Anyone who manages a warehouse with intensive picking operations knows all too well that even the slightest inefficiency will impact productivity. In modern supply chains – particularly in sectors like e-commerce, retail, electronics and pharmaceutics– the product picking process is a critical factor; not just in terms of speed, but also precision, efficiency and meeting client expectations.
As demand grows, delivery times become shorter while expectations of precision rise. The question, then, is: how can we optimize picking without compromising on efficiency and precise product traceability?
For years now, automatic warehouses have been using tray systems and technologies. This is definitely a highly efficient solution for saving floorspace – particularly for voluminous items with medium-low rotation – but it has a few drawbacks when it comes to high rotation, multi-orders or batch picking.
Bin Storage Systems: the Revolution in Warehouse Picking
Traditional packing in certain sectors and circumstances does have some limitations, particularly for warehouses handling intensive picking and multi-order fulfilment. But now there’s an innovation that is revolutionising the very concept of picking: the integration of bins in automated storage systems.
The introduction of these bins and, more specifically, their use in automated picking means there’s now a more flexible, scalable solution for intensive picking operations. It allows material to be stored in a methodical, precise, orderly manner, using separators and dividers to organise bins into separate compartments. It also allows more than one product to be managed in the same bin, optimizing the processing of the various items, improving traceability and reducing picking times.
Let’s look at the main benefits in greater detail:
- Faster picking: while traditional systems use full tray picking, bins make it possible to request only the unit required.
- Improved precision and traceability: each bin can be given a code, to achieve optimal stock visibility and reduce errors.
- Perfect for multi-order picking and kitting: bins allow for optimal configurations for batch picking and bespoke order fulfilment, in sectors where several orders must be handled simultaneously.
- Optimized use of space: with a bin system, the warehouse can adapt to different sized products without wasting an inch of space.
In recent years, rapid innovation has enabled the sector to progress in leaps and bounds with this new method of storage and picking. At Modula, our team is working closely on developing this technology, designing vertical automatic warehouses that manage bins and can process up to 180 of them per hour.
Optimizing Multi-order Picking and Kitting with Bin Storage
In certain specific scenarios requiring even faster delivery times, organising and picking items using bins is an extremely strategic choice as it guarantees impressive efficiency for multi-order picking and kitting.
If we take multi-order picking – which allows workers to fulfil several orders simultaneously while minimising their movements around the warehouse – using bins makes it possible to precisely subdivide every order in dedicated compartments. This leads to clearer, more structured warehouse management, reducing picking errors and optimizing the entire workflow.
Kitting is essential in sectors where kits of components must be assembled quickly and without errors; here, using bins makes it easier to pick the individual items within a kit, quickly and efficiently. Components can be stored, organised and retrieved in a more rational way, reducing waste and ensuring a smoother workflow.
It’s clear that introducing bins to automatic warehouses not only improves picking and kitting management but is also a step up from traditional tray-based systems. This translates into substantial time savings and lower operational costs, two key factors for any business that aspires to remain competitive in the current market.
From E-commerce to Pharmaceuticals: How Bin Picking Is Transforming Logistics
The introduction of bin picking systems represents a strategic advancement for a range of sectors that have advanced logistics needs. Let’s take a detailed look at how this technology can transform warehouse management for e-commerce, the retail sector, the electronics and pharmaceutical industries, and how it can optimize kitting for the automotive supply chain.
E-commerce
Logistics for e-commerce is subject to high variability, with significant fluctuations in order volumes throughout the day. The broad range of products and the expectation for fast order fulfilment present major challenges for picking optimization. Using bins allows multi-order picking to be managed in a more flexible, organised manner, by clearly separating the SKUs and cutting retrieval times. This drastically reduces the risk of errors, improving order accuracy and improving customer satisfaction.
Retail
In the retail supply chain, fast and accurate inventory management is vital for efficiently meeting seasonal peaks in demand and increasingly demanding customer expectations. Retail logistics involves a vast range of items with different shapes and sizes, making it particularly complex – even more so during promotions, commercial events or seasonal sales. By using bin picking, retail warehouses can manage goods with extreme flexibility, allowing fast, precise retrieval of individual SKUs, and ensuring timely product assortment. This technology significantly improves multi-order management, while drastically reducing order errors and increasing the speed with which products arrive on the shelves, thus improving the overall shopping experience for customers.
Electronics
The electronics industry is different in that it involves extremely delicate components which may be tiny in size, but high in value. Precision is essential, both to prevent damage to goods during storage and picking, and to ensure complete traceability for each item. Bin picking guarantees the optimal separation of items, protecting them from accidental knocks and contamination. Moreover, the ability to efficiently manage lots and serial numbers ensures rigorous stock control, keeping the risk of loss to a minimum, while guaranteeing fluid integration with manufacturing processes.
Pharmaceuticals
Logistics for the pharmaceutical industry is regulated by strict standards requiring meticulous checks of every stage of the warehousing and distribution process. The need to guarantee the utmost traceability and product integrity makes a precise, reliable picking system vital. Bins allow warehouses to manage medications, medical devices and sensitive materials in an orderly, safe manner, keeping every SKU separate from the others and easy to access. Controlled retrieval reduces the margin of error while ensuring regulatory compliance, preventing waste and guaranteeing the timely distribution of healthcare products.
Automotive
Lastly, in the automotive sector bin storage is used mainly for kitting: this is a logistics process employed to gather and prepare a series of components or materials required for a specific activity, such as assembling a product, all at the same time. With kitting, the various items – which may be divided by type and dimension – are grouped together to form a single kit that can be easily distributed to the production lines or departments that require this package of components.
Flexibox optimizes the kitting process thanks to modular bins, which allow the components to be efficiently organised, streamlining the workflow and reducing operational costs. This approach also improves buffering, ensuring that materials are ready for assembly and reducing delays or mistakes.
The New Benchmark for Modern Logistics
Tray storage systems are a good solution but not always the most effective choice, given today’s market which demands ever-increasing flexibility and precision. With bins, every stage of picking can be optimized – from inventory management to error reduction – to achieve the overall objective of more efficient distribution.
Our new warehouse is set to be launched very soon. It is the ideal solution for logistics professionals seeking an advanced system for managing orders. Seamless integration with the WMS software, which controls the entire process, ensures that items are combined intelligently and brought to the bay only when required, optimizing every phase of picking.
For businesses in sectors with high picking flows this is nothing short of revolutionary. And the good news is, this innovative technology will soon be available to transform your warehouse too!
How to optimize picking operations?
