For a good 20 years, pick-to-light systems have lit the way for order pickers racing to meet deadlines. Now the challenge is to integrate these systems with warehouse management software, which hasn't always been an easy sell. Stay tuned.
It must make for some interesting sales calls, but the leading vendors of pick-to-light systems appear to be backing off from that very name. Bill Hubacek, vice president of sales and marketing at Real Time Solutions in Emeryville, Calif., says his company no longer refers to its flagship product as a pick-to-light system. Why not? "Because that trivializes what it is," he answers. "We provide pretty sophisticated algorithms for order picking and order fulfillment. The hardware is an important component, but that's not what's critical.When we go in to see a customer, we talk for the first 10 minutes about lights and then talk about software for the next three months."
Hubacek is not alone. Ralph Henderson, national sales manager for pick-to-light vendor Kingway CAPS, based in Charlotte, N.C., agrees that the technology has evolved into something much more sophisticated than colored lights in the past two decades. Customers today want more, he says, and vendors have gotten the message. "People are saying: I need something more than … electronics that light up when I need to pick something. This is now all about the software that drives the hardware."
In fact, the more sophisticated companies are now hooking their pick-to-light technology up to warehouse management software (WMS) systems, which gives them a far broader and more detailed look at what's actually going on at the pick faces in a warehouse in real time. It used to be that the communication between software and the electronic displays on picking bays was pretty rudimentary—an instruction came through to pick a certain number of items from a particular bin, and the picker down on the warehouse floor pressed a button to acknowledge the instructions had been followed. But the systems weren't generally very good at identifying when quantities of items in the bins were low. And they weren't able to juggle manpower to compensate for differences in individual pickers' speeds, meaning some orders were filled way before others, leaving picking staff idle.
Now, users say, it's a whole new ball of wax.
"These days most vendors can swap around almost any information you want," says Kevin Novak, operations manager for East Coast Salon Service in Runnemede, N.J. "If you want to track tote content or you want your WMS to tell you in real time when an order was picked, by whom, into which tote, even what weight—all that information can be passed back and forth. Then you can generate replenishment reports and get the pick-to-light system to handle replenishment. You really have a choice as to where information resides and which system updates which system. The processing power and the number of record fields that can be processed have grown quite a bit in the last 20 years. It used to be transferred by floppy!"
Easy pickings
Even the hardware has changed with the times. To illustrate, Novak points to his system from Siemens Dematic, bought 18 months ago, which offers modular snapon displays that can be swapped out in a heartbeat when a new product is introduced into a pick location. For Novak's distribution center—which distributes cosmetics, hair products and appliances throughout the northeast United States— a typical day would see a turnaround of around 800 orders, or 12,000 order lines, or 48,000 individual pieces picked. The market he serves is quirky, with products going in and out of fashion faster than TV reality shows.
All of which explains why Novak likes his new system so much. "The biggest feature is the flexibility," he says. "In our marketplace we receive every two months 200 to 250 new products with a lifetime of two months, so we have to reconfigure and re-slot on a continuous basis. The modular snap-on displays are rail mounted and if you want to delete a location or swap a light it's two keystrokes. To add one takes 30 seconds," he reports. "Installation is no longer a maze of wiring."
Like Novak, pick-to-light customers everywhere have embraced the new snap-on light displays, which work a little like track lighting in your house. For one thing, they're simpler to repair. "Five years ago all of your 50,000 lights were joined together by telephone cables, so there was an awful lot of wiring.When a wire shorted out, finding it was a hideous nightmare," says Eddie Capel, vice president of trading partner management at Manhattan Associates, which provides the software that runs many pick-to-light systems. Track-mounted displays have eliminated that problem.
Another handy technological advance is the introduction of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which replaced conventional light bulbs. They use very little electricity, last an age and make for bright displays that are easy to read. "It's become a rather bulletproof system," says Novak. "With the Siemens system, we've replaced one light in a year and a half."
Pick-to-light systems have gotten more rugged, better integrated into DC software, and a great deal cheaper in the last few years. Henderson remembers that it was originally pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies that made pick-to-light famous back when installation cost $350 to $500 per location, because they were the only ones that could afford it. "Fast forward 20 years, and it's as low as $70 to $105 per location. Add inflation and a whole system costs about as much as a single forklift truck. It's no longer the one big capital expense for that year," Henderson says. In fact, companies can expect to see a return on their investment in about 24 months, rather than waiting the five to seven years it took in the past.
