Flexibility Is Key At PFSweb's New Memphis Retail Distribution Center
At PFSweb, flexibility in material handling is critical. Operating more than 2.5 million square feet of world-class distribution infrastructure, the ability of this third-party logistics company to flex and adjust its material handling and logistics solutions, while ensuring optimal performance for its clients, is a hallmark of the company's operations.
This is exemplified in the material handling design of the company's latest distribution center located in Memphis, Tennessee, which incorporates some of the most flexible and efficient material handling equipment available to DC managers.
PFSweb
PFSweb, Inc. develops and deploys integrated business infrastructure solutions and fulfillment services for Fortune 1000, global 2000 and brand name companies, including third party logistics, call center support and e-commerce services. The company serves a multitude of industries and company types, driving operational efficiencies, cost savings and optimized customer experiences.
While PFSweb does operate several of its own state-of-the-art, fully automated distribution centers throughout North America and Europe that clients can leverage as an extension of their own infrastructure, it also has the ability to reengineer, operate and manage client-owned facilities. The company owns and operates facilities in the United States, Canada and Europe, and last year alone shipped $2.6B in client merchandise. From apparel, home décor and luxury brand goods to high-tech products and aircraft parts, PSFweb supports a unique range of capability across both B2B and direct-to-consumer supply chain segments.
The company is equipped to perform complex functions often required by manufacturers, such as retail replenishment, time-definite logistics, kitting and assembly and postponed manufacturing. Brand-forward packaging, flexible delivery options, premium gift wrapping services and customer-convenient returns management are within its range of expertise. PFSweb typically utilizes advanced systems and automation within its distribution centers to maximize throughput, efficiency and flexibility for its clients.
DC Designed for Retail Volume Flexibility
The focus of this 160,000 square-foot distribution center, completed in March 2007, is retail, 95 percent direct-to-consumer and 5 percent to retail stores, with 90 percent of the product line being toys. The seasonality of the retail toy business creates extreme peaks and valleys in throughput volumes. Retail store orders, website orders and catalog orders for toys handled by the DC, fluctuate not just for the Holidays, but at different times throughout the year. Fluctuations even occur with product line shifts from year to year.
"We really need to be flexible in our material handling equipment, in our labor and in our facilities," says Scott Tally, Vice President of Global Logistics for PFSweb. "Our clients may come back and say that this DC needs to do something different than what it did last year. We have to be able to respond to that."
The DC has a normal-operating throughput of 25 cartons per minute, and 30,000 cartons shipped each day containing more than 100,000 individual toys. At peak times, those volumes rise considerably, which necessitated the need for extreme flexibility to be designed into the distribution center's material handling layout. For this, PFSweb brought in Dematic to engineer and build a system that would accommodate such throughput fluctuations.
Orders come in to the DC's WMS from its client's ERP systems. From there the orders go to picking where items are picked to RF carts that hold shipping boxes for each order. The boxes are size pre-selected by the WMS based upon the volume of contents to go into them. Each box typically holds 3.5 to 4 items for an order. Once the cart is finished being picked, each box is inducted onto Dematic's variable speed conveyor system.
Variable-Speed, Plug-n-Play Modular Conveyors
Dematic's variable-speed modular conveyor system can convey toys of widely divergent weights and sizes on the same conveyor, ideal for the DC's product line. The hallmark of these new conveyors is their extreme flexibility, and modularity. If PFSweb's process needs change, the modular conveyor units can be unbolted from the floor and moved to fit a new process. The conveyor is implemented by very simply snapping the pieces together.
One of the largest risks associated with purchasing inflexible material handling systems is that order profiles will change necessitating new processes and new hardware configurations. PFSweb built in 1,500 linear feet of modular, flexible system that lowers the risks of becoming outdated.
"In the past, when we put a big conveyor system in, it was hard to change it or modify it for our changing business needs," continues Tally. "This system was engineered to be extremely modular."
The system is different from traditional conveyors, which have extensive electrical wiring and air piping. Pneumatics are eliminated on the PFSweb system, and each conveyor section has its own control logic and internal wiring. These controls give the individual sections of the conveyor the ability to speed up or slow down. The Dematic variable-speed modular conveyor system also maintains user-selectable gapping between conveyable items. Without changing hardware, PSFweb operators can select a desired gap for maximum buffer, for sorting, or for proper pitch prior to an in-line scale. Operators can also select the speed from 70 feet-per-minute up to 400 feet-per-minute.
"The conveyors have no air compressors, and there are no big motors or gear boxes on the system," Tally says. "Other conveyors have air pipes and conduit running through their systems. Instead of big motors, every roller on the conveyor has a small electric motor. This allows us to go through a control device and increase the speed of the conveyor with just a few keystrokes."
It also has the functionality to automatically turn itself off when it is not needed. Compared to conventional conveyor systems, it reduces power consumption up to 30 percent.
"The conveyor system has small, modular belt sections," says Joseph Cianfarani, with Dematic. "If packages are too widely dispersed - too close to each other or too far apart - the conveyor adjusts spacing appropriately with its localized intelligent controls. If a package is too far behind the one in front of it, when it enters a new modular section of conveyor with a photo eye, that conveyor section speeds up the belt and the package rapidly moves up to the appropriate spacing. If a package is too close to the one in front, the conveyor slows down."
The cartons are then routed to the first sorter, which diverts into lanes where personnel provide packing material into the boxes. The boxes are sealed and put back onto the conveyor and sent to another sorter where they are diverted to shipping lanes.
Steerable Wheel Sortation with Powered In-Line Rollers
The sortation equipment was also designed and built by Dematic. These are steerable wheel sorters that enable bidirectional sortation – the ability to sort to both sides of the conveyor allows the sorter to be shorter, saving space and reducing costs. Special compound, high-friction rollers turn to gently convey PFsweb's products to their destinations. The sorters use powered in-line rollers that can be switched to a skewed position for diverting.
What is unique about these sorters, is that they are completely integrated with the conveyor line. The sorter employs small motors that are used in the rollers and within the steerable-wheel diverts to enable precise package control.
"The new steerable-wheel sorter was built with maximum uptime in mind," Cianfarani continues. "PFSweb was supplied with a complete spare divert module which can be swapped out in minutes in the case of a failure. This enables maintenance to get the system up and running quickly then diagnose and repair a failed part."
Smooth Running System
PSFweb's new material handling system allows the DC to efficiently handle direct-to-consumer and retail distribution of toy products with facility and extreme flexibility.
"We were looking for a material handling solution that was cost-effective," explains Tally. "We were not building the system just for peak volumes, we wanted something that was flexible and cost-effective to handle variables in our volumes. I feel we achieved that with the solution we put in place."
About Dematic Corp.
Based on a rich tradition of over 70 years of worldwide industry expertise in creating logistics results and more than 10,000 systems installed worldwide, Dematic Corp is the world's leading supplier of logistics automation solutions, systems and service.
Beginning with Rapistan's rich history from gravity conveyors to automated, modular conveyor and sortation solutions, Dematic now offers a full range of engineered and highly configurable system solutions that optimize warehousing and distribution operations. With Dematic, companies can reduce distribution costs, maximize overall logistics efficiencies, and increase the operating speed of their supply chain.
Dematic is a global company with operations in 22 countries around the world. Its North American headquarters is located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more information , visit www.dematic.us.
SOURCE: PFSweb, Inc.