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GBI's Paperless Pick to Light System - Automated Picking System 
This paperless pick to light (picking) system may be used for picking (pulling) product or putting (placing) product as an economical alternative to manual picking or putting (placing) of product for lower volume operations. It is designed to electronically assist sorting personnel in pulling (pick) or placing (put) SKU's to meet order requirements. It removes the thinking and reading aspect at the pick/put level by using a scanner or other input to identify an order and lights and numbers to identify product and pick/put quantity. What Is a Pick-to-Light or Picking System? The Paperless Pick to Light System (Picking System) is designed to electronically assist sorting personnel in locating the pick location for each line item on the order for any given zone. The operator would scan the order and the quantity to be picked is displayed on the "display module" at the bin location. Once the pick is completed, the operator presses the "send" button on the display module and data is electronically transmitted resulting in real-time order and parts tracking. What is Put-to-Light System for Placing Products? In a Put-to-Light application the orders are placed by the modules. The product is pulled from storage in bulk and then removed from the carton and placed with the appropriate order according to the displayed quantities, as indicated by the "display module. As with the pick process, once the put is complete the operator presses the "send" button on the display module and the data is electronically transmitted resulting in real-time order and parts tracking. How It Works The Paperless Pick to Light System is an automated picking system that assists operators in pulling (picking) or placing (putting) product to meet order requirements. It consists of a PPS Server, pick modules, lights and controls. The pick modules and/or lights are located either above or below the bin location of the appropriate sku (pick) or order (put). When multiple shelf units or bays are utilized, light beacons serve to attract the attention of the operator to a specific shelf unit or bay that contains pick or put requirements. Files are uploaded from your host to the GBI PPS Server delineating the pick or put requirements for each order and the location of each sku or order within the shelf unit. As the order is scanned at each zone the database is referenced and a light is illuminated at the sku location required for the order. At the same time that the cell location is identified a quantity is illuminated on the Pick Module indicating the required amount for that sku. Where multiple bays are employed, a zone or bay beacon simultaneously lights up indicating that there are requirements for that sku within the zone. Product is then pulled from the product carton and placed with the order in the appropriate quantities as indicated by the pick module display. After each operator removes the product from the pick location he/she depresses a button on the pick module indicating that the requirement has been filled. When the last item within the zone has been pulled, the beacon light for that zone is automatically extinguished. This is an indication to the operator to pass the order onto the next zone and scan the next incoming order tote. Increment and decrement buttons are located on each pick module to allow the operator to adjust the quantity displayed to match the actual amount being supplied (in the event of a shortage). The system fully tracks the "pick" in real time as the order is assembled. The lights and quantity display speed up the picking process and increase picking accuracy by indicating where the product is located and how much is needed. Additional functions are available to notify floor personnel if a shortage occurs during the process. The PPS automatically detects the condition that an amount less than the requirement was recorded by the operator so that various notifications can be implemented. Pick Module or Multi-Colored Indicator Light [ Module Layout ] Each Pick Module comes with a bright indicator light. This indicator light is capable of lighting red, green, or amber. It may be used in several ways. One use of this feature is to indicate quantities exceeding 99 pieces (a green light would indicate 100 plus the displayed amount). Another use could be to indicate a status change for that SKU (use your imagination). Still another could be to allow more than one operator to operate within the same zone. In the multiple operator scenario, each operator would be assigned a barcode hand scanner or input. Each of these hand scanners is further associated to a color so that when the order license plate is scanned by the "red" associated scanner, the pick requirement within the zone would indicate a quantity with a red light. The green scanner would show the pick requirement with the green light and so on. Should there be a simultaneous requirement for the same sku from both operators, one color would light first and the second would light up immediately after the first was filled.
System Benefits of Pick to Light System
Common Features of Pick to Light System
Why GBI's Pick to Light System over others?
