Hytrol conveyors make sure they get there.

"The system is definitely is definitely paying off for us," says Yeary. "We're accomplishing more and being more responsive to our customers with fewer people."

The Axxess Technologies Distribution Center

Order fulfillment on the floor level where empty boxes are placed into totes and put onto a belt incline conveyor. The totes are carried to the top of three picking levels where a live roller conveyor carries them to the picking stations. Overhead paddle diverts send the totes either left or right at each station, a process repeated on all three levels. The totes move between the picking levels on gravity skatewheel curves. After picking is completed, the travel on a live roller takeaway toward shipping. Completed orders move directly through to the packing, taping, weighing, and manifesting stations. Orders that need further processing are diverted back up the incline conveyor to re-circulate. In shipping, a diverter sends the orders either to the LTL or the parcel shipping lines.