Due to extensive offers and promotions, orders are exceptionally high on these days. Nevertheless, customers expect fast and error-free deliveries even in such situations. The Dematic Multishuttle, the bag sorting system and the company's new micro-fulfillment solution can be used to smoothly handle such order peaks.

Highest-turnover days for online retail
"Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the highest-turnover days of the year for e-commerce. However, intralogistics processes can only cope with the increased order situation if they are fully automated, scalable and optimally coordinated," says Jessica Heinz, Head of Marketing and Business Development Dematic Central Europe.

For example, one of Europe's largest online fashion retailers received up to 4,200 orders per minute on Black Friday last year. With its bag sorting system, Dematic offers a solution that is specially tailored to the requirements of the fashion industry. The automated hanging system on roller adapters stores and sorts hanging and flat-packed goods as well as flat-packed items and cartons. Articles are loaded into the bag and emptied automatically. The system transports up to 40,000 bags per hour at peak times.

The Dematic Multishuttle is a solution for omni-channel companies with a wide range of products. The system automatically coordinates all processes between warehouse, picking and packing. It consists of a racking system, shuttles, lifts and the Warehouse Execution System (WES). This Dematic solution can also be scaled at Peaks: The high-speed shuttles store and retrieve up to 1,200 items per hour.

Challenging volume of returns
Another challenge following the order peaks is an increased volume of returns. Returned items are automatically returned to the Dematic pocket sorting system for buffering. In this way, promotional items are available for reordering within a short time.

Dematic micro-fulfillment solution for the last mile
The last mile in particular is a significant cost and time factor in e-commerce. The company has launched the Dematic micro-fulfillment solution specifically for this area. Due to its compact design, it is possible to install the system in urban areas directly at the back of a retail store or as a separate urban fulfillment center. The proximity to the end consumer or their pick-up station ensures shorter distances and thus significantly reduces delivery times and costs.