Inside look at Rocky Brands Inc.‘s E-commerce Distribution Center: Upgrade with lights

Rocky Brands Inc., Logan, Ohio

Size: 200,000 square feet, plus a 35,000-square-foot mezzanine

Products: Footwear and apparel

Stock Keeping Units: 43,000

Throughput: From 18,000 to 20,000 units per shift

Shifts: 2 shifts per day; 5 days a week

Employees: 54 full-time employees plus seasonal fluctuations.

Read the full Rocky Brands Inc. System Report article here.

The combination of put-to-light technology and new conveyor and sortation has allowed Rocky Brands to increase throughput and meet new customer service requirements as it expands its e-commerce business.

Receiving

In 2012, the facility was designated a Foreign Trade Zone, which allows Rocky Brands to delay paying duties until product is shipped out of the facility. Inbound trailers arriving at receiving (1) are floor-loaded to maximize the cube of the trailer or container. Once receivers verify the load against an advance ship notification (ASN), pre-labeled cartons are manually unloaded and scanned to pallets. Once a pallet is complete, it’s staged and a license plate bar code label is applied. The product is now ready for putaway into the high-bay reserve and active storage area (2).

Putaway

Product is stored in the high-bay, narrow-aisle reserve and active storage area (2) on shelving at the case level, rather than on pallets. The lower area of the storage area is designated for active picking. Storage areas above 7 feet are used for reserve storage. Pallets are delivered to a cherry picker servicing the aisle selected for storage. Cartons are scanned, then putaway, updating the warehouse management system (WMS). In addition to the reserve and active storage area, some slow-moving items are stored in the mezzanine area (3), where a new sortation system is also located (4).

Picking

The facility manages several different picking processes that are system directed by the WMS.

Full case to shipping

The system directs an associate to a storage location (2), where a full case of product is picked to a pallet. Once all of the items assigned to that associate have been picked, the pallet is delivered straight to a staging area (5) for shipping (6).

Case to sortation

This process is designed for processing a large batch of orders. Full cases are pulled from reserve storage (2) and delivered to the induction area (7), either on pallets or carts. Processing a wave at a time, the WMS identifies the carts and pallets it needs to fulfill that wave. The cases are inducted (7) on to the conveyor (8) and then sorted to a chute (4) that leads to one of the putwalls (9). Once in that area, the associate on one side of the putwall scans a bar code label on a carton, and the put-to-light system tells the associate how many items to pull from the carton and then indicates the area for the put. Cartons are then returned to storage (2).

Pick to cart

This is similar to case to sortation, except that it is designed for individual picks. The system directs an associate to a location in the active pick zone. Once there, the associate is directed to pick a specific number of items to a location on the cart. When all of the picks are complete, the associate stages the totes at the induction line (7), where they’ll be placed on the conveyor (8) and sorted to a chute to be delivered to packing (4).

SKU reserve pick

Shoe and apparel sizes that are ordered in lower volumes, like size 7 or 15 men’s shoes, are stored in a separate area of the warehouse referred to as SKU reserve (10). These are picked to a cart, just like the process described above, and taken to the induction area (7). They are then sorted (4) to the putwall area (9) for processing.

Packing/shipping

Single line orders can be conveyed directly to a shrink wrap tunnel (11), where they are wrapped and then conveyed to the shipping sorter (12). From there, they are delivered to the right shipping lane (6) for that order. Multiple line orders are processed at the putwall (9). As described earlier, the system directs associates on one side of the wall to put items into a location representing an order. Once all of the items for that order are in a location, a packer on the other side of the wall is directed to pack the items for shipping. Once packed, orders are conveyed to the shipping sorter (12), and sorted to the right lane (6) for shipment. Depending on the size of the order, product will be palletized and staged (5) until it is loaded onto a truck. Or, it will be automatically conveyed into a truck for delivery.

Narrow aisle storage optimizes floor and storage space in the facility.

System suppliers

Put-to-light System: Lightning Pick
Consulting: Exceed Consulting
System Design, Integration and Warehouse Control System: KMH Equipment & Services
WMS: Manhattan Associates
Conveyor/Sortation: Hytrol
Racking: Unarco Material Handling
Putwall: Unex
Lift Trucks: Crown
Bar Code Scanning and Printing: Zebra Technologies
Document Printing: Brother
Stretch Wrap: Lantech; Wulftec;Robopac
Shrink Wrap Tunnel: Conflex
Print and Apply: Fox IV Technologies