Dematic has announced a new storage and retrieval system that it claims can offer a picking improvement of 500 per cent.
Logistics automation company Dematic is now offering a modular, goods-to-person (GTP) storage and retrieval system to Australian distribution centres.
The Modular GTP system is designed for businesses with a distribution capacity of between 200 and 1000 order lines per hour, and uses an integrated scale at the pick locations in order to check the item against expected weights, and to improve accuracy.
Dematic say that one the advantages of the GTP system is that staff can work in parallel at multiple picking stations at their own pace. Further, more pick stations can be opened and closed according to need.
“In busy distribution centres getting the right goods on shelf, or delivered to the right customer at the right time is critical,” Dematic logistics manager Darren Rawlinson says.
“To help address these stock availability and delivery efficiency issues, Dematic developed the new modular GTP system, resulting in productivity improvements where one operator is capable of achieving the same sort of picking rate as up to five people in a traditional picking environment.”
Dematic claim that the initial installation requires minimal customisation thanks to pre-configured software, and that the modular nature of the system allows for additional storage aisles or pick stations to be added later on should the need arise.
“In most applications, the GTP system would provide an ROI of around four years on its own. However, when you then take into account additional savings through fewer errors and returns handling, faster replenishment, reduced lighting and fire safety requirements, this can easily translate into an ROI of three years or less,” Rawlinson adds.