A solution often associated with Pick-to-light is what we call a Put-to-wall. A Put-to-wall system is an extremely effective solution for consolidating orders coming from different parts of the warehouse. In short, it works like a framework with lights on both sides.
You can place products on one side, and take them out from the other. With a Put-to-wall solution, you don’t have to pick to orders. Instead, you can focus on larger picking rounds and cut down the time and distance immensely. Many e-retailers pick their individual orders like this: i.e. 1 order = item. The increase in efficiency is huge, and so is the potential, but problems arise as soon as you have more than one item per order. And that is where a Put-to-wall solution works very well.
Instead of allocating a picking task by carrier or similar, you can instruct your WMS:
– "I want to pick 100 orders at once without any uniqueness."
The WMS then prints a list of all the products contained in these 100 orders. You get your route and start your picking task.
When every product is picked, you go to side of the Put-to-wall solution. You scan the products, which will make a light come on by the compartment where the product should be placed. You repeat this with all the items while your colleagues do the same. In this way, you can make fewer but larger picking rounds/day = fewer steps = not visiting the same place repeatedly. We call it "chaos picking".
On the other side of the framework, aka Put-to-wall, the light will only come on when the order is ready for the next step. Most often this means packing the order, which makes it beneficial to have the packing tables right next to the Put-to-wall solution. This is also a good way to keep track if you are doing cross-docking, where you can pick all the order's "companions" to quickly get the order when the final piece arrives, which creates customer satisfaction in the long run.
How can a put-to-wall system improve your logistics? Contact Jeff, who will be able to answer any questions or concerns you may have.
