Overview:
Home & Garden Party is a leading manufacturer and distributor in the direct marketing industry. They have experienced tremendous growth over the past few years and are always looking for ways to improve their order fulfillment process.

Challenge:
The goal of the new installation was to design a system that would allow for easy expansion and added capacity as Home and Garden Party continues to grow. However, in order to be ready for the client's busiest season - spring - Worldsource had to complete the project in two-thirds the time a system of this magnitude usually demands.

Creative:
Worldsource was in control of the entire installation of the system mechanically and electronically. By using our own experience as a system integrator, we were able to work with multiple suppliers to get materials to the site on the fast track. Through hands-on project management, from sourcing materials to managing the shipments to the site, we were able to phase the arrival of materials and start the installation early.

• The system consists of five 3-level high pick modules, each 150 ft. in length. The modules were designed utilizing standard racking components to provide future flexibility.
• These pick modules utilize a "skip zone" pick system. Scanners at each zone of the modules look at each cartons unique "MU" (moveable unit) number. The PTMS computer looks up the MU in the data that is supplied it by the Home & Garden's warehouse management system (WMS) and determines if the carton needs to continue onto the next pick zone or should be shunted to the next based on what items are needed to complete its order. One of twelve High Speed UBT bi directional routing transfers are then used to direct the carton on its way.
• Two Sasib switches (high speed diverts) are used to route cartons along the shortest path to complete the required picks.
• An 8-station bow arm sorter was selected to feed the packing area at a rate of 32 cartons per minute.
• A 15-station flat faced shipping sorter feeds the shipping docks at a rate of 60 cartons per minute.
• Worldsource's PTMS (Product Tracking and Management Software) is used to interface with Home & Garden Party's WMS and a third party pick to light system. The PTMS system is responsible for routing cartons at 12 decision points in the pick modules, the 2 Sasib switches, and the 8 and 12-station sorters. A total of 19 scanners feed information to PTMS to control those 32 decision points. The PTMS system also used the information from the two in-motion scales to compare estimated order weight with the actual weight for QC purposes.

Benefit:
By implementing a $4 million system on a fast track schedule, Home and Garden Party was able to use the system for their peak season, gaining the efficiencies, saving on labor and increasing their order accuracy. With the new system operational, they are able to process over 100,000 units in a single shift.

Summary:
Worldsource's commitment to the customer's time frame, our efficient project management, and solid performance and service - not to mention staying within the client's budget - won us another repeat customer. Since the original installation, Worldsource has been awarded two additional systems expansions.