Factor Case Study
Engineering & Design Analysis: Pick & Pack Technology
Who: Factor75 is the largest provider of mail-order meal-kits in the U.S (United States)., with operations spread across the Oceania, Central and Western Europe. The client specializes in fresh, healthy, delicious, and ready-to-eat meals that are delivered weekly to subscribers.
With a projected annual sales turnover of $500 million, a rapidly growing customer base and an intricate distribution network, Factor75 felt the need to replace its existing manual order fulfillment processing with a more robust automated picking technology to enhance the flow of their fulfillment processes and improve the efficiencies of their courier services.
The Challenges
At Factor, no two orders are the same – clients can customize weekly menus from a wide variety of meals options; some of these meals are popular hence fast-moving, the rest are either medium or slow-movers, and a myriad of add-ons. This assortment of ever-growing meal choices coupled with the disparity in SKU movement velocity and a manual pick process, was significantly slowing down the pick process and all the downstream activities.
Secondly, Factor's intricate distribution network arising from its multi-regional market penetration was misaligned from the regular schedule of the courier services, causing a lot of inefficiency in the transportation system.
The Solution
To begin, our experienced engineers performed a comprehensive analysis of the client’s movement data, order profile, current floor layout and picking activities and more.
Secondly, Factor's intricate distribution network arising from its multi-regional market penetration was misaligned from the regular schedule of the courier services, causing a lot of inefficiency in the transportation system.
Balanced Processes
Design a system that harmonizes the rate of the pick and pack processes with the varying transit times to reduce the cost of transportation and preserve the freshness of the meals.
An Efficient Pick Process
Replace the manual pick system with an efficient automated system that functions well under refrigerated conditions and fast enough to meet current and future demand. The identified technology was the A-Frame pick-to-tote solution because of its high speeds of up to 4,200 per hour, a near-perfect accuracy level and durability to operate in a cold room.
An Ergonomic Work Space
Design an optimal floor layout that supports an easy flow of SKUs and minimizes the amount of worker traveling, bending, and picking. Likewise, a refrigerated room was designed and allocated closer to the shipping dock to minimize the exposure of the meals to the ambient temperature.
The Results
The design services included the restructuring of the work floor to allow for the sequential movement of products from the kitchen to the shipping dock. The kitting process was also streamlined to match the overall throughput of the meals with the schedule of the courier services.
Following a customizable analysis flow chart, the results of the design study were summarized into a report that captured crucial engineering information that could be re-used for future projects.
Key Areas of System Design:
Concept illustration of a 3-tiered conveyor used in packing station.