CHALLENGE SOLUTION

CLIENT

Newark Electronics

Gaffney, South Carolina

Newark Electronics is the market-leading catalog distribution company of electronic parts and components in North America, and the largest sector of the worldwide catalog distribution division of Premier Farnell, PLC.

CHALLENGE

Newark Electronics opened a distribution center in Gaffney, South Carolina. Since they were starting the new operation with a brand new building, it was determined that it would be an opportune time to further automate order handling. There was a need to initiate batch picking for orders, rather than individual preparation of each order.

SOLUTION

Through batch picking, Newark Electronics could reduce required manpower, improve efficiency, and decrease overhead, lowering cost per pick. Mantissa recommended a tilt-tray sorter, which was designed to sort 120 items/minute to approximately 200 packing chutes, using manual induction.

An integral part of the design included Order Chek™, a combination software/hardware package that tracks a particular order as it is assembled in a given chute. This allows better utilization of both chute and packer, providing a more constant workflow and more consistent use of the packer’s time.

Once the order is packed, it is placed on a “take away” conveyor and passed through an in-line taper before arriving again at the induction platform. After re-induction, the packed order then travels to one of twenty-one shipping chutes for fluid loading into a truck, or placement into a shipping container for presorted merchandise. Using the same sorter for two distinct purposes provides excellent machine utilization initially. As volume grows, the sorter can then become a dedicated unit assigned to only one function, with a second sorter handling the other.

Through Mantissa’s unique design, Newark was able to increase efficiency, while preserving the flexibility necessary in a start-up facility.

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