Move over, RFID. A feisty Israeli company wants to make an information-rich little symbol called the Visidot America's identification technology of choice.
Tired of waiting in line for top-dollar tickets to the information extravaganza promised by RFID technology? Depressed by the thought of that off-off-Broadway low-budget show where men in brown coats laboriously scan bar codes one by one? Beep. Pause. Beep. It's hardly toe-tapping stuff.
Well, the stage is set for a smart, sassy alternative in automatic data collection entertainment, with a medium- priced ticket: two-dimensional bar codes or color dots that can be read hundreds at a time.
Hans Mueller, vice president of pool management and technology at Ifco Systems GmbH, is helping ImageID Ltd., an Israeli company, take a technology originally developed to identify individual images in online photo albums and put it on the logistics stage. If Ifco's experience is anything to go by, the idea may hit it big.
The technology is called Visidot, and in some ways it's not really new. It uses two-dimensional visual coding—either a colored dot or a Data Matrix 2- D bar code—to store up to 3,000 characters of information.
When it comes to capacity, two-dimensional symbols have an enormous edge over the traditional linear bar-code symbologies (like Code 39 and UPC). While traditional symbologies can only encode 10 to 20 characters of information, 2-D symbologies can encode several thousand characters of machine-readable data. (Data Matrix is one of the three most popular two-dimensional bar codes, the others being PDF417 and MaxiCode.) In effect, a portable database can travel with the product. The beauty of the technology is that, although the scanners are almost as expensive as RFID readers, the cost of the labels is negligible. As proponents of the technology point out, you're already printing a label on your boxes.Adding another printed symbol next to the product code isn't going to add much to the cost.
In living color
"Due to the precedent being set by Wal-Mart and the DOD, many companies are jumping on the RFID train even though it may not be the best solution for their needs," says Rami Kopelman, vice president, sales and marketing of ImageID, the Tel Aviv-based company that developed Visidot. "Visidot offers an accurate and less expensive option that is more appropriate for certain environments than RFID."
What sorts of environments would these be? Well, for starters, Visidot is potentially useful when RFID is too expensive and simple bar coding too rudimentary. But Kopelman predicts that what will really win over the audience is Visidot's ability to read a lot of tags or labels at once.
Independent research shows that, while RFID is in theory able to do that, the read-accuracy rate with multiple tags closely packed together still leaves a lot to be desired—some estimates put accuracy rates as low as 70 percent. (By contrast, Ifco reports read accuracy rates for Visidot codes of 99.7 percent.) Furthermore, RFID is notoriously skittish around metal containers—something to do with metal interfering with the radio signal—which is a considerable drawback in a world where items ranging from soda to motor oil come packaged in metal or metallic materials.
"You have the legacy of linear bar codes where you read them one by one. Then there's the Holy Grail of RFID, that one day you'll be able to set up a reader and any pallet that moves through will give you information.We're in between. We're giving everything that RFID technology promises but won't be able to deliver for perhaps 10 years," Kopelman says. "We can give it today."
So how does it work? The Visidot system uses an information-capturing device with a wide field of vision, "so we can decode multiple dots within a second—hundreds or even thousands," says Kopelman. For many applications, the color-dot version has the advantage over its 2-D Data Matrix code counterpart because the dot doesn't need to be as large as its monochrome co-star, and it can still be read even when the scanner is at a 60-degree angle to the plane of the dot's label. The color dot's downside is that decoding its symbology requires a proprietary technology that's not standardized like the European Article Number (EAN) codes associated with the 2-D Data Matrix symbology. That means you need a supply chain that involves a limited number of participants who all agree to use the proprietary system.
