NorthShore Care Supply Doubles Fulfillment Productivity with RDS AMR Batch Picking

Numina’s RDS Solution Combines Warehouse Execution Software, Pick-by-Voice with Mobile Robots to Gain Maximum Efficiency

Results - Transformed Throughput

Achieved 4X increase in efficiency in order fulfillment operations.
Increased pick rates to up to 300 picks per worker per hour.
Accelerated throughput by using AMRs to quickly move payloads up to 700 pounds through the DC.
Replaced manual process with system-directed processing of 3,500 orders per day, using a fleet of six AMRs.
Increased accuracy to 99.9% reducing returns due to picking errors.
Accelerated order deployment speeds

Challenge:

NorthShore Care Supply, a leading distributor of personal care products, was experiencing double-digit annual sales growth – pushing fulfillment operations to the limit.

With sales growing by 30% a year and a lease set to expire in the former facility, Adam Greenberg, President, realized it was time to “move into a facility with an infrastructure that can scale up to handle many times our current sales volume as our brand awareness increases.”

Solution:

NorthShore’s goals included streamlining operations, implementing paperless processes, and delivering high-quality items quickly and efficiently. NorthShore worked with the Numina Group to create a system-directed warehouse solution – a combination of high-performance technologies to automate pick, pack, and ship fulfillment, including:

Numina’s RDS™ Warehouse Execution and Control System (WES-WCS) to automate, optimize, and synchronize all aspects of its order fulfillment workflows
Large-capacity autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) synchronized to work side-by-side with staff
Latest generation pick-by-voice technology to direct worker’s tasks
Zebra wearable computers, ring scanners and headsets to direct workers’ activities and validate results while they work.

Manual Processes Replaced by End-to-End Pick, Pack and Ship Automation

In earlier years, NorthShore’s only automation were kiosks on the conveyor and the print-and-apply labeler. At its new facility, the company has fully embraced automation:

A fleet of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) that transport batch order picking carts and voice-directs the pickers using headsets and scanners to ensure operators spend their time picking instead of pushing heavy carts around the warehouse and wasting time.
Batch order release is also automated. The RDS system batches the orders to generate the highest pick density in a zone with the shortest travel path for the robots and the order pickers.
RDS analyzes order data sent from the WMS and determines the most efficient group of orders for picking. RDS selects and assigns a group of orders and a robot to a cart, and the robot then picks up and transports the cart to the first pick zone.
RDS Voice directs the picker’s work tasks using the Zebra wearable computers to synchronize people and robots during the picking process.

Numina Group has continued to optimize NorthShore’s RDS application software by adjusting the algorithms to increase the operation’s efficiency. Based on order changes, a slight change in the batch order release algorithm can make a significant difference in picking efficiency and AMR utilization. Numina Group’s ability to remotely support further system optimization is appreciated by NorthShore.

New employees are trained faster on the new platform faster, adding to operational scalability. They can get up to speed in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.

Adam Greenberg
President and Founder at NorthShore Care Supply

NorthShore Care Supply Doubles Fulfillment Productivity with RDS AMR Batch Picking

Results - Transformed Throughput

Challenge:

Solution:

Manual Processes Replaced by End-to-End Pick, Pack and Ship Automation

New employees are trained faster on the new platform faster, adding to operational scalability. They can get up to speed in minutes or hours instead of days or weeks.

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