Gebhardt ECS order picking system improves efficiency

Gebhardt ECS order picking system improves efficiency

Gebhardt European Conveyor Systems has installed an automated order picking system for Ralawise. As a leading global distributor with the widest range of clothing, apparel and consumable products across Europe, Ralawise is the ultimate one-stop shop holding over 12 million items in stock, 4700+ products and over 135+ brands. The automated order picking system is at the heart of the Ralawise warehouse.

Most orders are picked into cardboard cartons that are automatically erected and labelled at an order start area on the ground floor. Small orders for despatching in bags are picked into plastic totes, to which barcode labels are also applied. The barcodes replicate the order number on an accompanying printed manifest listing the items required.

From the induct station bar-code readers automatically direct the cartons or totes to the appropriate zones where the products required are located. A voice picking system uses headsets to enable staff to find the products ordered quickly before releasing the carton back on to the powered conveyor for onward travel. Cartons and totes are carried between the four levels in the building in compact elevators that require much less space than typical belt inclines. The layout of the picking zones is replicated on all the levels so that staff can be deployed flexibly with no loss of efficiency.

Once an order in a carton has been completed, it travels to the despatch area. Most cartons go directly through an automatic folding, compacting and lidding procedure, eliminating the need for void fill to be manually added, minimising the cube of the parcels and reducing delivery costs. There is provision for cartons to be checked and re-packed before travelling on to be sealed. Totes with small orders divert to a separate area for the items to be packed or bagged, with empty totes being returned to the induct area on a separate conveyor.

The entire system is controlled by a single high performance PLC with bespoke software specifically designed by Gebhardt-ECS to provide fully integrated automation with fast response times and high control standards. The PLC is linked to the client's database server, and its processing speed and large memory allows large amounts of data to be transferred to it. The control system is also easy to use, with touch-screen panels allowing operators to obtain information about the conveyor system immediately at any time.

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