equipment
to light the best choice for a zone
that wouldn’t otherwise fit the profile. An example would be a zone
that doesn’t contain any fast movers
but would nonetheless benefit from
improved picking accuracy.
Broadfoot adds that in some
instances, the need for consistency
will override all other considerations. “If you find that you have 100
SKUs that need to be managed by
pick to light but you have a total of
300 SKUs, then let’s just put lights on
all 300 SKUs,” he says. “That way, the
business process will be the same for
everyone involved.”
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Inevitably, any discussion of how to get
the most from pick to light will turn to
costs. With the lights alone costing somewhere around $50 a pop, pick to light isn’t
cheap. But there are ways to economize.
One is to stay away from the “extras”
when choosing a system. Most manufacturers offer a base package that doesn’t
include all of the bells and whistles (like
reporting capabilities and labor tracking),
and some offer models designed specifically as low-cost alternatives (like IPTI’s
Pick-MAX Micro). These solutions can
provide a good entrée into the technology
without breaking the bank.
Another option is leasing. Broadfoot
reports that some smaller companies—say,
those with around 100 pick locations—have
found leasing to be an affordable choice.
There are also opportunities to save
money at the installation stage. “One of
the shortcomings of pick to light is that it
requires a light for every pick location,
which can be relatively expensive,” says
Gillespie. “You can eliminate some of the
costs by having a light share multiple pick
locations or a light for one whole bay, but
then you lose some of the accuracy.”
Remsing adds that some customers
have kept costs down by handling some of
the installation work themselves. They
provide most of the labor and have just
one or two people from the manufacturer
participate as supervisors.
Companies sometimes try to save
money by installing RF or voice systems
in areas that are more suitable for pick to
light, but they’re fooling themselves, says
Gillespie. Although people often assume
pick to light is the highest-priced option,
he says, that’s not always the case. “If you
have a [small] number of SKUs and a
[large] number of pickers,” he says, “then
RF and voice picking are generally going
to cost more [than pick to light].”
Rather than focusing on initial cost
alone, says Romaine, DC managers would
do better to take a hard look at how the
technology fits with the company’s strategic goals. If pick to light emerges as the
logical choice from the standpoint of productivity, space constraints, and accuracy,
it will likely prove to be the economical
choice as well.
