Indiana University Health Services: Robotic storage and goods-to-person picking

Indiana University Health Integrated Service Center
Plainfield, Ind.
Square Footage: 300,000 square feet
Products Handled: Everything from general medical supplies to medical implants to paper goods.
Throughput: 265,000 units per day
SKUs: 3,400
People/Shifts: 3 shifts per day/5 days per week. The facility is also home to all of the centralized supply chain functions, including procurement and contracting.

The Indiana Universisty health system’s Integrated Service Center brings together all of the supply chain functions, including order fulfillment, planning and procurement, in one new DC.

Read the feature article on Indiana University Health Systems distribution center redesign

Receiving

Receiving (1) takes place during the morning shift. The facility receives advanced ship notifications prior to arrival, and product is verified off of purchase orders in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. Once incoming merchandise is unloaded, it is staged for inspection and putaway within 24 hours.

Putaway

Storage is system directed and dynamic, meaning the system chooses locations to maximize storage density rather than trying to group all like products together. Most of what is received is sent on pallets to reserve storage (2) where a lift truck operator scans license plate and location bar codes to confirm the putaway location. It is now available in the warehouse management system. Some product is stored at the case level on shelving. Carton and location bar codes are similarly scanned to confirm the putaway location. Finally, the system has the capability of replenishing the robotic storage unit (4) or the pick-and-pass area (5) and directly from receiving, although that has not happened as of yet. The facility also includes a storage area for records (3). Finally, the facility features a crossdock area (6) for items that can be shipped out as is to a facility with demand for that product.

Replenishment

Replenishment takes place at night. The robotic storage system is programmed to keep two weeks of supply for each SKU. When the inventory level reaches its minimum level, the system automatically generates replenishment tasks for an order selector who picks cases and then delivers them to the unit. A similar process is used to replenish the pick-and-pass area.

Picking

Order fulfillment begins at the robotic storage unit. Robots retrieve the required totes and convey them to one of four goods-to-person picking stations. Order selectors are directed to pick items from the donor totes and place them in totes that are shipped to one of the system’s facilities. Once items from robotic storage have been picked, the totes travel to a four-zone pick-and-pass area. Items from each zone are added to the order. Items that don’t fit in the robotic storage, known as ground picks, are picked separately. Items are automatically weighed and if they are in tolerance, a shipping label is created. Items are then sent to a consolidation area (7) where they are joined with ground picks and assigned by floor and zone to a specific hospital or facility.

Packing

At the consolidation area, an associate scans items to a pallet. Once the pallet is built, it is automatically wrapped and staged at a dock door in shipping (8) designated for a specific truck. Once there is a full load, the order is loaded onto the truck assigned to that wave and the order is closed out.