Click and track
At this point, the company most familiar with the Visidot's strengths and weaknesses is Ifco Systems, which has been beta-testing the system for the last three years. Ifco is not only the largest recycler of wooden pallets in the United States, but it also runs a wide-ranging operation in Europe, where it makes returnable plastic container (RPC) systems and distributes them to customers —mostly food producers—who fill them and ship them to their own customers. Ifco then arranges for the containers to be picked up. Although Ifco is not responsible for physically moving the containers, it is responsible for tracking them and providing information about the whereabouts of the containers (and their contents). It collects tracking information from partners in the supply chain and makes it available to customers, as a side benefit to its own need to know where its assets are. Well, at least that's the theory. Until recently, Ifco, which owns 60 million containers in Europe alone, had little idea where every container or pallet was, who was responsible for it, or when it was likely to be returned.
"Before Visidot, they were renting out different types of crates, and they had only a vague idea of how many were where—how many in the depot, how many in the customers' hands, how many returned.Now they have a private ID for each crate and can know how many are in the depots, how many are lost and who lost them, so they can bill the customer," says Kopelman.
All that's a lot of information to keep track of, so Visidot also comes with a Web-based data management system. "We provided them not only with a data-capturing system, but [also with] a very complex Web-based track and trace data system," Kopelman adds. "You can access it from anywhere in the world and see the status of each and every crate, or depot, or any kind of cross section you want."
Selective service
So after three years of testing, what's Ifco's assessment of the Visidot? Mueller cautions that the technology, which requires a line of sight, isn't for everyone, but he reports that it works well for certain segments of his business. "If you don't have visible contact with your goods, you can't use this technology. But if you're using it like multiple-read bar codes, where you can read multiple items with one shot, then it makes sense,"Mueller says. "At the moment, we can read a 500-item pallet with one photo."
Mueller also warns that the technology isn't for every application. Ifco uses the technology only selectively at present —specifically in its Paris facility,where the company provides containers for meat products shipped throughout France, and in four facilities in Germany. Mueller says that, even then, the company uses the Visidot in combination with the standard bar code and normal letters, so that there is always a way of identifying the packages by eye as well. "If a color code isn't readable because it's covered or scratched, we can type in the GRAI (Global Returnable Asset Identifier) code and find out which asset it is, or we can use the standard bar code," says Mueller.
The need for backup bar codes notwithstanding, Mueller considers the extra information Visidot provides to be a boon. "Without this information we can just guess what turn rate we have. Now we have a detailed view of our pool and can see how long an individual crate takes to come round. We also know what product is in the crate at the moment."
And the bottom line is that, for Mueller, simply being able to automate the process of counting containers in the warehouse is a big plus. "Knowing how many assets you have in the warehouse without doing a manual count, this is a huge advantage," he says.
Another advantage is that the Visidot reader is an advanced imaging device—it effectively takes a photo of the codes. That gives users the option of storing those images in an "image bank." Installed on a dedicated server, the images can then be used as visual proof of such things as a container's condition upon shipment or arrival. Another use would be to pinpoint the actual physical location within a shipment of an individual item for removal or substitution further along the supply chain.
This could be an enormous boon in the case of a food disaster.Mueller is glad to say he's never had to recall a shipment of food, but what if a particular brand of sausage were found to contain meat infected with BSE (mad cow disease)? Recalling individual packages of sausages from a larger mixed shipment was impossible before. Even finding individual RPCs or clusters of them would have been next to hopeless. Now, in theory, a product recall would be fast and would target only the suspect goods, not everything shipped in the same container or pallet.
2D or not 2D?
So far, it has to be said, the line for this new product hasn't stretched round the block. Visidot has a mere five customers in the United States, but Kopelman says the technology has only been available here for six months or so. Certainly, folks are looking around for alternatives to pricey RFID and limited bar coding. "I think RFID is being overhyped. I don't think there's a real good ROI for the kind of applications that Wal-Mart is using. I don't think of automatic data collection as just bar codes. Now, you're capturing data in real time and using that data," says Steve Banker, service director for supply chain management with ARC Advisory Group in Dedham, Mass. But he's not convinced 2D codes are for everyone either, citing other alternative or supplementary technologies such as voice recognition and global positioning systems.
Still, for Kopelman, the show must go on, so he's working hard on pitching the idea.
He asks you to imagine a warehouse that is shipping out pallets with mixed product in mixed boxes, assembled by order pickers. "When it's being shipped with our technology, we can install a scanner on the loading dock, which does a quick scan, decoding all the bar codes on goods ready for loading. It can compare those codes to the pick list, and it gives a green light if it's OK or a red light if not," Kopelman says. If there's a problem, the dispatcher will see on the screen a cross over the dots of the boxes that shouldn't be there, and can remove them quickly, or will be alerted on screen to the boxes that should be there and aren't. "That can save warehouses a lot of time and money," Kopelman points out. "It saves having someone stand there doing a manual scan of bar codes one by one, or relying on people to load the right stuff onto the pallets. That leads to lots of errors and goods you'll never see again, or complaints from the customer."
Impressive, to be sure, but is the technology worth the price of admission? It may well be. According to Kopelman, customers usually see a return on their investment in just a couple of months.
What happens when your warehouse technology upgrade turns into a complete process overhaul? That may sound like a headache to some, but for leaders at paper crafting company Stampin’ Up! it’s been a golden opportunity—especially when it comes to boosting productivity. The Utah-based direct marketing company has increased its average pick rate by more than 70% in the past year and a half. And it’s all due to a warehouse management system (WMS) implementation that opened the door to process changes and new technologies that are speeding its high-velocity, high-SKU (stock-keeping unit) order fulfillment operations.
The bottom line: Stampin’ Up! is filling orders faster than ever before, with less manpower, since it shifted to an easy-to-use voice picking system that makes adapting to seasonal product changes and promotions a piece of cake. Here’s how.
FACING UP TO CHANGE
Stampin’ Up!’s business increased rapidly in 2020, when pandemic-era lockdowns sparked a surge in online orders for its crafting and scrapbooking supplies—everything from rubber stamps to specialty papers, ink, and embellishments needed for home-based projects. At around the same time, company leaders learned that the WMS in use at its main distribution center (DC) in Riverton, Utah, was nearing its end-of-life and would have to be replaced. That process set in motion a series of changes that would upend the way Stampin’ Up! picked items and filled orders, setting the company on a path toward continuous improvement.
“We began a process to replace the WMS, with no intent to do anything else,” explains Rich Bushell, the company’s director of global distribution services. “But when we started to investigate a new WMS, we began to look at the larger picture. We saw problems within our [picking] system. Really, they were problems with our processes.”
Stampin’ Up! had hired global supply chain consulting firm Argon & Co. to help with the WMS selection and implementation, and it was that process that sparked the change. Argon & Co. Partner Steve Mulaik, who worked on the project, says it quickly became clear that Stampin’ Up!’s zone-based pick-and-pass fulfillment process wasn’t working well—primarily because pickers spent a lot of idle time waiting for the next order. Under the old system, which used pick-to-light technology, workers stood in their respective zones and made picks only from their assigned location; when it came time for a pick, the system directed them where to make that pick via indicator lights on storage shelves. The workers placed the picked items directly into shipping boxes that would be passed to the next zone via conveyor.
“The business problem here was that they had a system that didn’t work reliably,” Mulaik explains. “And there were periods when [workers] would have nothing to do. The workload was not balanced.”
This was less than ideal for a DC facing accelerating demand for multi-item orders—a typical Stampin’ Up! order contains 17 to 21 items per box, according to Bushell. In a bid to make the picking process more flexible, Mulaik suggested eliminating the zones altogether and changing the workflow. Ultimately, that would mean replacing the pick-to-light system and revamping the pick-and-pass process with a protocol that would keep workers moving and orders flowing consistently.
“We changed the whole process, building on some academic work from Georgia Tech along with how you communicate with the system,” Mulaik explains. “Together, that has really resulted in the significant change in productivity that they’ve seen.”
RIGHTING THE SHIP
The Riverton DC’s new solution combines voice picking technology with a whole new process known as “bucket brigade” picking. A bucket brigade helps distribute work more evenly among pickers in a DC: Pickers still work in a production-line fashion, picking items into bins or boxes and then sending the bins down the line via conveyor. But rather than stop and wait for the next order to come to them, pickers continue to work by walking up to the next person on the line and taking over that person’s assignment; the worker who is overtaken does the same, creating a process in which pickers are constantly filling orders and no one is picking from the same location.
Stampin’ Up! doesn’t follow the bucket brigade process precisely but has instead developed its own variation the company calls “leapfrog.” Instead of taking the next person’s work, pickers will move up the line to the next open order after completing a task—“leapfrogging” over the other pickers in the line to keep the process moving.
“We’re moving to the work,” Bushell explains. “If your boxes are full and you push them [down the line], you just move to the open work. The idea is that it takes the zones away; you move to where the next pick is.”
The voice piece increases the operation’s flexibility and directs the leapfrog process. Voice-directed picking allows pickers to listen to commands and respond verbally via a headset and handheld device. All commands filter through the headset, freeing the worker’s eyes and hands for picking tasks. Stampin’ Up! uses voice technology from AccuSpeechMobile with a combination of company-issued Android devices and Bluetooth headsets, although employees can use their own Bluetooth headsets or earbuds if they wish.
Mulaik and Bushell say the simplicity of the AccuSpeechMobile system was a game-changer for this project. The device-based system requires no voice server or middleware and no changes to a customer’s back-end systems in order to operate. It uses “screen scrape” technology, a process that allows the collection of large volumes of data quickly. Essentially, the program translates textual information from the device into audible commands telling associates what to pick. Workers then respond verbally, confirming the pick.
“AccuSpeech takes what the [WMS] says and then says it in your ear,” Bushell explains. “The key to the device is having all the data needed to make the pick shown on the screen. However, the picker should never—or rarely—need to look at the screen [because] the voice tells them the info and the commands are set up to repeat if prompted. This helps increase speed.
“The voice piece really ties everything together and makes our system more efficient.”
And about that system: Stampin’ Up! chose a WMS from technology provider QSSI, which directs all the work in the DC. And the conveyor systems were updated with new equipment and controls—from ABCO Systems and JR Controls—to keep all those orders moving down the line. The company also adopted automated labeling technology and overhauled its slotting procedure—the process of determining the most efficient storage location for its various items—as part of the project.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
Productivity improvement in the DC has been the biggest benefit of the project, which was officially completed in the spring of 2023 but continues to bear fruit. Prior to the change, Stampin’ Up! workers averaged 160 picks per hour, per person. That number rose to more than 200 picks per hour within the first few months, according to Bushell, and was up to 276 picks per hour as of this past August—a more than 70% increase.
“We’ve seen some really good gains,” Bushell says, adding that the company has reduced its reliance on both temporary and full-time staff as well, the latter mainly through attrition. “Overall, we’re 20% to 25% down on our labor based on the change …. And it’s because we’re keeping people busy.”
Quality has stayed on par as well, something Bushell says concerned him when switching from the DC’s previous pick-to-light technology.
“You have very good quality with pick-to-light, so we [worried] about opening the door to errors with pick-to-voice because a human is confirming each pick,” he says. “But we average about one error per 3,300 picks. So the quality is really good.”
On top of all that, Bushell says employees are “really happy” with the new system. One reason is that the voice system is easy to learn—so easy, anyone can do it. Stampin’ Up! runs frequent promotions and special offers that create mini spikes in business throughout the year; the new system makes it easy to get the required temporary help up to speed quickly or recruit staff members from other departments to accommodate those spikes.
“We [allocate] three days of training for voice, but it’s really about an hour,” Bushell says, adding that some of the employees from other departments simply enjoy the change of pace and the exercise of working on the “leapfrog” bucket brigade. “I have people that sign up every day to come pick.”
Not only has Stampin’ Up! reduced downtime and expedited the picking of its signature rubber stamps, paper, and crafting supplies, but it’s also blazing a trail in fulfillment that its business partners say could serve as a model for other companies looking to crank up productivity in the DC.
“There are a lot of [companies] that have pick-and-pass systems today, and while those pick-and-pass systems look like they are efficient, those companies may not realize that people are only picking 70% of the time,” Mulaik says. “This is a way to reduce that inactivity significantly.
“If you can get 20% of your productivity back—that’s a big number.”
With its new AutoStore automated storage and retrieval (AS/RS) system, Toyota Material Handling Inc.’s parts distribution center, located at its U.S. headquarters campus in Columbus, Indiana, will be able to store more forklift and other parts and move them more quickly. The new system represents a major step toward achieving TMH’s goal of next-day parts delivery to 98% of its customers in the U.S. and Canada by 2030, said TMH North America President and CEO Brett Wood at the launch event on October 28. The upgrade to the DC was designed, built, and installed through a close collaboration between TMH, AutoStore, and Bastian Solutions, the Toyota-owned material handling automation designer and systems integrator that is a cornerstone of the forklift maker’s Toyota Automated Logistics business unit. The AS/RS is Bastian’s 100th AutoStore installation in North America.
TMH’s AutoStore system deploys 28 energy-efficient robotic shuttles to retrieve and deliver totes from within a vertical storage grid. To expedite processing, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced software determines optimal storage locations based on whether parts are high- or low-demand items. The shuttles, each independently controlled and selected based on shortest distance to the stored tote, swiftly deliver the ordered parts to four picking ports. Each port can process up to 175 totes per hour; the company’s initial goal is 150 totes per hour, with room to grow. The AS/RS also eliminates the need for order pickers to walk up to 10 miles per day, saving time, boosting picking accuracy, and improving ergonomics for associates.
The upgrades, which also include a Kardex vertical lift module for parts that are too large for the AS/RS and a spiral conveyor, will more than triple storage capacity, from 40,000 to 128,000 storage positions, making it possible for TMH to increase its parts inventory. Currently the DC stores some 55,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) and ships an average of $1 million worth of parts per day, reaching 80% of customers by two-day ground delivery. A Sparck Technologies CVP Impack fit-to-size packaging machine speeds packing and shipping and is expected to save up to 20% on the cost of packing materials.
Distribution, manufacturing expansion on the agenda
The Columbus parts DC currently serves all of the U.S. and Canada; inventory consists mostly of Toyota’s own parts as well as some parts for Bastian Solutions and forklift maker The Raymond Corp., which is part of TMH North America. To meet the company’s goal of next-day delivery to virtually all parts customers, TMH is exploring establishing up to five additional parts DCs. All will be TMH-designed, owned, and operated, with varying levels of automation to meet specific needs, said Bret Bruin, vice president, aftermarket sales and operations, in an interview.
Parts distribution is not the only area where TMH is investing in expanded capacity. With demand for electric forklifts continuing to rise, the company recently broke ground for a new factory on the expansive Columbus campus that will benefit both Toyota and Raymond. The two OEMs—which currently have only 5% overlap among their customers—already manufacture certain forklift models and parts for each other, said Wood in an interview. Slated to open in 2026, the $100 million, 295,000-square-foot factory will make electric-powered forklifts. The lineup will include stand-up rider trucks, currently manufactured for both brands by Raymond in Greene, New York. Moving production to Columbus, Wood said, will not only help both OEMs keep up with fast-growing demand for those models, but it will also free up space and personnel in Raymond’s factory to increase production of orderpickers and reach trucks, which it produces for both brands. “We want to build the right trucks in the right place,” Wood said.
Editor's note:This article was revised on November 4 to correct the types of equipment produced in Raymond's factory.
“The latest data continues to show some positive developments for the freight market. However, there remain sequential declines nationwide, and in most regions,” Bobby Holland, U.S. Bank director of freight business analytics, said in a release. “Over the last two quarters, volume and spend contractions have lessened, but we’re waiting for clear evidence that the market has reached the bottom.”
By the numbers, shipments were down 1.9% compared to the previous quarter while spending dropped 1.4%. This was the ninth consecutive quarterly decrease in volume, but the smallest drop in more than a year.
Truck freight conditions varied greatly by region in the third quarter. In the West, spending was up 4.4% over the previous quarter and volume increased 1.1%. Meanwhile, in the Southeast spending declined 3.3% and shipments were down 3.0%.
“It’s a positive sign that spending contracted less than shipments. With diesel fuel prices lower, the fact that pricing didn’t erode more tells me the market is getting healthier,” Bob Costello, senior vice president and chief economist at the American Trucking Associations (ATA), said in the release.
The U.S. Bank Freight Payment Index measures quantitative changes in freight shipments and spend activity based on data from transactions processed through U.S. Bank Freight Payment, which processes more than $42 billion in freight payments annually for shippers and carriers across the U.S. The Index insights are provided to U.S. Bank customers to help them make business decisions and discover new opportunities.
Parcel giant FedEx Corp. is automating its fulfillment flows by investing in the AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology firm Nimble, and announcing plans to use the San Francisco-based startup’s tech in its own returns network.
The move is significant because FedEx Supply Chain operates at a large scale, running more than 130 warehouse and fulfillment operations in North America and processing 475 million returns annually. According to FedEx, the “strategic alliance” will help to scale up FedEx Fulfillment with Nimble’s “fully autonomous 3PL model.”
“Our strategic alliance and financial investment with Nimble expands our footprint in the e-commerce space, helping to further scale our FedEx Fulfillment offering across North America,” Scott Temple, president, FedEx Supply Chain, said in a release. “Nimble’s cutting-edge AI robotics and autonomous fulfillment systems will help FedEx streamline operations and unlock new opportunities for our customers.”
According to Nimble founder and CEO Simon Kalouche, the collaboration will help enable FedEx to leverage Nimble’s “fast and cost-effective” fulfillment centers, powered by its intelligent general purpose warehouse robots and AI technology.
Nimble says that more than 90% of warehouses today still operate manually with minimal or no robotics, and even those automated warehouses use robots with limited intelligence that are restricted to just a few warehouse functions—primarily storage and retrieval. In contrast, Nimble says its “intelligent general-purpose warehouse robot” is capable of performing all core fulfillment functions including storage and retrieval, picking, packing, and sorting.
For the past seven years, third-party service provider ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.
Photo courtesy of Dematic
For the past four years, automated solutions provider Dematic has helped support students pursuing careers in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields with its FIRST Scholarship program, conducted in partnership with the corporate nonprofit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). This year’s scholarship recipients include Aman Amjad of Brookfield, Wisconsin, and Lily Hoopes of Bonney Lake, Washington, who were each awarded $5,000 to support their post-secondary education. Dematic also awarded $1,000 scholarships to another 10 students.
Motive, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered integrated operations platform, has launched an initiative with PGA Tour pro Jason Day to support the Navy SEAL Foundation (NSF). For every birdie Day makes on tour, Motive will make a contribution to the NSF, which provides support for warriors, veterans, and their families. Fans can contribute to the mission by purchasing a Jason Day Tour Edition hat at https://malbongolf.com/products/m-9189-blk-wht-black-motive-rope-hat.
MTS Logistics Inc., a New York-based freight forwarding and logistics company, raised more than $120,000 for autism awareness and acceptance at its 14th annual Bike Tour with MTS for Autism. All proceeds from the June event were donated to New Jersey-based nonprofit Spectrum Works, which provides job training and opportunities for young adults with autism.