News
New national DC for hardware and fasteners specialist ITW Retail Group
14.03.2013
ITW Retail Group, Australia’s leading supplier of hardware and fasteners to the retail trade, is building a new high-tech 21,500 m² national distribution centre (DC) at South Dandenong in Melbourne
The new DC, which is scheduled to commence operations in the latter half of the year, will feature innovative integrated logistics and paperless picking technologies from Dematic.
ITW Retail Group’s National Operations Manager, Brian Angwin, said Dematic’s extensive logistics systems integration experience made it the company’s preferred choice of supplier.
"While all of the individual product, technology and software systems that go together to make a modern DC are important; it is how efficiently those systems are integrated that creates a logistics solution which is greater than the sum of its parts. And, when it comes to integrating complex logistics systems, Dematic’s experience locally and globally is second to none," he said.
"From where and how our products should be stored, through to the most-efficient and accurate way to pick, assemble and despatch orders, Dematic’s advice has been invaluable," added Mr Angwin.
"The new DC will not only enable us to pick and pack orders faster, more accurately and cost-efficiently than before, it will enable us to increase throughput volumes and provide us with the organisational agility to respond to changing customer demands over time."
A key feature of Dematic’s design is a smart zone-skipping conveyor system, which will transport orders only to those areas of the DC where items are required, reducing order processing time and increasing overall system throughput capacity.
Dematic’s Industry Manager, Darren Rawlinson, said: "A significant distribution challenge for ITW Retail Group is the fact that a large part of its SKU range can look very similar in appearance. For example, one pack of screws can look virtually identical to another; so accurate product ID was a key driver for our integrated logistics solution.
"In recent years we have assisted ITW Retail Group to make the switch from paper-based to paperless picking, through the use of RF scanning. A key feature of our solution for its new DC will be the introduction of voice-directed picking, which will further enhance accuracy and deliver increased productivity, throughput and OH&S benefits," said Mr Rawlinson.
Voice-directed trolleys will also be used for cluster picking of small or single line item orders in a multiple orders per tote (MOPT) configuration. RF will continue to be used for replenishment, put-away and inventory management requirements.
"While ITW Retail Group will initially be using voice technology for order fulfilment only, once the system is bedded down, we may also look at leveraging its functionality for other applications within the DC such as put-away and cycle counting," added Mr Rawlinson.
Dematic’s ColbyRACK storage solutions for the DC will include high-rise selective racking with the capacity to house more than 17,000 pallets.
A 3000 m2 mezzanine floor fitted out with heavy-duty ColbyRACK longspan shelving optimises the use of airspace, and provides capacity for future growth, with spiral conveyors transporting orders between the ground floor and raised storage area.
Completed orders will be transported to despatch by the integrated conveyor system and diverted to the appropriate packing bench by a 10 lane conveyor sorting system.
In addition to the DC’s storage and distribution systems, Dematic will also integrate its versatile PickDirector order fulfilment system with ITW Retail Group’s Pronto warehouse management system (WMS).
ITW Retail Group opted to locate its new national DC at South Dandenong due to the location’s close proximity to its national freight partner Toll Logistics.
"Being just a few minutes away from Toll will enable us to pick and despatch orders until later in the day, further improving order turnaround and service delivery to our extensive customer base in Australia," added Mr Angwin.
ITW Retail Group also operates regional DCs at Kewdale in Perth and at Banyo in Brisbane. The distributor will be closing its existing Victorian DC at Hallam after the new DC commences operations.