Disclaimer: The following descriptions are provided for information purposes only and is not guaranteed by the seller nor the auctioneer. You, the purchaser are responsible for inspecting the item and purchasing it “as is”. The following equipment sells “subject to the seller’s confirmation”. We will offer it in separate components and it its entirety. Please go to the auction catalog of sale to view/bid on the system. The Seller will consider all serious offers prior to the auction. Please contact the auctioneer @ 205-296-8256

CMS automation system equipment for TOHE

General Description:

All equipment (conveyor, pick module, pick-to-light, air compressor, weigh-in-motion scales, electrical controls, control panel, scanners, work stations, taper, …) is tier 1 (best/highest) quality and has received regularly scheduled preventive maintenance by the systems integrator who designed and built the system – FORTE Industries ( In addition, the equipment was visually inspected by a senior technical representative on a periodic basis for performance, wear, and tear, and always found to be in excellent working order. The original detailed systems operations and equipment specification document is available for review and discussion with FORTE for potential re-use in another application.

The current equipment application includes:

  • Two pick modules, each with its one pick line and each being one of the levels of a two-level rack structure,
  • A central merge for the two pick lines,
  • A packing sorter with an inline scale for weight check and sort destinations for audit, pack list application, and packing,
  • A packing area, including 36 work stations
  • A closeout and taping area (3 lines),
  • At shipping, an inline scale for weight capture and a direct truck loading line
  • A trash line in the pick module feeding an automatic baler

According to FORTE:

  • Assuming the automated material handling equipment Conveyor, pick module, pick-to-light, scales) is properly dismantled, transported, and re-installed utilizing a properly designed electrical controls system, it could be re-used in a variety of warehousing or manufacturing applications as “like new” with minor modifications for conveyor speed changes, varying elevations, product flow controls, etc.
  • The conveyor equipment was designed for higher throughput volumes and more extensive usage than was actually experienced. As such, on a relative basis, this equipment is barely broken in.
  • The conveyor equipment is 100% standard design, and can be easily expanded and/or reconfigured, as well as incorporated into an existing system with other conveyor brands – depending upon application.

Specific Automated Material Handling Equipment Descriptions:

The following general specifications are intended to be descriptions only, and not intended to be exact specifications for any particular use, fit or finish in any application. Seller in no way represents or warrants that the equipment is suitable for any material handling application that buyer intends to commission.

Material that Equipment is Capable of Handling

Totes

Only one (1) tote is used (Orbis Model # SN3024-15) and is considered to be the largest size that can be used on the system.

Tote size and weight range

LengthWidthHeightWeight (Min* - Max)

Outside Bottom26”21”15.1”11#- 60#

Outside Top30.1”24”15.1”11# - 60 #

*The minimum weight is the weight of the tote empty.

Cartons

Conveyable carton sizes and weights

LengthWidth*Height**Weight

Minimum9”6”3”3 #

Maximum30”24”20”45 #

Average length for speed and rate of calculations=22”.

Other Conveyable Product

Offered equipment is capable of handling a wide variety of other product sizes and shapes within the general dimensions and weights noted above. Consult with a qualified technical resource to determine suitability.

Pallets in the Pick Module

Pallet size and weight specifications

48” x 40” 4-way pallets with 4 bottom boards.

Product overhang can increase the load size to 50” x 42”.

Maximum load height is 48”, including pallet.

Maximum load weight including pallet is 2000#.

Pallet Orientation

Pallets should be placed on the pick module with the 48” dimension running in the direction of travel (length) and the 40” dimension will be across the pick module bay opening.

Design Loads

Horsepower Calculations

Carton/tote Conveyors:The product live load used for horsepower calculations is 25#/linear ft. of conveyor.This loading is based on product accumulated back-to-back. This value is de-rated, based on product spacing, in areas where product is metered or the case rate is otherwise controlled.

Rate of Handling

Picking and Shipping System

The equipment has the mechanical capability to convey the specified product at the following peak rates, by area:

Pick Module35 totes per minute, peak

Packing Sorter35 totes per minute, peak

Shipping 35 cartons per minute, peak

These rates are based on a tote length of 30” and an average carton length of 22 inches for which the original installation was designed.

If the equipment is used in another environment with smaller or larger product sizes and weights, the rate of handling could be increased or decreased accordingly. Consult a qualified technical resource to determine suitability.

