Client company:
Italian branch of an important international company specialising in the provision of logistic services in the e-commerce field
Ambito della soluzione:
Voice to Light system for the management of massive and multi-order picking process for bulk items.
The process, from analysis to voice
The Consulting & Solutions team started with an in-depth analysis of the inefficiencies in the customer’s warehouse processes in order to redesign the workflows in the name of maximum efficiency and error prevention. To support the new procedures, it then provided a hybrid technological solution, capable of combining the advantages of voice guidance in the picking phases with those of put to light systems during ventilation procedures.
The challenge
KFI enters the warehouse
Before the intervention of KFI, the staff of the offices managing the warehouse assisted the activation of the picking lists on the monitor and proceeded to print them individually, since each deposit slip coincides with an e-commerce order.
The paper prints were subsequently delivered by hand to the warehouse operations manager, who assigned them to the picking staff, carried out the picking in a massive way, placing the items in the compartments of a trolley, each one fitted to accept only items that were part of a specific order. To identify the correct compartment and mark it, the operators used labels that were associated with each order when the first item included in it was picked up.
In a context stressed by requests for rapid order fulfilment and an extremely low tolerance to error, such as that defined by the logistics related to online orders, the customer requested the contribution of KFI in order to:
- simplify logistic activities;
- ensure high accuracy in picking;
- improve ergonomics (hands-free picking);
- speed up the operator training phase.
The KFI Solution
When the management system speaks correctly to the processes
In the beginning, KFI focused on optimizing the communication between the company information systems and on the implementation of a WMS to better manage the warehouse processes. Subsequently, it integrated a voice solution based on Vocollect, capable of guiding the operator on the way to the locations and to communicate with a Speedy Pick Air system. The light signals of these devices now allow the operator to promptly identify, with practically no margins of error, the correct compartments in the trolley for storing items during the ventilation phases resulting from each picking.
The results
The voice which helps the operator
The new process, assisted by a mix of technologies integrated with the information system, has allowed a marked improvement in the ergonomics of the operators, who can now carry out hands-free picking placing a greater focus on the activities. This has resulted in an increase in the pace of operations and a drastic drop in errors.
The project that reflects the KFI method
The case in question has once again demonstrated the effectiveness of an approach that places customer needs at the centre. In fact, as per well-established practice, KFI started by listening to the requests of its interlocutor, supported it in the analysis of the processes and, as a last step, guided it in the introduction of the most suitable innovative technologies for its organisational structure, inserting such technologies exactly where needed.