From design to final testing, Banta's new computer-controlled conveyor system was up and running in just 16 weeks.

Banta Packaging & Fulfillment needed to get its new distribution center up and running fast. The company had just signed an agreement to run a dedicated distribution center for IDG Books Worldwide. IDGB publishes the popular "Dummies" line of books (PCs for Dummies, The Internet for Dummies, and many more) as well as the Betty Crocker series of cookbooks, Cliff Notes, Frommers Travel, Weight Watchers, and Howell series among other publications.

IDGB had been shipping out of four different warehouses across the U.S., but wanted to consolidate operations in one streamlined facility. The publisher also wanted a facility close to where a large portion of its books were printed — at the Banta Book Group printing facility in Harrisonburg, Virginia. In addition to boosting productivity, a new facility located in Harrisonburg would greatly reduce freight transportation costs for IDGB.

IDGB asked Banta Packaging & Fulfillment to develop the new distribution center. The agreement was signed in February of 1999. The entire project needed to be completed by mid-September of that year. A site was selected adjacent to the printing plant and the work began.

Banta met that strict timetable thanks to a collaborative effort on the part of many people. And nowhere was that collaborative spirit any more evident than in the conveyor equipment and related systems built into the new facility.

Banta worked closely with IDG Books to identify their current and future business needs. And Banta, in turn, worked hand-in-hand with systems integrator Fortna Inc. to assure that those needs were met. Fortna, headquartered in Reading, Pennsylvania, is a distributor of Hytrol conveyor equipment.

"During the course of this project we developed an excellent working relationship with both Fortna and Hytrol," says Dwayne Black, director of operations for Banta. "That was a key factor in our completing the work within such a tight time frame."

How tight? Complete installation of the conveyor system —including design, engineering, computer controls, equipment set-up and testing — was accomplished in a 16-week period. The Harrisonburg facility began shipping product in October of 1999. 

Seamless Integration

The modern distribution center incorporates a wide range of Hytrol conveyor equipment — all seamlessly integrated to maximize throughput and flexibility. The equipment includes belt conveyors, live rollers, and accumulating units with Hytrol's exclusive EZ Logic feature. Both skatewheel and roller gravity units are used extensively throughout. Sorters are strategically engineered into the system. And a series of overhead trash takeaway conveyors helps keep the 262,000 square-foot facility neat and clean.

Books arriving from the manufacturing plant go directly into bulk storage racks or to a bulk-staging area of gravity pallet-flow conveyors for fast-moving items. The facility has two principal induction lines —one for full-case picks (which make up the majority of orders), the other for broken-case quantities.

Full-case quantities are picked directly onto a live roller conveyor, which connects to a belt incline, and then to an accumulating conveyor with EZ Logic. The EZ Logic feature effectively controls the movement of cases from zone to zone. The cases pass through a "3-to-1" merge before being moved via a series of belt and curve conveyors to the ProSort sortation unit. Designed for high-speed sorting of products, the ProSort diverts the cases down one of the six shipping lanes dedicated to pallet shipments.

The remaining shipping lanes are reserved for the broken-case quantities, or less-than-case picks. In that section of the DC where these orders are picked, a belt-driven high-speed sortation conveyor (Model SC) moves totes off the main conveyor line and into the appropriate pick zone. Computer controls automatically route the totes to each picking zone until the order is completed. The finished orders are diverted to a packing station where they are checked and labeled for shipping.

The packed orders are conveyed up to a 3-to-1 merge and then onto the main sortation loop. As it does with the full-case picks, the ProSorter automatically diverts the less-than-case orders to the appropriate parcel-shipping lane, which are located at the end of the building. The sorter is presently set to handle 75 cartons a minute; it has the capacity to handle 120.

A computerized control system developed by Fortna called FortnaPlus controls the flow of orders through the facility, effectively interacting with Logistics PRO (the warehouse management system purchased and installed by Intrepa). Therefore, orders can be batch picked for maximum efficiency in a "one-pass" type of operation. The computers communicate with the EZ Logic conveyor controls and the sortation units to assure that the batch picks for each order end up on the right shipping lane. "This approach maximizes the efficiency of both the picking and the sorting operations," says Operations Manager Joe Fair.

Capacity for Expansion

The Harrisonburg center now is handling more than 150,000 books a day on average — a level that has exceeded expectations. "In the first year of operation, we have already more than doubled what Banta thought this facility would do," says Dwayne Black.

As business continues to grow, the distribution center is well positioned to grow with it. The facility was designed to readily accommodate additional storage areas and shipping lanes. And the sorters have the capacity to handle a significant increase in order volume.

A quick start-up, seamless integration of equipment and systems, capacity for expansion ...these qualities of the Harrisonburg distribution center are keeping Banta Packaging & Fulfillment on a steady growth path.

The Banta Distribution Center

The order-fulfillment process begins in the two main picking areas — full case and broken case (less-than-case quantities). Full-case orders are moved through a 3-to-1 merge and onto the main sortation loop. ProSort sortation conveyor diverts the cases down the pallet shipping lanes. Less-than-case orders pass through a packing station enroute to the main sortation area. These orders are diverted down the parcel shipping lanes. The facility handles, on average, between 150,000 and 160,000 books a day.