Retail Carousel Systems: Jewelry Chain Keeps Inventory Moving — Increases Productivity And Security

Eleven specially designed vertical carousels hold more than 95 percent of the highturnover baggable items. Each carousel handles up to 216 SKUs. The balance, mostly small quantities of discontinued items, is stocked on static shelving nearby.

Each carousel has 18 pans, which hold 12 boxes in dedicated positions. Higher volume items are kept in "golden" zones: in the center of each pan. Batches of orders for 16 stores are picked concurrently.

When picking commences, a special cart is wheeled beneath the carousel work counter. The cart has 16 totes, in two rows of eight, to align with eight slots in the counter, so that as the items are picked, they are simply dropped through the counter into the correct tote. The operator doesn't have to take her eyes from the work being done. Guide rails were installed to ensure proper alignment of the cart.

The carousel rotates upon instructions from the computer. A light bar signals which box on the pan contains the items while the computer screen displays the quantity.

At the same time, a 16-position sortbar, installed into the counter between the rows of slots, indicates the quantity of that item to be shipped to each store in the batch.

After each line on the order, the operator hits on of several task complete buttons and the carousels rotate automatically to the next pan level required. Operators can pick an average of 1000 pieces per hour using this system.