BACKGROUND
This Beacon Groups’ customer is a major distributor of apparel to the sportswear industry.  They have numerous locations on the East Coast and have worked with Beacon on many occasions.  They most recently contracted us to help automate their split case picking process in their North Carolina distribution center.

CHALLENGE
With the manual system they were currently using, they were not as efficient and productive as possible.  They were not always meeting their commitments of next day delivery to their customers and were not set-up to handle a spike in order volume.  The Beacon Group was requested to review the manual process and design a new system that would reduce handling, increase order through put, and possibly reduce labor costs.

SOLUTION
The Beacon Group engineering staff came up with a cost-effective way to automate the picking process.  We implemented a controlled power conveyor system to be integrated with the current manual process.  While this system was basic in design and implementation the results speak for themselves.

RESULTS
The implementation of an automated process reduced product handling substantially and the customer was able to increase order through-put by 35%.  This significant increase in outbound orders also set the client up for future growth in this facility.  Additionally, the customer’s operating expenses were reduced so dramatically that the system had a return on investment (ROI) of only six months!

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