Current General Description of Equipment Application

System Description

The automated pick system includes:

  • Two pick modules, each with its one pick line and each being one of the levels of a two-level rack structure,
  • A central merge for the two pick lines,
  • A packing sorter with an inline scale for weight check and sort destinations for audit, pack list application, and packing,
  • A packing area, with 36 work stations
  • A closeout and taping area,
  • At shipping, an inline scale for weight capture and a direct truck loading line
  • A trash conveyor feeding a baler from the pick module

Split Case Picking – Software and hardware will need to be re-configured or replaced for re-use in another application. Consult a qualified technical resource for suitability.

Split case picking is performed in the two duplicate pick modules. Each pick module has a pick line with six tote induction locations, three mailboxes located on each side. Every rack bay (8’-3” Bay) is equipped with a “bay display” light mounted high and centered in the bay. To control the work one or more bays are grouped into work zones within the pick-to-light, when Custom Marketing Services configures a module for picking. A single wireless scanner may be used by a picker at one time in a zone.

The totes used for split case picking are not pre-labeled; instead the carton shipping label is applied to the tote to identify the tote during picking and through the system to the pack area, where the label is removed and applied to a carton for shipping.

The picker begins the pick process by logging into their assigned pick-to-light zone. Upon successful logon, a welcome message is shown on the bay displays belonging to the pickers work zone.

Picking Process

Picking is initiated by scanning the shipping label of a tote that has been passed into the zone or by selecting a label from a mailbox, applying it to an empty tote and scanning the label.

With a successful scan allbay displays within the picker’s zone show the right most portion of the Carton ID. And, all pick location displays (pick lights) for locations requiring picks in the zone light and display the required pick quantity.

At an illuminated pick location the picker picks the displayed quantity of product and then presses the confirm button and the light goes out. At this time FORTE’s Automation Director sends a Pick CompleteMessage to the WMS. This message contains the Carton ID, pick location, actual pick quantity confirmed by the picker, picker ID and serial number (or blanks if not required).

When all picks within a zone have been completed, all bay displays within the zone display either a zone name for the next zone containing picks for the tote, or displays the word “COMPLETE”. After a short time period the display then returns to “IDLE”. The tote is either passed to the next zone or pushed onto the center take away conveyor, as the case may be.

Serial Number Capture

Some products require the capture of a serial number or lot code at the timethey are picked. This is handled as a “Trait” of the product in the pick-to-light. A flag in the Carton Message from the WMS indicates when the serial number is required.

The trait (in this case a serial number) is captured by using the picker’s hand-held bar code scanner. The system is fully configurable with regard to the way that traits are captured. Traits can be required for each piece that is to be picked (such as in the case of collecting product serial numbers), or a single trait can be required collectively for whatever quantity is required for the pick (as with a requirement to capture a lot number for a group of items). Optional validation can be applied to each Trait that is scanned. Simple internal validation looks to see that the Trait has not already been used.

In this application, for picks that require the acquisition of the serial number, the location light is illuminated but its quantity display initially contains lower-case O’s (ooo). The picker presses the lighted confirm button at the location to display the required pick quantity. Each valid serial numberscan decrements the displayed pick quantity by one (1) until all of the required pieces have been picked and scanned. (If the system were configured to capture lot numbers, where a single lot number is required for the entire pick quantity, scanning the required lot number would automatically confirm the pick and extinguish the confirm button light.)

If an incorrect bar code is scanned, the system flashes the confirm button and shows an error code on the location display as well as displaying an error message on the associated bay displays. The picker presses the flashing confirm button to clear the error and redisplay the remaining required quantity. The picker then tries another scan to confirm the item or decrements the remaining quantity to zero (0) and presses the confirm button, indicating that no further picks can be made from this location for this order.

Work Zone Planning

The pick-to-light utilizes a work zone concept to organize the pick-and-pass process. A work zone is a group of one or more pick bays. User can divide each pick module into any number of work zones, dependent upon the number of pickers available and the anticipated workload. By designing different work plans and storing them in Lightning Pick, User can maintain a pre-configured zone layout for various contingencies. For example, these could include a 6-picker plan, 4-picker plan, Friday plan, holiday plan, etc. This powerful feature allows them to quickly change the line staffing requirements to meet needs.

Shorting an Order

Shorting an order occurs when the picker uses the minus ( - ) key on the pick light to reduce the displayed quantity to the quantity that is actually available for picking. Pressing the confirm button enters the adjusted quantity. This information is logged and FORTE’s Automation Director sends the revised quantity to the WMS in the Pick Complete Message. FORTE’s Automation Director flags this tote for audit and diverts it to the packing audit line regardless of weight status.

