Say goodbye to language barriers and guesswork. Today's newest pick-to-light systems feature tiny TV-like display screens that show order pickers exactly which tube of lipstick or bottle of anti-aging serum to retrieve.
John Johnson joined the DC Velocity team in March 2004. A veteran business journalist, John has over a dozen years of experience covering the supply chain field, including time as chief editor of Warehousing Management. In addition, he has covered the venture capital community and previously was a sports reporter covering professional and collegiate sports in the Boston area. John served as senior editor and chief editor of DC Velocity until April 2008.
Should you happen to find yourself cruising down the aisles of health-care products manufacturer Melaleuca's brand new distribution center in Idaho Falls this fall, you'll almost certainly notice the tiny TV-like screens mounted all over the place. Peer into one of these tiny screens with its artfully lit photos of cosmetics or cleaning products and you might think you'd stumbled onto the set of "The Price Is Right." But you won't hear Bob Barker's booming voiceover inviting you to guess the price of the tube of Sugarplum lipstick or bottles of Vitality multivitamins, Classic Tooth Polish or EcoSense cleaners. The items displayed on the 1.2-inch "pick to display" monitors won't be game-show props; they'll be there to serve as visual guides to show order pickers working in Melaleuca's distribution center exactly what to pick.
Pressured by the success of rival voice technology, makers of pick-to-light systems have unleashed a flurry of innovation, resulting in such advances as the PictureView pick-to-display system that will be installed in Melaleuca's DC. "Voice has taken a lot of the pick-to-light market over the last couple years, and I think we'll continue to see that happen," says Howard Hammer, vice president of sales for the Eastern region at Fortna, an integrator of logistics and distribution systems.
To fend off the competition, pick-to-light vendors have taken several other steps as well: First, they've dropped the price of their systems, which today cost a fraction of what they did as recently as three years ago. They've also made them easier to install. Manufacturers have introduced both track-mounted displays that let users simply plug the lights into the panel without the miles of wiring, and modular snap-on displays that can be swapped out in a heartbeat when a new product is introduced into a pick location.
They've even made their systems smarter. Siemens Logistics and Assembly, for example, has designed a pick-to-light package that includes workload balancing software to analyze individual work loads and adjust picking assignments when necessary, reports Tony Wright, a systems sales manager for the company. In a typical picking operation, a picker starts at one end of an aisle and follows the lights to the end of the picking zone (perhaps 150 feet from where he started), where he passes off his tote to the next picker. Instead of sending him back to the beginning of the pick zone, the pick-tolight software can assign the next round of picks in reverse sequence, thereby increasing picker productivity. The software can also adjust picking assignments to accommodate slow or inexperienced pickers and adjust the size of the picking zones to balance work flow better.
follow the light
Though it's the new and dazzling features that capture headlines, it's also true that not every company wants or needs a pick-to-light system with TV displays or voice technology built in. For many companies, traditional pick-to-light more than fills the bill. That was true for Vera Bradley, a manufacturer of women's fashion accessories that decided to upgrade to pick to light from its old paper-based picking system in February. Vera Bradley's main concern was improving picking accuracy. Yearly growth in the 15-percent range had stressed the picking process at its distribution center, and accuracy had deteriorated to the point where the company felt it needed to inspect 100 percent of its orders before they shipped.
After deciding that its picking operation was a good candidate for pick-to-light (the company experiences high demand for a relatively low number of stock-keeping units), Vera Bradley called in systems integrator Forte to install PCC Systems' Lightning Pick system. With the pick-tolight technology in place, the company expects to increase its accuracy to the 99-percent range on the first pass for the 25,000 items it picks daily. If that works out as planned, the company will be able to save on labor costs by shifting the workers who perform inspections to picking.
Another company that decided to bypass the extras in favor of a traditional pick-to-light system was Gear For Sports. Like Vera Bradley, the athletic apparel manufacturer installed a Lightning Pick system in its new Lenexa, Kan., distribution center, and it's pleased with the results. The company now ships up to 70,000 athletic shirts a day from a 300,000-square-foot building, thanks to a two-story pick module featuring 3,000 pick-to-light units supplied by PCC Systems.
For Gear For Sports, the primary advantage of its Windows-based pick system has been labor savings. Before the system was installed, workers trotted all around the building with wheeled carts picking individual orders. "We had lots of walking time," recalls Jerel Williams, director of warehousing. Another problem was a language barrier. Williams reports that most of the company's workforce doesn't speak English.
The pick-to-light system solved both problems. Workers remain pretty much within designated zones and no longer have to travel very far. Lights direct picking for each order, so the system transcends any language barriers. "The system has simplified our training as well," adds Williams. "A new associate can be productive in about one-fourth the time that it took under the old system."
