Expert Insight: Sorting it Out
  By Cliff Holste  
     
  January 31, 2008  
 

My Lessons in Sortation Systems for Distribution

 
     
 

Batch Order Picking and Downstream Sortation Benefits aren’t Obvious at First

 
     
 
Holste's Customer Says:
If you can show me how using your sorting system provides a better way of doing this work, reduces picking errors, helps me get all this stuff out the door faster and on-time with less labor, I’ll buy it! 

What do you say? Send us your comments here

This is the first “Sorting it Out” article from our new columnist/blogger Cliff Holste, who will focus on material handling system issues. 

Early on in my selling career, I accepted a sales position with a materials handling manufacturing company located in Frederick, MD.  I was tasked with selling the industry’s first pre-engineered sorting system.  We called it SORTRAC.  The basic system consisted of 10 air-operated pushers, a pedestal-based console that included a 12-key numerical keyboard, 10 static switches, programmable tracking memory, and an encoder.  All of this sold for $19,000 (it was 35 years ago).  SORTRAC was designed to be installed on a slider bed belt conveyor running at a speed of at least 120 feet per minute.  The maximum sorting rate was 40 cases per minute (a respectable rate for that time), which was about the maximum that a person could manually key using a 3-digit code.  Additional pushers could be purchased and the system could be expanded up to a total of 31 pushers.

After completing the first week of training, I had a good understanding of the equipment design, performance specifications, and requirements for system application.  No doubt about it, I was ready and eager to sell my first system.  Look out world - here I come!

Every morning my sales manager allowed me to spend up to 2 hours in the office making phone calls and setting up sales appointments.  By 10:00 AM, I was out the door and on the road, all bright eyed and bushy tailed.  I met with several new prospects.  They all seemed interested and said they would think about it, politely suggesting that I should stay in-touch.  In those days, customers depended on salesmen to keep them up-to-date on the latest new things.  Undaunted, I thought that any day now I would get my first SORTRAC order.

Then on Friday, late in the afternoon, I made a cold call on a large manufacturer of small appliances and hand tools in Baltimore, MD.  I met with the DC manager, a guy in his fifties smoking a cigar.  Thirty minutes into my sales pitch, he had heard enough, leaned back in his chair and said ----

“OK, now let me explain my order picking operation to you.  Each picker is responsible for picking one complete customer order at a time.  Using a pushcart and following a pick list, they walk from location to location picking full cases of product as listed on the customer’s order.  They place the cases on their pushcart, check off on the pick list and proceed to the next pick location.  When they’re done with the order, they stage the carts in the shipping area and start all over again with the next order.  At the end of the first shift, they go home and the second shift guys pick up where the first shift left off.  When a customer reports an error, I can easily pull the order, and I will know who’s responsible PDQ.  If I understand what you are saying, I would have to pick all of the cases for a group of orders at the same time, then run them across your new sorter to sort them to individual customers.  Now tell me, how in the world does that make any sense?”

He wanted to know what the justification was.  I wasn’t expecting that, and didn’t have an answer!  Somewhat embarrassed, I asked if I could get back to him after giving it more thought.  He said, “Sure. If you can show me how using your sorting system provides a better way of doing this work, reduces picking errors, helps me get all this stuff out the door faster and on-time with less labor, I’ll buy it!” 

I thanked him for this time and consideration.  A little downtrodden, I drove home – grateful that my first week was over, and totally committed to finding the answers that would help my new customer increase case picking rates, reduce picking errors, eliminate the need for the second shift, and justify the cost of the new sorting system.

Once I figured it all out, I went back and got the order for what I believe must have been the first “Batch-Order Picking and Sorting System” – and, as a result, got lots of SORTRAC orders from customers, conveyor manufacturers, distributors, and thru material handling consultants.  I learned a valuable lesson about providing solutions versus selling equipment – and ultimately, the value to companies about this type of automation.

I’ll be sharing those insights and more in regular submissions on Sorting it Out.

 
 
 
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