Live To Play Sports. Racking Storage Solution Case Study. Innovative solutions for storage and material handling systems

Transcription

1 Live To Play Sports Racking Storage Solution Case Study Innovative solutions for storage and material handling systems

2 Live To Play Sports In 2012, Live To Play Sports, the new face of Norco Products Ltd, moved from its warehouse in Woodbridge, Ontario to a bigger distribution centre (DC) in Toronto s Rexdale neighbourhood. Due to a rapidly expanding business, the bicycle and bike parts distributor needed to increase its storage space and maximize the efficiency of its distribution activities. Redirack - Head Office 1303 North Service Road East Oakville, Ontario L6H 1A7 Tel: (905) Fax: (905) Toronto Direct: Toll Free: Info.Oakville@redirack.com 2 Live To Play Sports

3 The Live To Play Sports solution delivered results nobody thought possible. Josh Maugeri Redirack Sales Representative In the new Rexdale DC, Redirack delivered a turnkey solution that enabled Live To Play Sports to double its previous storage and picking capacity while simultaneously reducing logistical costs. The Live To Play Sports DC is now complete with an innovative storage and racking solution that is capable of supporting the company s growth. 3 Live To Play Sports

4 The Pick Tower As Canada s largest distributor of bicycle parts and accessories, Live To Play Sports faced a significant challenge storing and organizing the multitude of small parts making up the majority of its SKUs. Adding to the complexity of its storage expansion, the company runs a dealer shipping rebate program, which puts pressure on order pickers to deliver 80 percent of the day s orders in a tight threehour window. Orders placed before 3:00 p.m. of more than $450 in product value receive free next-day delivery, with trucks leaving the warehouse promptly at 6 p.m. each day. Processing a large volume of SKUs in such a short time posed significant logistical challenges for management. Redirack recommended installing a pick tower to increase storage capacity and make A tower replaced the previouslyinstalled carousels, opening up the lanes for pickers. 4 Live To Play Sports

5 Orders over $400 Placed by 4:00 p.m. 2,000+ SKUs Next-day delivery Live To Play Sports Dealer Rebate Program demanded 80% of orders be picked between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. SKUs more accessible to warehouse staff. Switching over to a shelving pick tower would prove to be more efficient, better organized and more economical than the previous carousel system. The three-storey shelf-supported pick tower is capable of holding more than 12,000 SKUs and enables warehouse staff to pick between 1,000 and 1,500 lines in one day. The tower also features a conveyor tote system, which automatically delivers totes to the floor for processing. the surge of orders easily and without a heavy investment in equipment. The pick tower solution was an instrumental piece of the new DC; storing a high volume of small-sized product SKUs, accommodating afternoon rush orders and implementing a simple tote system allowed Live To Play Sports to more than double its previous picking capacity. Redirack s pick tower solution allows Live To Play Sports to staff additional hands during the 3:00 p.m. rush, combating 5 Live To Play Sports

6 Pallet Racking Redirack s bolted pallet racking system for Live To Play Sports is designed to increase storage density and fully utilise the floor area without compromising efficiency. Standing 32-feet tall, the racks are capable of holding more than 12,000 SKUs worth of medium-sized bicycle parts and accessories as well as 20,000-25,000 bikes. Shortly before installation of the racking system was supposed to start, Martin from Live To Play Sports was notified of an issue with the aisle spacing between the racking. It was brought to his attention that the order pickers used to retrieve items located high up in the racks has some sway in them as they ascended and descended, which meant that the machines would be unable to operate at a certain height without hitting the racking. To address this issue and prevent the machines from swaying and hitting the racks, Live To Play Sports initially considered installing a super flat floor a solution that would have cost the 6 Live To Play Sports

7 1 Stand 32-feet tall 2 20,000+ SKUs Redirack s pallet racking system is designed to increase storage density and fully-utilize the floor area without compromising efficiency. 3 20,000 to 30,000 bicycles company more than one hundred thousand dollars. After conducting a re-evaluation of the layout, Redirack developed a solution that was far more feasible than the alternative. By making a last-minute adjustment to the arrangement of the racks, Redirack expanded each aisle from an original width of 64 inches to a final 68 inches. Widening the space between the racks by four inches provided enough room for the picking machines to clear the space while still maintaining an increased storage capacity. From design and implementation to the final follow-up, Redirack applied its expertise to every step of the project, successfully delivering a cost-effective, efficient and innovative storage solution. 7 Live To Play Sports

8 Raised Storage Platform The three-storey raised storage platform is integral to ensuring the future success of Live To Play Sports. The company now has a stateof-the-art storage facility that will allow it to improve operations and grow its business. 8 Live To Play Sports

9 When Live To Play Sports could no longer house all of its inventory in its old facility, the company decided to construct a new DC not only capable of storing all of its products, but also supporting its rapid growth and improving its operational efficiency. In its new 90,000sqft facility of which 60,000sqft were reserved exclusively for storage Live To Play Sports was running out of space. The company required a new storage solution that would utilize the DC s space more efficiently so that all of its products and miscellaneous items could be held in one building, rather than renting additional storage space off-site. Redirack maximized the existing storage space in the DC by designing a three-storey raised storage platform to adapt empty overhead space into usable storage areas. The structure is fully-lit and comes equipped with scanner stations, scale tables, and a gravity tote/ pallet conveyor system built into the ground level. Redirack s storage platform also features ergonomic workstations, providing maximum workspace in minimum floor space to increase the efficiency and productivity of the DC s staff Scanner stations Scale tables Gravity pallet conveyor Calstone Workstations Redirack designed the state-of-theart storage facility for brand new equipment. 9 Live To Play Sports

10 Project Management The move to a new facility brought operational challenges that needed to be handled by a team with years of project management expertise. The success of the project relied not only on determining the most efficient storage solution, but also minimising interference with the company s daily business operations by ensuring that the project kept to a tight timeline. Working backwards, Redirack began the project by determining what products and storage arrangements would be the best fit for the DC. First, Redirack identified the company s storage objectives; how many SKUs needed to be stored, the approximate number of SKUs picked per day and the size of the picking team. Redirack s recommendations were implemented after providing a demonstration of the available storage options. For the purpose of comparing different products and processes, Redirack brought Live To Play Sports on site visits to other facilities. Seeing first-hand how the solutions operated enabled Live To Play Sports to take confident steps forward with the project. 10 Live To Play Sports

11 The team s recommendations were further proven by conducting in-house time trials to simulate the distribution process. By measuring picker trials against timed objectives, Redirack determined fewer pickers would be needed using a pick tower solution. Josh Maugeri, the Redirack sales representative managing the project, comments on the cooperation with the Live To Play Sports operations team. When Martin tells the story now he talks about how efficient and easyto-work with we were. Redirack has one of the hardest working teams I ve ever been around. I couldn t have done it without senior design/project manager Terry Bylinowski we were Martin McDonald, Operations Manager committed to finishing the project on time when all of our competitors said it couldn t be done. It was very satisfying when we accomplished this ahead of schedule. Josh Maugeri, Redirack We were committed to finishing the project on time when all of our competitors said it couldn t be done. 11 Live To Play Sports

12 Josh Maugeri Redirack Sales Representative Redirack - Head Office 1303 North Service Road East Oakville, Ontario L6H 1A7 Info.Oakville@redirack.com Live To Play Sports East 105 Queens Plate Dr, Unit #1 Etobicoke, Ontario M9W 7K4 Innovative solutions for storage and material handling systems