What you see is what you get
Still, for all the innovation, the most eye-catching, at least, is the PictureView system developed by ASAP Automation and slated for installation this fall in Melaleuca's brand new 155,000-square-foot distribution center. Executives at Melaleuca believe that once it's up and running, the pick-to-display system, which features a 170-degree viewable screen, will help pickers work faster and more accurately than in the past. That's critical to the company's business strategy, says Jace Poole, Melaleuca's director of property development. To compete in a crowded market, Melaleuca, which manufactures and markets health care, pharmaceutical and home care products,must offer fast deliveries and accurate orders.
It's not that Melaleuca is having a particular problem with picking accuracy at the moment. Poole reports that his company's accuracy rates run above 99 percent using the pick-to-light system currently in place. It's just that Melaleuca wants to be even better, and it's convinced that the ability to show order pickers a photo of the actual product to be picked will enhance picking accuracy even further.
That visual aid promises to be particularly useful to new employees, temp workers and the corps of part-time workers the company employs. "We have a force of part-time workers [who] usually only work a few days a month during our busy times," says Poole. "Given that they don't work here full time, their familiarity with our products is not as great as full-time workers'. The pick-to-display system will help them be more accurate since they can see a picture of the product they need to pick." In addition, the system can alert workers when products are slotted incorrectly. Poole is nothing if not optimistic. "With a picture of the product, it'll be hard for pickers not to pick the right item," he says. "We looked at some other systems, including voice picking, but in the end this seems to fit our operations and employees better because of our high throughput.We think this is really going to help [us] service the customer better just through pure accuracy since the recognition of a product visually is easier than finding a light."
But is the price right?
Though outfitting a DC with the tiny PictureView monitors might sound expensive, the developer reports that it's surprisingly affordable. True, the display screens cost about 70 percent more than traditional pick-to-light beacons, but the system's added features help offset the added cost. For example, traditional pick-to-light systems require a light for each row of product. With pick-to-display technology, by contrast, the monitor can be set up with an arrow to direct pickers either up or down, which means that fewer terminals are needed.
In addition, the PictureView technology is wireless. Workers can load it onto a cart and wheel it to remote sections of the distribution center if needed. And while the
technology remains more expensive than a traditional pick-to-light system, the price is expected to drop as the cost of producing LCD screens in Asia falls.
Price aside, the ASAP system is surprisingly versatile, offering options for both text display and voice. That means workers in an assembly or kitting operation could actually turn to the screen for instructions for carrying out their picking and assembly assignments.
That's not to say that the technology's right for everybody, however. Says ASAP Automation's operations vice president, Andy Brinkmeier: "It's not the right product for every application. But if you can use one device for multiple pick locations or you need to hit isolated parts of your picking floor, this product, with its wireless capabilities and high accuracy, could be beneficial."
States across the Southeast woke up today to find that the immediate weather impacts from Hurricane Helene are done, but the impacts to people, businesses, and the supply chain continue to be a major headache, according to Everstream Analytics.
The primary problem is the collection of massive power outages caused by the storm’s punishing winds and rainfall, now affecting some 2 million customers across the Southeast region of the U.S.
One organization working to rush help to affected regions since the storm hit Florida’s western coast on Thursday night is the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN). As it does after most serious storms, the group continues to marshal donated resources from supply chain service providers in order to store, stage, and deliver help where it’s needed.
Support for recovery efforts is coming from a massive injection of federal aid, since the White House declared states of emergency last week for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Affected states are also supporting the rush of materials to needed zones by suspending transportation requirement such as certain licensing agreements, fuel taxes, weight restrictions, and hours of service caps, ALAN said.
E-commerce activity remains robust, but a growing number of consumers are reintegrating physical stores into their shopping journeys in 2024, emphasizing the need for retailers to focus on omnichannel business strategies. That’s according to an e-commerce study from Ryder System, Inc., released this week.
Ryder surveyed more than 1,300 consumers for its 2024 E-Commerce Consumer Study and found that 61% of consumers shop in-store “because they enjoy the experience,” a 21% increase compared to results from Ryder’s 2023 survey on the same subject. The current survey also found that 35% shop in-store because they don’t want to wait for online orders in the mail (up 4% from last year), and 15% say they shop in-store to avoid package theft (up 8% from last year).
“Retail and e-commerce continue to evolve,” Jeff Wolpov, Ryder’s senior vice president of e-commerce, said in a statement announcing the survey’s findings. “The emergence of e-commerce and growth of omnichannel fulfillment, particularly over the past four years, has altered consumer expectations and behavior dramatically and will continue to do so as time and technology allow.
“This latest study demonstrates that, while consumers maintain a robust
appetite for e-commerce, they are simultaneously embracing in-person shopping, presenting an impetus for merchants to refine their omnichannel strategies.”
Other findings include:
• Apparel and cosmetics shoppers show growing attraction to buying in-store. When purchasing apparel and cosmetics, shoppers are more inclined to make purchases in a physical location than they were last year, according to Ryder. Forty-one percent of shoppers who buy cosmetics said they prefer to do so either in a brand’s physical retail location or a department/convenience store (+9%). As for apparel shoppers, 54% said they prefer to buy clothing in those same brick-and-mortar locations (+9%).
