Let’s imagine a traditional warehouse, made of tall static racking units, and imagine the personnel working among the units, forced to use ladders or forklift trucks to pick and/or place the goods needed, exposed to risks to their health and at the same time potentially endangering the goods themselves. How can this be the best picking process for a company?
Automated picking systems like those used in Modula’s automatic storage systems are the ideal choice to improve picking operations as they:
- reduce waste
- increase safety
- increase picking speed
- increase the ROI.
Picking in a traditional warehouse
Traditional warehouses adopt the “person-to-goods” picking method: operators must move around the warehouse to manually pick the products to be shipped. Operators can be divided into two macro categories: those who move on foot and those who use a forklift.
Moving simultaneously among racking units and aisles, operators have the sole objective of maximizing storage capacity and speeding up order preparation, independently of whether the warehouse serves e-commerce or B2B operations.
The disadvantages of standard picking methods
The “person-to-goods” picking method has numerous critical points:
- Picking errors: operators obviously have a margin of error when they pick the product to be shipped, thus running the risk of forcing the customer to return the product.
- Slow picking: no matter how fast and efficient an operator is, the traditional picking process will never be so quick as an automated process. Furthermore, forklift personnel must also pay attention to the actual speed of the machine, so as not to endanger those who are working in the same space.
- Safety risks: a manual process inevitably has some critical issues in terms of staff safety, such as the risk of the operator falling from the racking, having to lift excessive weights, or being hit by a forklift.
- Lack of qualified personnel: it is not always possible to have operators who are all interchangeable with one another, for example when it is necessary to drive a forklift.
All these factors make it clear that an automated process, especially when an increase in productivity is needed, is the key to the efficient organization of space, time and personnel within a warehouse.
The picking solution: the Modula automatic storage system
The Modula automatic storage system addresses all the drawbacks of a “person-to-goods” picking method, transforming it into a “goods-to-person” system. No more operators moving around inside warehouses: the picking process is carried out by an automated system that is ideal for any storage context.
The automatic storage systems developed by Modula offer numerous advantages thanks to picking automation:
Investing in a Modula automatic storage system means innovating picking processes, reducing errors and implementing efficient logistics.
1. LESS PICKING ERRORS
By simply tapping on the controller touchscreen, the operator can have the products delivered directly to the picking station, reducing processing times and picking errors.
2. INVENTORY STATUS AVAILABLE IN REAL TIME
The possibility of connecting the company’s ERP with the Modula WMS software allows real-time access to inventory and makes all goods absolutely traceable.
3. REAL-TIME STOCK UPDATING
The continuous monitoring of stock provides the exact number of any product still in stock, thus enabling more precise planning of production processes.
4. MAXIMIZED ROI
With a Modula automated storage system, a warehouse operator can manage a much higher volume of work than before: productivity can thus increase by 85%.
5. MAXIMIZED STORAGE THROUGH THE EXLOITATION OF THE HEIGHT OF THE WAREHOUSE
The structure can be up to 16 m high, the trays are modular to reach the required volume and can be organized and easily partitioned according to the specific needs: thanks to these solutions, Modula storage systems can reduce the footprint of the storage space by up to 90% with respect to traditional methods.
6. SAFETY
Personnel safety is guaranteed even in the most complex working conditions: operators do not have to use specific machinery and are no longer exposed to moving parts, which eliminates the risk of accidents.
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