The system is an automated packing inline solution at its facility in Shaw, Lancashire. The new system has allowed JD Williams to increase its throughput of single item orders by 20 percent over its original manual packing operation. The fully automated system enables specific marketing literature to be married up with each relevant order, advice notes to be printed on demand and all the items to be bagged, labelled and dropped into dispatch cages.
Fully automated packing system
- Once the single item orders have been picked and a barcode label attached, they are delivered to the start of the automated packaging line in cages. Here the operative places each item onto the top conveyor belt of the twin-level system.
- Each order is automatically scanned to identify it and determine whether or not any specific marketing literature needs to be provided for that item. If so, the correct piece of literature is automatically dispensed (from one of five dispensers) onto the lower conveyor beneath the relevant item.
- The next stage allows for the printing on demand of the advice note for each particular order. This is fed either directly onto the lower conveyor beneath the order item or on top of the marketing literature on the lower conveyor, if that has been provided for the order.
- After the advice note has been printed and fed onto the lower conveyor, the two conveyors merge via a decline on the top conveyor which allows the correct order item to be placed on top of the relevant paperwork. The now complete order continues by conveyor into the automated bagging machine which encases each order in a heavy-duty poly mailing bag, affixes a label and seals the bag.
- As it exits the bagging machine it is subject to a final scan with any discrepancies diverted to an inspection area. The cleared packed orders continue along the conveyor and are dropped into a dispatch cage which when full is taken to the dispatch area and allocated to a carrier.