Don't go to the light
Pick-to-light has also become easier to convert to so-called put-to-light systems, which basically work like pick-to-light in reverse. Rather than sending pickers with order totes or carts out to retrieve items from lighted locations, put-to-light systems are set up so that batch picked items are instead brought to the stationary tote, cart or bin that's collecting items for an individual order. The light displays are located not at the SKU locations but at each order bin, telling the picker that this container needs so many of such and such a product to complete the order. In the case of the Borders book chain's Western region distribution center in Miraloma, Calif., pickers scan the ISBN number on a book, and the system displays numerous locations in the "put" face, each of them corresponding to an individual store that needs, say, two copies of Cold Mountain and 33 copies of The Da Vinci Code.
Steve Venegas, general manager of the facility, explains that it was necessary to buy a system—this one is from a Berkeley, Calif.-based vendor called Working Machines—because of the terrific growth Borders has experienced lately. In the last three years, Borders has added 33 superstores to Venegas's service area, which covers all states west of the Mississippi, parts of Texas and Hawaii, and Alaska. (Venegas also ships to Australia, Singapore and New Zealand.) Picking these orders required workers to keep track of complex orders that often consisted of one or two copies of multiple titles selected from a vast number of SKUs.
"We needed new technology to support our internal processing. The Working Machines group helped us develop a put-to-light system that has allowed us to make the most of the advancements in technology," Venegas says. "It operates in real time and the transactions are immediate. That allows us to see the status of current orders, outstanding orders and back orders. That in itself is a change for us—the visibility that those processes allow us to have. We get instantaneous order status information."
Capel, who formerly worked at Real Time Solutions, says put-to-light systems are beginning to predominate in DC situations over pick-to-light, because focusing on the individual order, or customer location, instead of each individual SKU, requires fewer displays. "With pick-to-light, you might be holding 10,000 different SKUs in your inventory and you need that many pick-to-light locations, which could cost you $2 million. But with put systems you only need one location per [order] destination, so typically you'd have 100 to 200 locations. So now instead of 10,000 lights you get 200." Capel says that, done right, put-to-light systems bring inventory levels down, because you're not fixated on keeping a bin full of every SKU. He says it can almost amount to cross-docking on a piece-by-piece basis. "It makes the DC so much more efficient because you're not carrying the inventory and everyone wants to move to cross-docking in this way," Capel says.
Lighting up
But the story isn't finished yet. John Garcia, director of marketing at Working Machines, argues that pick-to-light and put-to-light systems represent a huge opportunity for ongoing return on investment because the same basic system can be used to gather and disseminate more and more useful information.
"A company that looked at pick-to-light five years ago, or has a pick-to-light system and thinks this is all it's going to get out of it, really ought to open up its books and have another look at what the systems can do now," agrees Hubacek.
Henderson says all this is a good indicator of how much more demanding DC managers are these days. "People don't just want hardware to pick to light, that's the given. That's the commodity. In addition to that, they want to be able to balance inventory and labor, as well as obtain visibility of inventory and labor so they can be more efficient. That's going to give payback far faster than just hardware that lights up."
All the same, his advice to prospective or current users of pick-to-light technology is to make sure you have the right hardware and the right software for different scenarios. The auto parts business, for example, is all about holding inventory for when it's needed, Henderson says, so it suits the pick rather than the put approach.
Another issue to bear in mind is that the integration of pick or put systems into WMS systems is by no means a done deal, industrywide. "There are pick-to-light companies that don't want to work with WMS and WMS companies that think you don't need any other technology. But truly all these technologies need to be very tightly interwoven, so that at the end of the day you know what's going on in your warehouse," Henderson says. "What's happening now is politics. It's about who should be in control of this and, more importantly, who should benefit financially. There are probably 15 to 20 reputable pick-tolight companies out there, and 200 WMS vendors. People need to hook up."
Online merchants should consider seven key factors about American consumers in order to optimize their sales and operations this holiday season, according to a report from DHL eCommerce.
First, many of the most powerful sales platforms are marketplaces. With nearly universal appeal, 99% of U.S. shoppers buy from marketplaces, ranked in popularity from Amazon (92%) to Walmart (68%), eBay (47%), Temu (32%), Etsy (28%), and Shein (21%).
Second, they use them often, with 61% of American shoppers buying online at least once a week. Among the most popular items are online clothing and footwear (63%), followed by consumer electronics (33%) and health supplements (30%).
Third, delivery is a crucial aspect of making the sale. Fully 94% of U.S. shoppers say delivery options influence where they shop online, and 45% of consumers abandon their baskets if their preferred delivery option is not offered.
That finding meshes with another report released this week, as a white paper from FedEx Corp. and Morning Consult said that 75% of consumers prioritize free shipping over fast shipping. Over half of those surveyed (57%) prioritize free shipping when making an online purchase, even more than finding the best prices (54%). In fact, 81% of shoppers are willing to increase their spending to meet a retailer’s free shipping threshold, FedEx said.