Active-X Control Displays GBI's control screens include visual working representations of the Pick Modules. The operator may tab from one section to another and actually take over the operation of the section down to the module level. This becomes handy in the event that a sort needs to be run even though the units themselves have become damaged. Because our systems can be displayed remotely, any person given accessibility to these function could monitor real time operations from anywhere on the Internet. Pick to Light Modules Pick Slot Display Unit Several Pick to Light Modules are available for the picking system depending on your volume and cost requirements. The Pick Slot Display Unit shown above is used for high volume picks or puts and has a number readout, a "send" button, and increment/decrement buttons. In a pick application, upon receiving an order to a zone the tote is scanned and the quantity required is displayed at the sku location on your flow rack. In the event that product runs short of the requirement during a pick, the operator would use the increment/decrement keys to display the amount furnished and then depress the send button. Over amounts are not accepted. Deficits are immediately reported for replenishment. After completing a zone the package is sent downstream to the next requirement. The Paperless Pick System alerts the operator when an order is complete for appropriate action. The Paperless Pick System Server can alert the WMS immediately upon reaching an order complete condition, or when a zone is approaching a low inventory level (with optional replenishment software) regardless of operator procedures. Bay Display Unit For slower moving products the Bay Display Unit is used in place of individual Pick to Light Modules. This unit is similar electronically to the Pick to Light Module with the exception that there is an additional two characters both of which are alpha numeric. These two digits are used to display row and column locations for the pick/put while the other two digits display the quantity required for the pick/put. Bay Light The Bay Light is used to cut down unnecessary footsteps by identifying flow racks that have product to be picked or placed. This is useful when an operator is working within a zone consisting of several flow racks. Upon receiving or scanning an incoming order the bay light will illuminate above any flow rack requiring product to be picked or placed. Row and Column Lights As an alternate or in addition to the Bay Display Unit, lights may be placed above each column and/or at side of each row or shelf to identify the location of the directed pick/put. Module Layout [ View Layout ] Each module may be removed easily and snapped back into place without the use of tools. The units are wired with ribbon connectors. There is a total of four quick disconnect connections to the circuit board, only three in 90% of the cases. One connection is the switch panel that connects the tactile click switches to the module, one for power (1 out of 10), and two for communications. How does the software work? There are various levels of sophistication available depending on customer requirements. In all cases generous use of Windows graphical screens are employed for easy interpretation and user control. Data Integration The high-end system utilizes a Windows™ 2000 Server with Windows™ 2000-networked pick zone workstations as needed. Data is stored in either Microsoft SQL or Access format depending on the magnitude of the requirements. The system provides direct data access using off the shelf tools such as Excel, and Access allowing the user to easily create custom reports or statistical analysis charts and graphs. The Windows platform permits seamless cross platform integration to various hosts including AS 400's and Unix based Warehouse Management Systems. The TCP/IP protocol with FTP provides a high degree of communications integrity. In simpler installations a Microsoft Access database may be employed using Ethernet communications with the host. Standard Features of Paperless Pick to Light System
Optional Software - Reports for Paperless Pick to Light System
Personnel Requirement Report The Personnel Requirement Report is used to determine the manpower requirement for each zone or sub zone and may be run at any time in the course of the day. The most preferred time to run this report is at the beginning of the day after the order batch or wave requirement has been loaded to the Paperless Pick System Server or at any time following the loading of a new batch or wave. Replenishment Analysis Report for Paperless Pick to Light System The replenishment Analysis Report is used to examine the flow rack inventory levels against the current order requirements. Shortage reports will show where to acquire replenishment product for each SKU. The layout of the report is logical and low levels are flagged for review. Traffic Monitor Display for Paperless Pick to Light System The Traffic Monitor is a program that tracks order movement through the Paperless Pick System. A graphical representation of the warehouse zones is displayed on the screen with a summary of order requirement quantities shown for each zone. Tabs across the top allow the operator to choose which Zone to display. Clicking on the detail button while any sub zone is highlighted will bring up the list of orders and quantities required for that zone. This program may be run at any time and orders may be located by order or tote. Order Tracking Report for Paperless Pick to Light System Any order may be tracked during the pick process by entering the Order Tracking function of the reports' menu. The operator simply enters the order number and a detailed report is displayed or printed showing where the order has been from the start to that moment in time. This report includes the sub-zones it entered, the personnel who worked on it and all time stamps. Personnel Performance Report for Paperless Pick to Light System This report is used to accumulate the productivity of each individual operating within the PPS. Login and logout times are recorded by operator number and all orders with quantities are recorded in the database. At the end of each day (or start of the next) this data is purged from the active database and archived for later analysis. Reports may be generated by worker, zone, sub-zone or the entire warehouse and is intended to be used to analyze warehouse productivity and to show up trouble spots. The archived data is also used when running the Personnel Assignment program with the Intelligent Assistant to assign more productive workers to the active zones based on each workers area of efficiency. See " Sample Sorters" for complete description of a sample Paperless Pick to Light System or Put to Light System Applications. See "Sorter Applications" for some examples of applications or processes that are greatly improved through automation using GBI's Sortation Systems. OEM Materials available on request. GBI Data & Sorting Systems • 1143 West Newport Center Drive • Deerfield Beach, FL 33442 USA |
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