How Wave Picking is Solving the Automation Challenge

The proliferation of SKUs that has complicated beverage distribution has been well documented.

The productivity challenges created by this dramatic growth —the number of SKUs increased from less than 200 to over a thousand in some cases — drove the initial round of automation in beverage distribution.

However, those early attempts at automation proved largely ineffective. They were expensive, disruptive and ultimately failed to deliver on their promise. Among other problems, they were designed to address a snapshot in time and were unable to adapt to changes that occurred after they were deployed.

For example, the move to lighter weight materials in cases and individual packages necessitated changes in case handling to which automated systems couldn’t easily adapt.

This initial experience with automation left many distributors skeptical of the role automation can ultimately play in their operations. Yet, they also recognize a fully manual operation is inefficient in light of the number of products and throughput levels they need to support. Beverage distributors need automation, but they need a more practical and affordable approach than has been attempted in the past.