In additional findings from DHL, the Weston, Florida-based company found:
43% of Americans have an online shopping subscription, with pet food subscriptions being particularly popular (44% compared to 25% globally). Social Media Influence:
61% of shoppers use social media for shopping inspiration, and 26% have made a purchase directly on a social platform.
37% of Americans buy from online retailers in other countries, with 70% doing so at least once a month. Of the 49% of Americans who buy from abroad, most shop from China (64%), followed by the U.K. (29%), France (23%), Canada (15%), and Germany (13%).
While 58% of shoppers say sustainability is important, they are not necessarily willing to pay more for sustainable delivery options.
Schneider says its FreightPower platform now offers owner-operators significantly more access to Schneider’s range of freight options. That can help drivers to generate revenue and strengthen their business through: increased access to freight, high drop and hook rates of over 95% of loads, and a trip planning feature that calculates road miles.
“Collaborating with owner-operators is an important component in the success of our business and the reliable service we can provide customers, which is why the network has grown tremendously in the last 25 years,” Schneider Senior Vice President and General Manager of Truckload and Mexico John Bozec said in a release. "We want to invest in tools that support owner-operators in running and growing their businesses. With Schneider FreightPower, they gain access to better load management, increasing their productivity and revenue potential.”
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but Mode Global said it will now assume Jillamy's comprehensive logistics and freight management solutions, while Jillamy's warehousing, packaging and fulfillment services remain unchanged. Under the agreement, Mode Global will gain more than 200 employees and add facilities in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, Texas, Illinois, South Carolina, Maryland, and Ontario to its existing national footprint.
Chalfont, Pennsylvania-based Jillamy calls itself a 3PL provider with expertise in international freight, intermodal, less than truckload (LTL), consolidation, over the road truckload, partials, expedited, and air freight.
"We are excited to welcome the Jillamy freight team into the Mode Global family," Lance Malesh, Mode’s president and CEO, said in a release. "This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our growth strategy and aligns perfectly with Mode's strategic vision to expand our footprint, ensuring we remain at the forefront of the logistics industry. Joining forces with Jillamy enhances our service portfolio and provides our clients with more comprehensive and efficient logistics solutions."
In addition to its flagship Clorox bleach product, Oakland, California-based Clorox manages a diverse catalog of brands including Hidden Valley Ranch, Glad, Pine-Sol, Burt’s Bees, Kingsford, Scoop Away, Fresh Step, 409, Brita, Liquid Plumr, and Tilex.
British carbon emissions reduction platform provider M2030 is designed to help suppliers measure, manage and reduce carbon emissions. The new partnership aims to advance decarbonization throughout Clorox's value chain through the collection of emissions data, jointly identified and defined actions for reduction and continuous upskilling.
The program, which will record key figures on energy, will be gradually rolled out to several suppliers of the company's strategic raw materials and packaging, which collectively represents more than half of Clorox's scope 3 emissions.
M2030 enables suppliers to regularly track and share their progress with other customers using the M2030 platform. Suppliers will also be able to export relevant compatible data for submission to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a global disclosure system to manage environmental data.
"As part of Clorox's efforts to foster a cleaner world, we have a responsibility to ensure our suppliers are equipped with the capabilities necessary for forging their own sustainability journeys," said Niki King, Chief Sustainability Officer at The Clorox Company. "Climate action is a complex endeavor that requires companies to engage all parts of their supply chain in order to meaningfully reduce their environmental impact."
Supply chain risk analytics company Everstream Analytics has launched a product that can quantify the impact of leading climate indicators and project how identified risk will impact customer supply chains.
Expanding upon the weather and climate intelligence Everstream already provides, the new “Climate Risk Scores” tool enables clients to apply eight climate indicator risk projection scores to their facilities and supplier locations to forecast future climate risk and support business continuity.
The tool leverages data from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to project scores to varying locations using those eight category indicators: tropical cyclone, river flood, sea level rise, heat, fire weather, cold, drought and precipitation.
The Climate Risk Scores capability provides indicator risk projections for key natural disaster and weather risks into 2040, 2050 and 2100, offering several forecast scenarios at each juncture. The proactive planning tool can apply these insights to an organization’s systems via APIs, to directly incorporate climate projections and risk severity levels into your action systems for smarter decisions. Climate Risk scores offer insights into how these new operations may be affected, allowing organizations to make informed decisions and mitigate risks proactively.
“As temperatures and extreme weather events around the world continue to rise, businesses can no longer ignore the impact of climate change on their operations and suppliers,” Jon Davis, Chief Meteorologist at Everstream Analytics, said in a release. “We’ve consulted with the world’s largest brands on the top risk indicators impacting their operations, and we’re thrilled to bring this industry-first capability into Explore to automate access for all our clients. With pathways ranging from low to high impact, this capability further enables organizations to grasp the full spectrum of potential outcomes in real-time, make informed decisions and proactively mitigate risks.”