Pick-to-Light System
These are one of the most productive order fulfillment solutions for warehousing and distribution centers for individual item selection. Pick-to-Light systems provide users with increased productivity and accuracy, and reduced costs throughout all the stages of the order filling process. Because this system is easy to use, productivity gains are obtainable virtually immediately with little or no learning curve for new and seasonal employees.
The bright and easy-to-see lights, or displays, quickly direct the order picker to the proper pick locations in the distribution center and indicate the required pick quantities. The order picker is not hindered by a pick list or pencil offering considerable flexibility versus more traditional means of order fulfillment. The systems can also be easily reconfigured to handle changes in order selection requirements and to handle seasonal demands.
Pick-to-Light systems can be installed on most rack or shelving and come in a wide selection of hardware and software configurations, providing the right solution to meet specific order filling needs. Pick-to-Light systems support operations with or without bar codes, tethered or RF (Radio Frequency) scanning, as well as multiple forms of display hardware.
In addition, Pick-to-Light systems can be configured for filling multiple orders simultaneously. In situations where order fillers are assigned to large zones, this option increases productivity by minimizing walk time.
Put-to-Light System
Put-to-Light technology is similar to Pick-to-Light, but in reverse for things such as stocking and returns. In this type of order processing, each shelf or storage location is assigned to an individual order. Items are pulled from other storage areas as batch picks and placed into totes that travel to the carousel or racks and are scanned upon arrival.
This notifies the WMS (Warehouse Management System) that the pulled SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is available for assignment. The WMS next illuminates lights and quantity indicators adjacent to each of the order accumulation shelves that require the SKU. The worker simply pulls items from the tote and puts them into the designated locations.