A novel approach to online fulfillment order picking is making waves in the logistics industry. By combining traditional warehouse ‘wave’ picking techniques with cutting-edge sorting robots, Rainbow Dynamics is achieving impressive improvements in picking rates.
The Rise of E-commerce and the Challenges for Logistics
The UK e-commerce market, one of the most advanced in Europe, is expected to reach a staggering £152 billion by the end of 2025. This relentless growth has brought significant challenges for the logistics industry, including complex inventory management and increased pressure on packing operations. The demand for super-quick order processing to meet promised delivery times in an ultra-competitive market has never been higher.
Wave Picking and Robotic Sorting: Revolutionizing Fulfillment Warehouses
Despite the inefficiencies of traditional manual order picking systems, they remain widely used in fulfillment warehouses. However, a new approach that combines long-established warehouse ‘wave’ picking techniques with state-of-the-art sorting robots is delivering remarkable improvements in picking rates. This method involves the Warehouse Management System strategically consolidating individual orders into cohesive “waves” or batches, allowing operators to retrieve entire waves of items in one efficient sweep. This drastically reduces on-site labor requirements and achieves picking rates of up to 2000 items per hour.
The wave-picked items are then meticulously sorted by specialized sorting robots, allowing individual orders to be consolidated. This integration of wave picking and robotic sorting surpasses traditional single order picking solutions, setting new benchmarks for efficiency in logistics and supply chain management.
In this innovative approach to online fulfillment, the synergy between wave picking and robotic sorting technologies is revolutionizing fulfillment warehouses, elevating productivity levels, and achieving greater accuracy in order fulfillment. As the e-commerce market continues to grow, could this be the future of logistics and supply chain management?
