While online shopping demands are constantly increasing, e-commerce is seeing a period of unprecedented growth. Success leaves many companies facing the same problem. Sooner or later, demand starts to exceed capacities. A growing number of returns, increasing competition, and margin pressure require maximum efficiency and productivity. In addition, the explosive growth of omnichannel distribution adds complexity to the logistics process.
Scalable automation offers an increase in capacity, speed, and improved accuracy at an investment point suited to match various-sized operations. These improvements allow us to scale our business and reduce costs.
E-commerce force changes
As e-commerce grows, warehouse operations feel the pressure intensifying daily. Consumers place orders more frequently, in smaller quantities, later in the day, and with unprecedented delivery expectations. These changes and new expectations cause bottlenecks for many B2B and B2C wholesalers using traditional fulfillment methods. There isn’t enough time for a picker to take a trolley through endless rows of racking to pick, pack, and dispatch quickly enough. It is no longer sufficient to have efficient warehouse processes – fast and flexible are equally important.
The Kardex System is an innovative goods-to-person solution with many advantages.
- Eliminate picking errors via a combination of intelligent and intuitive technologies
- Achieve a fourfold increase in productivity with smart order batching
Main warehouse challenges
Running out of space
Restricting same-day or next-day deliveries because order fulfillment is too slow
Navigating complex distribution channels (i.e., omnichannel)
Managing seasonal order fluctuations and marketing campaigns (e.g., Black Friday)
Experiencing high return rates
*Building Kardex System in swiss mail solutions warehouse in Austria
How can automatization help?
Kardex System is designed to speed up order picking performance by accelerating the simultaneous processing of batches. It reduces walking distances by up to 65%, minimizes picking errors, and optimizes storage space.
Customer example
Let’s look at a real-world example. Imagine that a wholesaler’s product range stores 5,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) in 3,000 compartmentalized bins. In a traditional warehouse with a rack system, storage bins would take up 450 m² of floor space. The Kardex System stores them in only 67 m². This equates to an 85% reduction in the required floor space. Now imagine that this warehouse fulfills around 500 orders with an average of five order lines per order per day. A traditional warehouse requires eight order pickers based on an order picking trolley that can hold 16 orders simultaneously. When using the Kardex System, the number of bins presented increases to as many as 300 per hour. After factoring in the walking distance between the two units, the assumption is that this solution boosts the productivity of each order picker from 60 order lines an hour to 270 order lines an hour.
As you prepare for the year to come, consider modernizing your operations. Swiss mail solutions will help overcome these challenges and provide the flexibility you need in the future.
For more information, contact our team.
