APPLICATIONS
A look at how DCs are using equipment and
services to rev up their operations
The right fit
As it prepared to open a new DC, third-party
fulfillment specialist DMG needed a sortation
system that could reliably process up to 100
shoeboxes per minute. It found what it needed
in Interroll’s horizontal cross-belt sorter.
WITH ITS NEW CRANBURY, N.J., DISTRIBUTION
facility set to open, third-party logistics service provider
Distribution Management Group Inc. (DMG) was looking for a fast and flexible material handling system. At the
new site, the company would be responsible for sorting,
packing, and shipping products for its clients in the footwear industry, and it needed equipment that could reliably
process 100 shoeboxes per minute. With the clock ticking,
DMG turned to one of its long-time suppliers, Baltimore,
Maryland-based systems integrator Conveyor Handling Co.
(CHC), for help finding the right system.
CHC was a logical choice for the job. It has been designing solutions for manufacturing companies, e-commerce
and retail distributors, and others since its inception in
1975. Despite this deep expertise, it faced an interesting
challenge with the DMG project: finding a sortation system
that could handle the client’s high product volumes.
Technically it was possible, just not in the way DMG had
imagined, the company realized.
“[DMG] originally wanted us to design a distribution
center modeled after its existing facilities,” explained Rich
Rittermann, vice president of operations at CHC, in a
release. “In this instance, an employee would push a cart up
and down each aisle, picking shoes as they went; when the
cart was full, they’d move it to a central sorting area, where
other workers would start pulling boxes off the different
carts and packing them until each order was filled. There
was nothing wrong with their process, except that I knew
it would be too labor-intensive and eventually become
unmanageable at the volumes they were anticipating. They
needed an automatic sortation system, and it was my job to
convince them of that.”
Rittermann had previous experience with automated
sortation systems, but the combination of high product
volumes and the need to sort color, size, and style combi-
nations by the hundreds led him to consult with Interroll,
a material handling solutions provider that happened to
be working on a shoe distribution center in Mexico. After
careful consideration, the companies agreed that Interroll’s
horizontal cross-belt sorter would be the right fit for
DMG’s distribution center.
FAST AND ACCURATE
Unlike traditional crossbelt sorters, Interroll’s solution
uses a pneumatically actuated plate and drive wheel mechanism—rather than a motor on each carrier—to transfer
goods to the appropriate chute. According to the company,
this reduces electricity costs and simplifies maintenance to
increase reliability. It also makes the sorter versatile; the
gentle motion means it can be used with delicate products
like eggs and yogurt, and still be powerful enough to move
heavy sacks of grain or animal feed, Interroll says.
The system is both smart and accurate, with automatic
recirculation of “no reads” and overflow products—a particularly important feature in e-tail, where system demands
are unpredictable. The sorter is also “smart” about floor
space, according to the manufacturer. The unit features
a modular design that’s both compact and easy to recon-figure, Interroll says. In this particular application, CHC
double-stacked the conveyor, maximizing the system’s
throughput without increasing its footprint.
As for the results, CHC’s leaders say they consider the
project a success. “I was very pleased with the cooperation
between Interroll, DMG, and the CHC installation team
and project managers,” Rittermann said in the statement.
“It was a big step forward for our customer. It’s using [the
new sorter] every day and is shipping out 15,000 to 30,000
pairs of shoes each day, with capacity for much more.” n
