Order Fulfillment

Order Picking & Fulfillment

Order picking is an important part of the fulfillment process. Most industries have either a manual picking process or have implemented a form of automation in order to make the process more accurate, and less time-consuming. There are numerous ways order picking has become more accommodating for the order picker.

Eliminating the physical handing of the order with a pick to light or pick to voice technology has allowed the picker to become more flexible or open in their movement. Instead, the picker can now have the opportunity to pick the right product at the right amount each time with the acknowledgment of a click of a button or voice. These technologies minimize or can eliminate the quality check process.

Although the process has significantly had an impact, the order picker may still need to bend, stoop or distort the body in order to place the items packed in boxes, bins, totes, or other containers. Ellis Systems has developed an automated guided vehicle AGV system that allows the mobile cart or dolly to adjust to the height of the picker making it more ergonomically comfortable, faster, and with less fatigue.

The AGV cart or dolly can also be the system that moves from station to station making large area picking more effective for the worker. The order picker gets the order for their zone, picks the products needed, and fulfills that part of the order directly onto the AGV. When done, the AGV moves to the next station for fulfillment.

Large scale or large volume order picking can also be automated with an AS / RS system. This combines AGVs and shuttles to pick totes, carts, pallets, and more…constantly with little intervention and even energy as lights can be turned off while orders are being processed. A variety of AS / RS technologies can be explored including unit load, mini load, pallet shuttle, and high speed AS / RS solutions.

Pick-to-Light and Put-to-Light: An Accurate & Fast Way to Fulfill Orders

Pick to Light is one of the most sought-after order fulfillment systems where picking speed and accuracy is vital to the success of the warehouse and distribution center operations. With up to 50% improved productivity and 99.97% accuracy, the light directed system tracks real-time picking production and inventory information.

Use the light-directed order fulfillment system in two different ways: pick to light and put to light.

1. Pick to light: When the order is ready to be fulfilled, the order picker is directed to the location of the item with a ‘light’ and LED display. The display illuminates the quantity to be picked and once the task is complete, requires confirmation or the order will not be complete.
2. Put to light: Some companies work in a batch picking environment. Items are picked in batches and brought to a central location where the order picker scans an item and all of the locations or orders that need the item will illuminate with the specified quantity.

The light directed order fulfillment system is EMI, CE and FCC certified offering complete integration into your new or existing WMS system that can easily scale up or down as your business demands.

Ellis Systems offers a variety of pick-to-light order fulfillment systems designed to fit your workers and operation. Our job is to ensure the right system for your facility in order to maximize your customer demands.

• Cable connected pick-to-light: connects to any existing or new racking system using a wide variety of displays with 5 or 6 digits, tri-color indicator, and up/down display counts.
• Wireless pick-to-light: the system is designed for on and off the shelf items that can be easily attached anywhere in the warehouse or distribution center.
• Zoneless pick-to-light: increase picking throughput with multiple pick workers in the same area. Each pick worker is identified by color allowing the system and the worker to always be in sync.
• Pick-to-Graph: a universal way of communicating to pick workers is through the use of graphic displays that can replace labels and can quickly change graphic display when changing item location(s).
• Sensible pick-to-light: sensor-driven

Benefits of Pick to Light:

• Faster Picking Speed
• Light Directed, Color Coded, Quantity LED Lighting
• Hands-free Operation
• Eliminate Order Verification

Contact us for a put-to-light solution for your operation.

Voice Directed Picking

Voice picking is a hands-free, easy to learn and worker focused technology for large amounts of SKUs in a warehouse and/or distribution center. With accuracy levels at a 99.5% rate, the voice-directed picking tracks real-time picking and monitors inventory levels.

Each order picker is equipped with a headset with a built-in microphone, mobile device, and optional barcode scanner. The learning process is streamlined and easy to operate as training often takes less than 30 minutes.

Use the voice-directed picking system in two ways: voice picking and voice put away’s.

1. Voice directed picking: The operator begins the day by instructing the system when they are at their zone or work area. When activated, the first item in the order is communicated verbally over the headset. The order picker is instructed to go to a particular aisle, shelf, bin, and a total of how many items to pick.

Once the item is picked, the order picker communicates via voice a command that allows the system to understand that the operation has been complete. Each voice directed picking system is programmed to recognize voices and commands ensuring accuracy.

2. Voice directed put away’s: The same process applies, except the worker is now putting various products and amounts into a bin, carton, box, or pallet. The worker scans the item where it tells the worker the aisle, shelf, bin, and a total of how many items to put into the container.

Once the item is put away, the worker verbally communicates that the operation is complete directly into the built-in microphone. Again, the voice directed system recognizes the voice and command and allows the worker to move on to the next item.

Benefits of Voice Directed Picking includes:

• Training is 30 minutes or less
• 5% picking accuracy
• Hands-free
• Faster picking
• No quality control verification