• More customers prefer returning online purchases in physical stores. Fifty-five percent of shoppers (+15%) now say they would rather return online purchases in-store–the first time since early 2020 the preference to Buy Online Return In-Store (BORIS) has outweighed returning via mail, according to the survey. Forty percent of shoppers said they often make additional purchases when picking up or returning online purchases in-store (+2%).
• Consumers are extremely reliant on mobile devices when shopping in-store. This year’s survey reveals that 77% of consumers search for items on their mobile devices while in a store, Ryder said. Sixty-nine percent said they compare prices with items in nearby stores, 58% check availability at other stores, 31% want to learn more about a product, and 17% want to see other items frequently purchased with a product they’re considering.
Ryder said the findings also underscore the importance of investing in technology solutions that allow companies to provide customers with flexible purchasing options.
“Omnichannel strength is not a fad; it is a strategic necessity for e-commerce and retail businesses to stay competitive and achieve sustainable success in 2024 and beyond,” Wolpov also said. “The findings from this year’s study underscore what we know our customers are experiencing, which is the positive impact of integrating supply chain technology solutions across their sales channels, enabling them to provide their customers with flexible, convenient options to personalize their experience and heighten customer satisfaction.”
Transportation industry veteran Anne Reinke will become president & CEO of trade group the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) at the end of the year, stepping into the position from her previous post leading third party logistics (3PL) trade group the Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), both organizations said today.
Meanwhile, TIA today announced that insider Christopher Burroughs would fill Reinke’s shoes as president & CEO. Burroughs has been with TIA for 13 years, most recently as its vice president of Government Affairs for the past six years, during which time he oversaw all legislative and regulatory efforts before Congress and the federal agencies.
Before her four years leading TIA, Reinke spent two years as Deputy Assistant Secretary with the U.S. Department of Transportation and 16 years with CSX Corporation.
As the hours tick down toward a “seemingly imminent” strike by East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers, experts are warning that the impacts of that move would mushroom well-beyond the actual strike locations, causing prevalent shipping delays, container ship congestion, port congestion on West coast ports, and stranded freight.
However, a strike now seems “nearly unavoidable,” as no bargaining sessions are scheduled prior to the September 30 contract expiration between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the U.S. Maritime Alliance (USMX) in their negotiations over wages and automation, according to the transportation law firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary.
The facilities affected would include some 45,000 port workers at 36 locations, including high-volume U.S. ports from Boston, New York / New Jersey, and Norfolk, to Savannah and Charleston, and down to New Orleans and Houston. With such widespread geography, a strike would likely lead to congestion from diverted traffic, as well as knock-on effects include the potential risk of increased freight rates and costly charges such as demurrage, detention, per diem, and dwell time fees on containers that may be slowed due to the congestion, according to an analysis by another transportation and logistics sector law firm, Benesch.
The weight of those combined blows means that many companies are already planning ways to minimize damage and recover quickly from the event. According to Scopelitis’ advice, mitigation measures could include: preparing for congestion on West coast ports, taking advantage of intermodal ground transportation where possible, looking for alternatives including air transport when necessary for urgent delivery, delaying shipping from East and Gulf coast ports until after the strike, and budgeting for increased freight and container fees.
Additional advice on softening the blow of a potential coastwide strike came from John Donigian, senior director of supply chain strategy at Moody’s. In a statement, he named six supply chain strategies for companies to consider: expedite certain shipments, reallocate existing inventory strategically, lock in alternative capacity with trucking and rail providers , communicate transparently with stakeholders to set realistic expectations for delivery timelines, shift sourcing to regional suppliers if possible, and utilize drop shipping to maintain sales.
National nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) kicked off its 2024 season this week with a call for volunteers. The group, which honors U.S. military veterans through a range of civic outreach programs, is seeking trucking companies and professional drivers to help deliver wreaths to cemeteries across the country for its annual wreath-laying ceremony, December 14.
“Wreaths Across America relies on the transportation industry to move the mission. The Honor Fleet, composed of dedicated carriers, professional drivers, and other transportation partners, guarantees the delivery of millions of sponsored veterans’ wreaths to their destination each year,” Courtney George, WAA’s director of trucking and industry relations, said in a statement Tuesday. “Transportation partners benefit from driver retention and recruitment, employee engagement, positive brand exposure, and the opportunity to give back to their community’s veterans and military families.”
WAA delivers wreaths to more than 4,500 locations nationwide, and as of this week had added more than 20 loads to be delivered this season. The wreaths are donated by sponsors from across the country, delivered by truckers, and laid at the graves of veterans by WAA volunteers.
Wreaths Across America
Transportation companies interested in joining the Honor Fleet can visit the WAA website to find an open lane or contact the WAA transportation team at trucking@wreathsacrossamerica.org for more information.