Managing Fluctuating e-Commerce Demand with Flexible Automation
Headquartered in Mississauga, ON, TSC is a leading interactive, multi-channel retailer, offering a vast assortment of exclusive products and top brand names to customers throughout Canada. With roots as a televised shop-from-home service reaching into over 7 million Canadian households, TSC expanded to online, growing into one of Canada’s most innovative retailers. Over 15,000 quality products are available to customers 24-7 with the click of a button or quick phone call. Managing and distributing 15,000 rotating SKUs can be quite the challenge, but TSC is meeting customer delivery expectations at every turn.
TSC is supported by a 300,000 square foot warehouse equipped with the latest material handling technology, shipping roughly 10,000 orders a day. Accounting for 20% of the business, jewelry order demand is highly variable depending on the shows and promotions currently running. Order fluctuation was a challenge for labor resources, sometimes stagnant and other times overwhelmed. Jewelry needed a flexible order fulfillment solution that could scale to handle demand peaks, but also work efficiently during slower periods.
The Solution
Now, three Kardex Megamats combined with Kardex Power Pick System inventory management software are used to manage the jewelry and coin inventory. “Because of the small size and high value, jewelry was perfect for carousel technology,” said Sue McGibbon, Jewelry Manager.
The flexible fulfillment solution is driven by customer demand. “Order volume is highly variable depending on the current promotions and that was a big labor challenge for us in the past,” said McGibbon, “but with the carousels we’re able to manage the fluctuation easily.”
With the implementation of the Kardex Megamats and moving returns handling to another department, jewelry distribution requires 10 people; down from 22 previously required to receive, pick, pack, ship and process returns.
Three Kardex Megamats combined with a Kardex Power Pick System and a 120 position batch station support jewelry order fulfillment – using 54% less labor and increasing productivity by 600% in 75% less floor space.
3 Kardex Megamats Height: 29 feet |
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Kardex Power Pick System | |
120-position batch station |