Retrieved : Modern Materials Handling (mmh.com)
Dated : September 2007
We have decided to use the Distriution Centre flow of American Egale Outfitters as our case study to elobroate on the concepts that we have discuss earlier on in our blog.
Analysis:
American Egale Outfitters is is an American clothing and accessories retailer based in the South Side neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. n addition to its namesake brand, American Eagle, the company has developed and announced plans for several new brand and concept initiatives poised to drive new growth as the American Eagle brand nears saturation in current markets. One already launched brand being Aerie.
The company's second stand-alone lifestyle concept, Martin + Osa, launched in the fall of 2006, targets men and women 25 to 40 years of age.
The company had just taken back of the controlling of the distribution center from it's 3PL, so that they could have faster through put and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Firstly, American egale will receives an advance shipping notice (ASN) from the suppliers so that they planned what to do when the goods arrive.Then the materials are unloaded using conveyor and sorted automatically via Bar coding system.
Cross docking is supported as the distribution centre uses a U flow pattern as the reveving and shipping docks are adjacent to each other. Then the rest are sent to the pallet build area, where items are sorted according to different brands and palletized, after which they are sent to the reserve storage and picking areas.Next, picking will be execuited using multiple picking methodologies such as RF-directed, voice-directed and pick-to-light picking technologies , are used in pick modules.
After picking, employees will place individual item on the belt, where bar code scanning will induct the items onto tilt tray sortation system that delivers them to a packing station.
There, they are prepared for delivery to the customer. Packaged orders are placed on a conveyor that delivers them to the shipping sorter. The shipping sorter includes a combination of cross-belt, shoe and tilt tray sorters. Packages are sorted to theright chute,where the product is collected in large Gaylord boxes for shipment.
Below layout dipicts the operation flow of American Egale Outfitters:
Successfully managing multiple brands and multiple processes under one roof begins before inventory even arrives at the distribution center.
American Eagle receives an advanced shipping notice (ASN) from its suppliers detailing all of the cases in a shipment before any product is received. That allows the system to pre-allocate how the inventory will be handled and stored prior to arrival.
Merchandise for all three store brands (American Eagle, Martin + Osa, Aerie) arrives at a common receiving area 1.
Operators place floor-loaded cases onto a receiving conveyor 2 that then travels overhead to the receiving sorter 3 . Bar codes are automatically scanned to determine how the cartons will be sorted.
Crossdock and putaway Approximately 70% of the product received at the DC goes directly to a store. Depending on the store location, those cartons are crossdocked to a shipping area 4 shared by all three brands; cartons destined for stores in Kansas travel across the bridge conveyor 5 into the adjacent building where they are combined with other orders.
Crossdocked material can be shipped out in as little as an hour. The remaining cartons are sorted to a pallet-build area 6. There, operators scan carton labels and build palletsby brand for putaway in reserve storage 7 and in the high-bay active picking areas 8. Pallets are delivered to.
Picking
Once an operator scans a storage location, the inventory is available for picking, which is directed by the warehouse control system. Each business unit has a 600-foot multi-level, rack-supported pick module 8 for its products. Depending on the business unit, orders are delivered to the operator on an RF scanning device; over a voice headset; or via digital displays in front of picking bins in the pick-to-light areas.
Totes are delivered to the picking modules by an empty tote sortation system 9. In the pick-to-light area, the operator scans a bar-coded address label attached to a product, carton or tote box. Digital displays in front of each pick bin tell the operator what to pick and in what quantity. Operators using voice-directed terminals receive instructions via their headset on what to pick.
Operators using handheld or ringscan RF devices are directed to a location via their terminal where they scan a bar code to confirm the location and then again to confirm the pick. In all cases, items are picked to totes. The totes travel down the center conveyor to the next zone where an item will be picked. In total, there are 13 pick zones in the DC.
Packing and shipping
Once a tote is full, it is routed by conveyor to one of several induction areas for the tilt tray sortation system 10. There, operators manually unload the totes and position items on a belt so the bar code can be automatically read in a scan tunnel. Items are then inducted onto a tilt tray sortation system that delivers them to a packing station 11 . There, they are prepared for delivery to the customer.
Packaged orders are placed on a conveyor that delivers them to the shipping sorter. The shipping sorter includes a combination of cross-belt, shoe and tilt tray sorters. Packages are sorted to the right chute, where the product is collected in large Gaylord boxes for shipment 5 .
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