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26 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 • FOOD LOGISTICS www.foodlogistics.com than 35,000 SKUs from more than 1,000 suppliers, has utilized Opex Corp.'s Perfect Pick system in its Hebron, Ky. distribution center and is including the system in its new DC in Moreno Valley, Calif. Troy Van Wormer, vice president of opera- tions at iHerb.com, says the robotic picking and replenishment has significantly reduced the labor required in the picking side of the operation. The system allows an order to be filled within 15 to 30 minutes of being released to the warehouse compared to the three hours that was needed by the previous batch picking system, Van Wormer says. "The speed of the system is impressive," says Van Wormer, who notes the warehouse was recently able to find an order five minutes after the customer canceled it. He says the Perfect Pick system has an impressive financial payback and is easy for employees to learn. Pepsi Bottling Ventures (PBV), the Garner, N.C.-based bottler, increased storage capacity by over 60 percent in its 54,000-square-foot building by installing Power Automation Sys- tem's PowerStor cart and lift-based warehouse automation technology. Floor stacking the 2,300-pound pallets in the warehouse accommodated up to 4,800 pallets. One of the detriments of floor stack- ing included pallet tumbles, which damaged product and created sticky spillage. Addition- ally, PBV tracked pallet locations manually which resulted in an occasional inability to find particular pallets. The cart and lift-based system consists of sev- en modules, which are accessible by eight verti- cal lift devices, 27 cart sets and 14 turntables. PBV's system was designed to allow lift truck drivers to input and deduct pallets into the system via a double-layer induction/deduc- tion conveyor. Large screen monitors direct operator/drivers as to which cargo is scheduled to go into and come out of which module in the system. Today, 7,800 pallets can be quickly and easily stored and retrieved automatically to serve the company's distribution network. SSI Schaefer's Simpson says companies are using different technologies within a ware- house to manage inventory. In some cases, companies use manual picking for the fastest moving SKUs and a "goods to person" system for slower moving SKUs. The "goods to per- son" system can include automatic mini-load systems with single-, double- or multiple- deep storage; or an automatic conveyor, car- ousel or shuttle. Shuttle system innovation continues to offer more options. Sean O'Farrell, market development director at Dematic Corp., the New Berlin, Wis.-based provider of automa- tion solutions, says the second generation of his company's Multishuttle is lighter, faster and more flexible. Intelligrated's next generation of robotic mixed-load order fulfillment solutions include adjustable, end-of-arm tooling capable of handling up to four cases simultaneously and an integrated, stack-and-wrap sys- tem. An Alvey robotic mixed-load order ful- fillment solution pal- letizes and depalletizes partial and mixed-load pallets. The robotic depalletizer has vision technology to identify products and positions to accommodate dif- ferent SKUs and load patterns. An integrated, stack-and-wrap system ensures load stability and has integrated controls for robotics and stretch wrapping on the same platform. Shuttle technology will play a bigger role as f&b; DCs handle more small orders in shorter time windows, driven by the e-commerce trend, says Robert Engelmayer, business area manager for Austria-based Knapp Logistics Automation Inc. Knapp's order storage and retrieval shuttle technology (OSR Shuttle) allows efficient picking of small orders. Another challenge is to develop economic solutions to combine large order and small order picking within the same warehouse. Different e-commerce mod- els have to be considered, such as "click and collect," drive-through and home delivery. Amazon raises interest At the start of December, Amazon, the e-commerce giant, announced sig- nificant progress in its fulfillment cen- ters. With the use of Kiva shuttle robots and robotic arms, Amazon said it was able to speed delivery times while reduc- ing the cost of goods shipped. Amazon claimed the average amount of time it takes to grab an item from a shelf and stuff it in a box is now about 15 minutes per order, down from an hour and a half. Ama- zon says it now has more than 15,000 Kiva robots operating across its fulfillment centers in the U.S. While many supply chain observers are closely watching Amazon because of its strength in the growing e-commerce world, it remains to be seen how successful Amazon will be long-term. While the company has grown fast, its financial performance has led some to question its long-term outlook, espe- cially in the f&b; sector, which has been slow to embrace e-commerce. "Everyone (in the supply chain) is acutely aware of what Amazon is doing," says Alex Stark, director of marketing at Kane Is Able, the Scranton, Pa.-based 3PL, referring specifi- • The Swisslog Autostore picks and stores single items and small cases to make better use of available space and increases efficiency at inte- grated goods-to- person worksta- tions. Swisslog Automated picking and order fulfillment benefits at a glance: • Improved worker productivity • Improved picking accuracy • Better space utilization • Better working conditions • Faster order delivery • Improved customer service