System logistics directPick™ lights up Elizabeth Arden with over 13,000 pick faces

Elizabeth Arden is a global prestige beauty products company with an extensive portfolio of beauty brands sold in over 100 countries.

Founded in 1910 by Elizabeth Arden, the company pioneered many innovative skin care products as well as new sales and distribution techniques to grow the company into an internationally-recognized brand.

Elizabeth Arden, a major supplier of fragrances and beauty products, was acquired by French Fragrance Inc. Not only did the merger bring together several disparate distribution systems, but the company was expecting serious growth within the next few years, both naturally and through a major acquisition.

In order to decrease costs and increase efficiency, the decision was made to consolidate their 3 distribution centers into their facility in Roanoke, Virginia; however, this required a serious expansion and complete overhaul of the distribution system.

Issues and Objectives
Elizabeth Arden, a major supplier of fragrances and beauty products, was facing serious change. After being purchased by another company, they needed to merge their 3 distribution centers into one facility and transform their entire distribution process into a streamlined operation.

Elizabeth Arden selected System Logistics to provide a pick to light system for the expanded distribution center. With over 13,000 DirectPick™ pick faces, they are now able to meet the increased demand at the facility.

The Solution
In order to decrease costs and increase efficiency, the decision was made to consolidate their 3 distribution centers into their facility in Roanoke, Virginia; however, this required a
serious expansion and complete overhaul of the distribution system.

Previously, Roanoke distributed to only 7,000 retail stores; it was now responsible for distribution to over 35,000 stores and regional warehouses. The facility was expanded by 135,000 square feet and was filled with a revamped material handling system.

Although Roanoke already had 3,000 pick faces in place, it was not enough to handle the additional activity. System Logistics was selected to provide a new pick to light system,
which consists of 13,560 pick faces and is able to hold eight hours of inventory.

The lower level of the facility includes pick to light systems on either side of a conveyor. Following the lights, which indicate both location and quantity, employees pick items into a carton, which is then placed on the conveyor when the pick is complete.

The conveyor then moves the cartons to the second level of the pick module where slow movers are stored. Employees again use the lights to place the appropriate items into the cartons and then place them on the conveyor where they travel to the final packing station.

Results and Benefits
The DirectPick™ pick to light system has made a tremendous difference and allows Elizabeth Arden to handle the increased demands at the Roanoke facility; daily orders have increased 100% to 4,000 per day.

DirectPick™ supports the changing demographics of Elizabeth Arden’s orders. Instead of shipping periodically to regional warehouses and department stores, they now support store ready orders generated by point-of-sale data.