www.tgw-group.

com

PETCO
Va r i o u s t e c h n o l o g i e s a r e u n i t e d i n t h e n e w d i s t r i b u t i o n centre of pet retailer PETCO. These result in a reduction of the handling efforts and costs. All this happens with established TGW technologies.
The new distribution centre in Braselton, Georgia, services 237 stores in 13 states in the southeastern and southwestern United States, as well as the companys growing dot.com business. With the new installation PETCOs transportation network as well as the picking procedures could be optimised to build store-ready mixed SKU totes.

solutions

Objectives & Requirements

> Handling of more than 8,300 goods > Hourly conveying of 1,500 totes > Full case picking modules with over 3,000 storage positions and a throughput rate of more than 5,000 totes per hour > Application of new technologies to improve quality and efficiency

Solution
Innovative design and TGW technologies
The 506,000 square foot Braselton distribution centre brought together an innovative design and energy saving automated materials handling equipment from TGW for efficient store replenishment in the southeastern US as well as directto-consumer dot.com fulfilment. The facility manages an estimated 13,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) and handles an estimated 5 million units per month. A key component to the overall design was the NBS 30 Turbo narrow belt sorter designed to sort 120 cartons per minute with an extremely mixed product size. The sorter is 600 feet long with 18 diverts. The narrow belt sorter offers sliding shoe capabilities but with a faster implementation time and a much lower cost. Another key feature is a cartonisation function within the warehouse management system. The WMS profiles orders to determine how many cartons will be required to complete each order.. A zone skipping feature allows PETCO to route a tote anywhere in the break pack piece picking modules to make sure that the right SKUs are picked to a tote to meet the goal for store-ready totes and pallets. Finally, PETCO took advantage of a variety of picking technologies, all directed by the facilitys warehouse management system.

Goods-in
Whereas full pallets of a single SKU, like dog food, are ready for putaway once a barcode has been scanned and validated, an overseas shipping container may contain hundreds of SKUs and products for various orders. These products will be sorted and palletised by SKU. The warehouse management system (WMS) will then create a license plate barcode label that is applied to a pallet and scanned.

solutions

Various picking zones

In the full case pick zone, an associate receives a stack of labels that are printed in bin sequence. The associate applies a label to cases as they are picked and then places the cases on the takeaway belt conveyor. After the barcode is automatically read at the sorter induction point, a carton is diverted to a shipping lane. There, it will be palletised, stretch-wrapped and staged for delivery

Break pack picking modules identify items

In the break pack picking or piece picking modules, the associate starts the picking process by applying and scanning a label on a tote. The system is served by a conveyor system designed to route totes to active pick zones at a rate of 1,500 totes per hour, which is of great significance concerning dot.com business. The pick-to-light system identifies the items and quantities for each pick in that associates area. Once the picks have been completed for that tote, its placed on a takeaway conveyor and routed to the next pick zone.

Ready for shipping

After the label is scanned, the tote is sorted to the right shipping lane, where it will be palletised, stretch-wrapped and staged for delivery. Items for dot.com orders are picked in a break pack module and are then conveyed and sorted to a pack station for direct-to-consumer orders. There, multi-line orders are packed together into a single shipping container.

Customer benefits
> Narrow Belt Sorter: sliding shoe sorter capabilities with faster implementation time > Energy saving automated materials handling system > Combined DC for store replenishment and direct-to-consumer dot.com fulfilment > WMS automatically determines required number of cartons > State-of-the-art picking technologies for highest performance and accuracy > Different picking methodologies to perfectly fulfil the requirements

solutions

www.tgw-group.com

TGW LOGISTICS GROUP GMBH A-4600 Wels, Collmannstrae 2 T+43.(0)7242.486-0 F+43.(0)7242.486-31 E-mail: tgw@ tgw-group.com www.tgw-group.com TGW, 2011. Version 09/2011

TGW SYSTEMS INTEGRATION GMBH A-4600 Wels, Boschstrae 52 T+43.(0)7242.66200-0 F+43.(0)7242.66200-3735 E-mail: systems@tgw-group.com

TGW LIMITED No. 1 The Point, Market Harborough Leicestershire, LE16 7QU UNITED KINGDOM T+44.(0)1858.468 855 F+44.(0)1858.419 613 E-mail: ukinquiries@tgw-group.com