Sortation equipment is an expensive form of automation that is typically integrated with a conveyor system and installed downstream from picking. It is used mostly when picking cartons, because they tend to be fairly uniform in dimension and weight.
A sortation system enables pick lists to be constructed purely for effificiency. For example, if twenty customers all want SKU A, it might make sense to send one order picker to pick all the requested SKU A in one trip and rely on the sortation system to separate it all out for the customers.
Naturally this requires scanning technologies (bar codes or RFID) and signifificant IT support for real-time control.
There are many different types of sorters, depending on required speeds and types of material to be handled. One common sorter is a push sorter, which simply pushes a passing carton off the main conveyor and onto an alternative path, such as onto a spur at which an order collects. A tilt-tray sorter is used for material that cannot be easily pushed but can slide, such as apparel. Also, a tilt-tray sorter does not need to know the orientation of the item it carries, while a push sorter typically must know the size and orientation.
Tilt trays serve as both conveyor and sorter; but they must circulate and so must be built as loop. In contrast, a belt conveyor can be run from one point to another and so can be cheaper.
It is a challenge to design an effective sortation system because it must handle a range of sizes, shapes, and textures; and it must have suffificient capacity as well as the ability to handle surges. Another important design issue is to decide how many spurs are required, because this limits the number of orders that can be picked at a time.There are also challenges in deciding how orders should be assigned to spurs and how recirculation should be managed (exit the system? recirculate? divert into a separate recirculation lane?).
As with all automation, there is an element of risk: A broken sorter can idle the entire warehouse.
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