X-Chain - Store Receiving - Inventory Logistics Interface

Picking Operations

Several Order Picking, Pick and Pack, Repack and Pick to Store scenarios are supported by the logistics sub systems in the Store Receiving and Inventory Logistics System.

Picking operations result in shipping container inputs to the Store Receiving system whereby cartons contain multiple item inventory contents from multiple vendors or in the case of hard lines and palletized shipments where multiple vendor cartons make up a pallet for LTL (Less than Trailor/Truck Load) deliveries.

Pick and Pack and Repack

Loose items are collected to a container for the destination or the items are distributed into the awaiting destination locations. Common in inventory chain based picking operations.

High Bay Racking and Storage

Palletized items stored and staged for pick face location replenishment or case based picking in a palletized item environment with high density racking.

Pick and Pack

Product workflows such as replenishment of basics, where product is replenished to the store on a more frequent basis based on the sales process in an effort to replenish high demand items in lower quantities quickly by mixing them with other such items to form whole containers of mixed items with a single license plate. These items are generally delivered on a more frequent and consistent basis, are picked from a pick face of SKU slotted locations and have palletized backup stock for replenishment into the pick face that is triggered by store requirements.

Pick face assignment and item capacitance dictate the replenishment of the pick face up to its filling point and include the store order requirement in a wave based workflow process that includes the entire store requirement as well as the reduction of item movements for the purposes or replenishing the pick face. The pick face is predetermined and SKU specific.

Cartons are produced in quantity with mixed item contents destined for a store and labeled in concert with closing of cases for store staging operations where they are mixed with other stages shipment containers.

The process is based upon waves, order wave, replenishment wave and picking waves across and into the pick face from palletized back up stock.

Pick to Store

Items in this workflow are moved across a bank of store positions in item batches for placement in store positions which are later closed with a container close operation which seals the contents with a license plate bar code label for the shipping container.

With the inverse of the Pick and Pack operation where an awaiting store container is filled with specific product, here the product is moved across store awaiting containers and then containers are closed based upon content capacity or timing of shipment scheduling which dictates close of the container.

The process is based upon waves, order wave, replenishment wave and picking waves across and into the pick face from palletized back up stock.

Order Picking

In an order picking scenario, product is depleted from high bay racking or picking face for the purposes of customer and consumer order fulfillment rather than a distribution network with a fixed number of like endpoints with varying inventory replenishment requirements. High Bay or High Density Pallet Racking and Item Pick Faces are used to support order picking completion and workflow cleanliness operations in a warehouse environment which supports both requirements.

A Locator, Counter-Stock Locator and High Bay/Density Pallet based management system support operations of these unique environment where product can be stored in Pick Face arrangements, High Bay Palletized Racking or in Mixed SKU/Product arrangements for the purposes of fulfilling chain based or customer/consumer based receiving, storage and picking operations.

The process is based upon waves, order wave, replenishment wave and picking waves across and into the pick face from palletized back up stock.

Customer Supply Chain Operations

An omnidirectional scanner is employed here to scan the carton surface area for the license plate label for control of diversion control for the cartons loading operations into an awaiting trailer. The license plate label identifies the carton and the inventory contents.

Supply Chain

A diagram of a supply chain. The black arrow represents the flow of materials and information and the gray arrow represents the flow of information and back hauls. The elements are (a) the initial supplier, (b) a supplier, (c) a manufacturer, (d) a customer, (e) the final customer.

Shipment Operations

Shipment operations in the Store Receiving and Inventory Logistics System encompass the bringing together of all logistics operations into a single symetrical flow of cartons and pallets with a standard label license plate, common bar code format and standardized routing and staging marks for materials handling purposes. This creates an environment which integrates with third party carriers operational and systems processes and the chain store destination receiving points.

Scheduled Shipments

Regardless of logistics workflow, shipping containers flow through the outbound dock via carrier and destination store scheduling. Via omnidirectional license plate scanning or pallet label scanning, inventory is consolidated by destination, destination route and carrier in wave operation. The information is batched for communication to the third parties and destinations involved.

Manifesting

Manifests and Packing Slips are printable should they be required. With a unique license plate label for each shipment the paper is removed from the overall process and replaced with electronic information that is sent to the destinations, carriers and in most cases collected by the carrier company’s system in much the same way.

Bill of Lading

In cases where a bill of lading is required, the system can product it with weight and cube information for carrier rating and load management. This scenario being more typical of palletized LTL (Less that Trailer/Truck Load) freight, the carrier may still require the paper, since many utilize third party or independent drivers.