Flexible process structure

The distribution center is considered one of the most efficient logistics centers in Northern Europe, designed for a daily picking capacity of more than one million pick units - clothing, cosmetics, sporting goods, electronic devices, DVDs, garden products and furniture. Many non-food articles are subject to constant change - due to fashion, taste, trends and seasons. This requires highly dynamic and flexible material flow processes. This high level of flexibility for supplying around 1,000 stores is a decisive factor in the development and logistical integration of additional sales channels such as click and collect and home shopping.

The proportion of goods ordered online is also rising steadily in Finland, and not just due to the pandemic. Previously, online orders could still be picked manually by store employees directly in the store and dispatched from there, but this procedure is no longer economical and is also no longer affordable in terms of the expected increase in order volume.

In fact, central processing in the logistics center relieves the burden on store employees. It is faster, more flexible and more cost-effective. In the logistics center, employees pick small-volume items from storage containers or storage pallets into the shipping container using the semi-automated goods-to-person solution DPS (Dynamic Picking System) with pick-by-light guidance. With the semi-automated, pick-by-voice-supported CPS (car picking system), large-volume and heavy items are transferred from the storage pallet or trays to roll containers in the picking aisle in a route-optimized manner. The type of order is irrelevant for the worker. Due to the usually low item volume of e-commerce orders, containers are formed during picking into which several online customers are picked in parallel.

Once picking is complete, all DPS order containers with online orders are temporarily stored in an automated order consolidation buffer, then mechanically stacked on pallets and transported by forklift to an e-commerce sorting area. There they meet the roll containers from the CPS area. In the consolidation process that now begins, all small-volume and large-volume items are scanned and manually assigned to the relevant customer order in a shelving rack, then packed and prepared for dispatch. The consolidation process does not apply to orders for individual items. They are scanned and packed from the box into the carton. A service provider delivers the orders directly to the customer's front door; alternatively, delivery can also be made to the stores.

High consistency - right through to returns

The processes integrated during ongoing operations impress with their consistency. In principle, SOK/Inex customers have access to all items from the General Merchandise range, which comprises up to 300,000 products a year - not only as retail units, but also as "single items". The individual items are generated dynamically as required in a separate process prior to picking. The logistics center also handles the complete processing of returns, which are returned to the warehouse stock. For Inex, the new processes mean economical and flexible handling for all distribution channels - with the same logistics staff and the same technology, as well as the ability to react quickly to fluctuations and order peaks.

The article appeared in materialfluss 6/22.