No Picks in a Zone

When a picking container is launched in a zone in which there are no picks required, the bay display showsthenext zone where picks are required or “COMPLETE” depending on the status of the tote. The picker passes the tote to the next zone.

End of Order

It is possible that all picks for an order, within a pick module, complete prior to reaching the last zone. The pick-to-light is configured so that all zones are designated as “exit zones” where a completed order can exit the line. When a picking container reaches an exit zone and there are no more picks for the order within the pick module, the bay display shows the message “COMPLETE,” indicating that the order has been completed and that the picking container is to be placed on the takeaway conveyor.

Operator Tracking

All picks within a zone are tracked to the operator logged into the zone. Logging in/out can occur through the Lightning Pick Management Console on the PC server, via a zone scanner (if the system is so equipped), or through the optional PDA-based Supervisor’s Assistant.

Split Case Tote Merge

The two pick module take away conveyor lines merge to a single line prior to the packing sorter. Ordinarily this merge runs in an automatic mode with alternating lane release.

Each of the modules can be turned on or off independent of the other. When a module is shut down the take away line and the release of totes to the merge continues until no product is determined for a preset time period, then it shuts down to conserve energy.

Packing Sorter

Totes exiting the merge are inducted into the Packing Sorter. Each tote is diverted to the pack line, the Audit line or the pack list line as determined by FORTE’s Automation Director. The destination assignment logic is as follows:

Totes are sent to the Audit lane based on the following criteria:

  • The shipping label is not read (no-read)
  • Automation Director has no data for the shipping label
  • The Packing Audit flag was set by the WMS
  • The pick quantity for an item in the tote was altered by the picker (shorting a pick)
  • FORTE’s Automation Director, based on nth carton logic where n is a configurable parameter, selects totes audit. When the audit area is full this audit is suspended.
  • The tote was not within the allowable max. and min. weights, indicating a possible pick error
  • FORTE’s Automation Director did not receive a Line Complete Message from the pick-to-light for a required item

When an audit is not required and a flag in the Carton Message was set by the WMS the tote is sent to the pack list line.

All other totes are diverted directly to packing.

Audit Area

At the Audit line a PC provides a divert reason for each tote. Corrective action is required for totes sent to the line due to a no-read condition or when Automation Director has no data for the shipping label. All others are to be audited.

The audit is conducted with the aid of the WMS or the carton contents label. Any pick errors are corrected. When a pick is completed, canceled or shorted at a WMS workstation instead of through the pick-to-light, the WMS sends a Pick Complete Message to FORTE’s Automation Director. If a pick is completed in the pick-to-light, FORTE’s Automation Director sends a Pick Complete Message to the WMS.

When the audit is complete a tote is re-inducted onto the conveyor prior to the inline scale and packing sorter.

Pack List Line

At the time a tote is sent to the Pack List Line, FORTE’s Automation Director sends a Divert Confirm Message to the WMS. Upon receipt of this message, the WMS prints the pack list at a local printer. The operator at the line must confirm the match of the pack list and the carton before placing the pack list in the tote. Totes with pack lists are placed on the conveyor line that delivers totes to packing.

Occasionally, due to a malfunction a tote may reach the pack list line that does not belong there or one that was not confirmed to the WMS may be delivered to the line. The pack list print sequence may not match the totes in FIFO order and some problem resolution may be required.

Packing Area

At a pack station, a packer pulls a tote across the takeaway conveyor to his work table. From the information on the shipping label the packer selects the appropriate shipping carton and packs the carton, checking its contents against the carton contents label.

The shipping label that was placed on the tote in picking is removed from the tote and adhered to the top of the shipping carton along with his bar coded packer ID label (taking care to avoid the tape area with both labels). He then places the carton content label in the carton and places the carton on the takeaway conveyor.

Closeout Sorter

The Closeout Sorter distributes cartons from packing to top-fill/taper lines. FORTE’s Automation Director assigns each carton to a non-full, enabled taper line in round robin fashion. An interface on FORTE’s Automation Director is used to enable taper lines.

Prior to the tapers, operators place dunnage in the cartons to fill any voids. The carton is then sent through the in-line taper. The sealed carton is then transported to the shipping scale.

Full Case Picking

Full case items are kept in primary pick locations along the west side of the shipping line after the inline taper. At present, the only full case items are pre-packed consultant kits.