Daifuku Intralogistics America’s Innovative Solutions for the Peak Season

Peak season is here - and spending is expected to return to pre-pandemic levels that were last seen from 2010-2019. That said, optimizing solutions in fulfillment centers and on warehouse floors becomes more important to get items sorted and off to end users faster and in time for the holidays.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), the 2023 holiday shopping season is expected to reach record spending levels. In fact, the NRF estimates that spending will grow by 3 and 4 percent in the months of November and December, respectively, compared to 2022. Total spending is expected to increase from $957 billion in 2022 to nearly $967 billion this season.

Daifuku understands the importance of peak season and partners with all of our clients in helping them prepare for this season not only with our automation designs but also providing guidance and support throughout the season. Is your fulfillment center ready to meet the increase in demand?

Utilize Efficient Automation Equipment Such as the Good-to-Person Picking System

One way to combat the headaches the peak season brings is to utilize efficient picking technologies to improve picking rates and lower labor requirements. One way we do this is by using a Goods-To-Person picking system.

In simple terms, Daifuku Wynright's good-to-person (GTP) automated picking system supplies a stock container and an order collection container to a worker at a designated workstation. The worker simply has to follow basic instructions on their workstation display and select the required items or quantity of items from the stock inventory container and then simply place them in the order collection container. This system works in conjunction with Daifuku’s Warehouse Control System, or WCS, to effectively and efficiently automate picking.

GTP is an alternative to conventional cart-picking systems where workers have to walk up and down aisles and select items from shelves. It's estimated that workers can spend as much as 60 percent of their time on the job walking the warehouse floor and selecting the items needed to fulfill the order. Cart picking is also known as "person-to-goods" picking, as the worker is actively seeking the items. With good-to-person picking solutions, the items are coming directly to the worker.

Using Scalable Technologies Such as AMR’s

Another way we combat peak season is to design leveraging technologies that scale easily. One technology that scales well is AMR’s (Autonomous Mobile Robots). Many AMR providers have lease programs that allow customers to simply add vehicles to their fleet as demand increases. This allows customers to not have to hold extra underutilized equipment during non-peak season and simply scale up when it is necessary. AMR’s can be used in a variety of way including but not limited to, picking, replenishing, container movement, etc. Daifuku Wynright’s WCS seamlessly integrates not only our own technologies, but also the latest and most innovative.

Smart Slotting SKU’s based on Increased Demand

Peak season pressure can also be alleviated by maximizing system efficiency by ensuring each pick area is properly slotted with the right SKU’s based on upcoming activity. Often times customers see demand for SKU’s increase for peak season making replenishment demand get out of control. Leveraging good planning and software design, systems can prepare for this by moving SKUs to different pick areas. For example, an item that might have been picked from a case or tote out of a Shuttle GTP system might make more sense to pick directly of a pallet out of a Unit Load ASRS system.  

By moving SKU’s around as demand increase, we not only maximize the efficiency of the equipment we reduce replenishment demand which will lead to a savings in additional automation equipment.

We are the world’s leading provider of AS/RS systems, with over 32,000 stacker crane installations since 1966. With Daifuku Wynright’s high-density vertical storage solutions, you can maximize your floor space by 90% and boost your labor efficiency by up to 66%. Daifuku Wynright's offers a range of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) that can store and retrieve products faster, safer, and more affordably. Whether you need to handle pallets, cartons, totes, or trays.

Our AS/RS systems help you optimize your space, efficiency, accuracy, and productivity, whether you are serving brick and mortar stores or fulfilling online orders. With our AS/RS systems, you can achieve your goals and deliver the best service to your customers.

We offer:

- AS/RS Miniload: Miniload is ahigh-speed, high-density buffer that can replace conventional static rack to maximize vertical storage space in a compact footprint.

- AS/RS Shuttle: The AS/RS Shuttle is a fast, high throughput vehicle-type AS/RS Miniload system that provides dense storage with picking and sorting functions.

- AS/RS Unitload: AS/RS Unitload is a high-density pallet storage system designed to maximize vertical pallet space with fast, accurate retrieval in a compact footprint.

- Automated Pallet Monorail: The Automated Pallet Monorail or Sorting Transfer Vehicle (STV) is a pallet sorting system designed to provide high-throughput material handling in conjunction with AS/RS.

Right sizing for Peak

Daifuku Wynright develops solutions which blend various technologies and picking methods to both lessen the need for labor during peak but also ensuring that our customers achieve their objectives for ROI for material handling automation.   Our innovative peak season order fulfillment solutions represent an additional arrow in the quiver of peak season mitigation strategies that will drive increased order fulfillment efficiencies, higher ROI(s), and the best way to get products to your customers on-time.