Innotrac - 3PL Continuous Improvement

Application

Before Newcastle Systems worked with this DC, dock to stock times were over 24 hours.

Receivers were working two shifts to keep up with the processing of inbound goods. Material handlers were placing inventory wherever they could find room which clogged the dock and aisles. Scanning and labeling errors were extremely high.

Analysis

It was discovered workers were being forced to manually carry cases away from their areas to static stations located 50-100’ away to dimension, receive and label the packages. As a result, there was excess motion, transportation and processing.

Solution

Newcastle NB powered carts allow the workers to do all their functions as the package exits the trailer.

Instead of manually carrying a box to a receiving table, receivers could stop next to an un-conveyable case to scan or read the label PO, and then dimension and weigh the product if necessary.

Using this data, receivers can generate a case label with a reserve or active location and apply it on the spot, making the case ready for allocation.

Summary

Innotrac diminished non-conformances by 65% and sorting cases by PO was no longer necessary. In the end, overall time on the dock was reduced by 80%.

Not handling the product twice has greatly reduced errors. An entire shift has been removed from the inbound budget freeing up workers for more value added activity

Related: Newcastle Systems’ Mobile Powered Workstations Assist with Direct Relief’s Efforts

Related White Papers

Operations Director’s Guide to Increasing Warehouse Receiving Productivity
Pushed to do more with less, and to keep workers as productive as possible in the midst of a labor crunch, warehouse and distribution center (DC) managers need state-of-the-art tools that help them achieve their goals while also minimizing errors and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction. Download Now!

---

A Guide to Picking Methods and Performance Enhancements
In this white paper, we share several methods of order picking, ways to improve the picking process and benchmarks to help you measure your current performance. Download Now!