Increase productivity, reduce picking errors, and add floor space

After rapid growth, London Drugs added new store locations. This created space limitations, tight delivery times, and cost headaches in distributing split-case quantities of merchandise. Their previous picking method of shelving and flow racks into totes and carts became too time-consuming, labor intensive and mistake-prone. They need to increase their productivity, reduce picking errors and add more floor space.

To achieve this, London Drugs integrated 24 horizontal carousels in their DSC. This doubled their warehouse capacity for split-case picking, quadrupled worker productivity and improved order accuracy, while adding 4,000 SKU’s to their inventory. The horizontal carousels are 50 feet long arranged in two duel-tiered 12-unit banks one directly above the other. The carousel footprint occupies only 25% of the floor space that would have been required if their old method of flow rack had been expanded to house the merchandise now in the carousels.

The carousel design allowed them the flexibility to change the number of workstations to meet their current work flow requirements. With seasonal variations creating major differences in picking requirements London Drugs is able to control their labor costs. This can save 50% of labor during non-peak times, while doubling productivity during peak periods.

Please Contact Us for more information, or to set up a site visit to see how a horizontal carousel system could help you.