Parallel picking and returning with Swisslog

Strategies to make returns available again quickly are in demand.

While a few years ago, distance sellers came up with various measures to make it more difficult for customers to return parcels, the industry has now recognized this across the board: Returns are an integral part of distance selling. "E-commerce doesn't work without returns," says Bernd Kratz, long-standing managing director in distance selling and co-founder of the Institut des Interaktiven Handels.

Most distance sellers have therefore decided to integrate fixed returns quotas into their scheduling behavior. Some retailers are visibly concentrating on speeding up physical returns movements. Reverse logistics optimizations are geared towards accelerated return options - after all, returned items "on the road" are not available for reshipment to the next customer.

Acceleration of reverse logistics

Technical developments for accelerated parcel delivery and hassle-free returns are offered by DHL's Packstation, for example, or the parcel boxes at the front door offered in cooperation with Hermes, DPD and GLS. The British shipper ASOS is currently testing parcel pick-up points with integrated changing rooms in the UK. The fashion items ordered can be tried on in a fitting room immediately after receiving the parcel. If the ordered item of clothing does not fit or is not to your liking, you can return it directly to the parcel pick-up point. This procedure significantly speeds up reverse logistics processes.

However, a lot of time and effort is not only required "on the road", but also in the shipper's logistics department for returns processing and restocking. "It is still not uncommon for processing times of several days to elapse between receiving the returns parcels and returning them to an invoiceable condition," warns Bernd Kratz. "Expensive time, during which a returned item could be on its way to the next customer."

Personnel costs should not be underestimated

Strategies to make returns available again quickly are in demand.

The intralogistics processes required for returns also represent a cost that should not be underestimated. The personnel costs alone for internal returns processing are usually around three to five times higher than the originally calculated logistics costs.

Integration of returns into ongoing processes

With the aim of speeding up returns movements, Swisslog's strategy with its partially and fully automated systems is to integrate returns processing directly into the ongoing picking processes. "With our innovative technological approach, we combine the 'picking' and 'returns storage' processes at the same time," explains Dr. Volker Jungbluth, Managing Director of Swisslog Automation GmbH in Karlsruhe. In his opinion, this allows three key effects to be achieved:

• The availability for the reshipment of returned items is significantly accelerated.
• Personnel costs in intralogistics are reduced.
• The storage density increases because significantly less space is required in the mail order centers of distance selling.

With its automated light goods storage solutions CarryPick and AutoStore, Swisslog provides the right answers to the challenges of e-commerce and multichannel retail. Depending on the product range structure and spatial conditions, it is possible to design intralogistics processes using individual applications or a combination of these technologies.

Gabriel Meier

Contact:

Swisslog GmbH 44227 Dortmund Tel.: 02 31 / 7 58 95 00 E-Mail: