Brings work to the person
Items or totes are delivered to a station, so the picker stays in one place instead of travelling to each location.
Sortation and order-picking support systems.
These systems stage, separate, and present work against defined criteria so pickers and packers stay at a station instead of walking the route themselves.
What does a sortation and order picking system do?
A sortation or picking-support system brings items to a station, applies routing rules, and sends completed work to the next step.
Separates against criteria
Work is routed by order, destination, or another rule defined with you before the system is built.
Stages for the next step
Completed work is grouped and presented in the order the next stage needs it.
What is inside a sortation and order picking system?
A system combines the equipment that moves items, the workstations, routing rules, and order-system interface. The mix depends on your item range and how orders are processed.
Vehicles or conveying
Whatever moves the work to and from the station, chosen against the item mix and rate.
Stations and presentation
Where a person works, how items are presented, and how completed work leaves.
Control and criteria
The rules that decide where each item goes, and the interface to the system that holds the orders.
How the system is specified
The system is designed around item range, order profile, station layout, routing rules, and the control-system interface.
- System type
- Vehicle-based, conveyed, or a combination. Decided by the item mix, the rate, and the floor available.
- Item range
- Size, weight, and packaging of what is handled, including the awkward items rather than only the typical ones.
- Rate and order profile
- Lines per order, orders per shift, and the peak the system has to hold.
- Station layout
- How many stations, where they sit, and how a person works at one.
- Integration
- The hand-off to the system that holds the orders, and what happens to an exception.
When sortation support is a good fit
Check the item range, order profile, station layout, routing rules, and how shortages or damaged items are handled.
- Items
- What is picked, and how much do the items vary in size and weight?
- Orders
- How many lines per order, and how many orders in a shift?
- Layout
- Where would stations go, and what floor is available?
- Exceptions
- What happens today when an item is missing or damaged?
FAQs
Common questions about sortation and picking-support systems.
Does this replace pickers?
It changes what they do. People stay for picking decisions, exceptions, and quality, and stop walking the route.
How does it know where an item goes?
From rules agreed with you and the order data from your existing system. The interface is part of the scope.
What about awkward or fragile items?
Those are reviewed individually. Item range is usually a bigger constraint than the rate.
Can it start small?
Often yes, at one station or one product group, provided the layout allows for extension later.
Other systems in this category
Compare other warehouse-automation systems.
Return on investment
Use your production figures to explore a simple planning estimate.
Contact Uru Robotics.
Find out whether sortation or order-picking support is right for your operation.