This company is an online retail distributor of toys, clothing and accessories for children infant through eight years old. The company uses a 105,000 square foot distribution facility to fill orders with about 150 employees. Prior to the installation of the Hytrol system, the facility used gravity lines where workers picked into totes, then manually pushed the totes to the packers. After packing, the orders were manually pushed to the case sealer, then to outbound scanning, and finally to shipping. This method caused backlogs on the entire line, especially in the shipping area. Boxes would pile up there before being loaded on outbound trucks.

Goals For The New System

• Eliminate slowdowns and backlog in product movement
• Streamline flow to make better use of existing manpower
• Scalability to handle current and future needs

How The System Works

Order sheets are taken to the picking area to the proper zone. Orders are picked into totes, several at a time, until the order is completed. The tote is then placed on the outbound conveyor which takes it to the packers. The packers scan the order sheet in the tote and each item on the sheet is displayed on their PC. All items are then scanned and verification is made that the order is complete. The products are placed in the appropriate size shipping box, the shipping label attached and the box is placed on the outbound conveyor. Once the box is taped, it is moved along the line through a series of photo eyes that determine to which outbound ramp it will be sent. This is determined by workload. The box is then weighed and scanned a final time to create a shipping manifest. The scanned boxes are placed on a takeaway conveyor where the boxes are sorted based on the shipping carrier.