U.S. patent application number 13/990058 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-19 for picking and shipping method.
This patent application is currently assigned to Demaic GmbH. The applicant listed for this patent is Matthias Stoetzner. Invention is credited to Matthias Stoetzner.
Application Number | 20130239524 13/990058 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44992921 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130239524 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Stoetzner; Matthias |
September 19, 2013 |
PICKING AND SHIPPING METHOD
Abstract
The invention relates to a combined picking and shipping method
according to the goods-to-person principle. Shipping containers
(VB) and packaging units (VP) are conveyed to a shipping station,
and a packer at the shipping station manually packs packaging units
that are directly conveyed to the shipping station onto a
corresponding shipping unit (VE), said packer gathering individual
articles (A) that are conveyed to the shipping station in a
shipping container (VB) provided at the shipping station.
Inventors: |
Stoetzner; Matthias;
(Seligenstadt, DE) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Stoetzner; Matthias |
Seligenstadt |
|
DE |
|
|
Assignee: |
Demaic GmbH
Offenbach
DE
|
Family ID: |
44992921 |
Appl. No.: |
13/990058 |
Filed: |
November 17, 2011 |
PCT Filed: |
November 17, 2011 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP2011/070386 |
371 Date: |
May 29, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
53/467 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65G 1/1378 20130101;
B65B 5/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
53/467 |
International
Class: |
B65B 5/00 20060101
B65B005/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 29, 2010 |
DE |
10 2010 060 864.5 |
Claims
1. Combined picking and shipping method in accordance with a
goods-to-person principle, said method comprising: supplying
shipping containers and packing units to a shipping station;
manually packing the packing units to a shipping unit at the
shipping station; supplying individual articles to the shipping
station and gathering the individual articles in one of the
shipping containers at the shipping station.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, including providing the
shipping container for the individual articles to the shipping unit
prior to filling of that shipping container.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein a filled shipping
container that is filled with individual articles is packed onto
the shipping unit.
4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein shipping containers
previously filled by a picker are also supplied to the shipping
station.
5. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein shipping containers
previously filled by a picker are also supplied to the shipping
station.
6. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein shipping containers
previously filled by a picker are also supplied to the shipping
station.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] The present application claims the priority benefits of
International Patent Application No. PCT/EP2011/0070386, filed on
Nov. 17, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention relates to a combined picking and shipping
method in accordance with the goods-to-person principle wherein
shipping containers and packing units are supplied to a shipping
station and a packer at the shipping station manually packs packing
units--directly supplied to the shipping station--onto a
corresponding shipping unit.
[0003] During a picking procedure, often diverse product ranges are
to be handled. In addition to packing units which can be packed
directly on shipping units, there is the requirement in the case of
smaller articles to pick these into a shipping container and then
to pack this shipping container onto the shipping unit as a packing
unit (cf. Gudehus, Timm, Logistik, Springer 1999, chapter 12, pages
325 ff.). This is also true, e.g., for fragile articles which must
be handled particularly carefully and packed safely and also for
high-value articles which must be packed securely to protect them
from theft.
[0004] DE 10 2006 025 617 A1 discloses a workstation for packing
articles--which are to be picked--onto a shipping support, wherein
the workstation includes a packing station, a platform on which the
packing station is arranged, a shipping support station arranged
beneath the platform, a lifting device for lifting an empty or
partially packed shipping support to a height of the packing
station so that the empty or partially packed shipping support can
be packed with articles which are to be picked, and for lowering
completely packed shipping supports, and a track tilted towards the
packing station for transporting individual articles which are to
be picked to the packing station. A conveyor technique for load
supports which conveys articles, which are to be picked, on load
supports to the packing station in such a manner that either
articles from the track or from the conveyor technique can be
packed.
[0005] In automated picking systems in accordance with the "goods
to person" principle, the picker is provided at his workstation
with small supplied articles for each order. These are then placed
into the shipping containers as the packing unit. Then, the
shipping containers are supplied to a shipping station where the
shipping containers together with other larger packed goods or
packing units are packed onto a corresponding shipping unit, e.g.,
pallet or roller car.
[0006] The other larger packed goods or packing units can be
supplied directly from the store to the shipping region with
suitable applicability, since their properties and in particular
their size and insensitivity permit direct packing onto the
shipping unit (roller container, palette, etc.).
[0007] The two stages required for the picking and shipping process
for the small articles which cannot be packed directly onto the
shipping unit result in uneconomical systems having two partial
systems and limitations associated therewith such as long
throughput times, the total speed is determined by the slowest step
and the need to synchronize the processes.
[0008] Alternatively, the two packed goods groups would have to be
shipped separately.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The present invention is to provide a method for the picking
and shipping process which at least partly obviates the above
disadvantages and permits flexible handling of small, expensive or
sensitive articles.
[0010] A combined picking and shipping method in accordance with a
goods-to-person principle, according to an aspect of the invention,
includes supplying shipping containers and packing units to a
shipping station and manually packing the packing units to a
shipping unit at the shipping station. Individual articles are
supplied to the shipping station and gathered in one of the
shipping containers at the shipping station.
[0011] By virtue of the fact that the packer gathers individual
articles, which are supplied to the shipping station, in a shipping
container provided at the shipping station, i.e., the packer packs
the small, expensive or sensitive articles into packing units
directly at the shipping station without additional preliminary
picking stages, it is possible to accelerate the picking and
shipping process and to make it more rational since separate
regions are no longer absolutely required.
[0012] The functions of the picker and those of the packer
virtually merge with each other, in particular for the small,
expensive or sensitive articles. While the packer implements the
activity of packing filled shipping containers (packing units) and
larger packed goods onto a shipping unit, individual articles are
additionally also supplied to the packer, which articles are packed
into a shipping unit in a provided shipping container for the
respective order. As soon as the shipping container is full or the
order is complete, the shipping container is possibly closed,
possibly placed on the shipping unit as packing units and the
shipping unit is shipped.
[0013] The shipping container for the individual articles can on
the one hand already be provided on the shipping unit during
filling or can be packed on the shipping unit after filling. The
shipping container is then positioned at the workstation of the
packer in an ergonomic position within reach of the packer.
[0014] The shipping container to be filled with the individual
articles at the shipping station can likewise be supplied to the
packer via the conveyor belt used for the articles or can be
provided separately.
[0015] In the present case, "packing unit" is understood to mean a
smallest unit of a shipment which is capable of being shipped as is
on a shipping unit.
[0016] In the present case, "article" is understood to mean goods
which are present in an unpacked and loose state having completely
different, non-uniform shapes and sizes and are not capable of
being shipped alone (cf. Gudehus, Timm, Logistik, Springer 1999,
chapter 12, pages 325 ff.). It is understood that the word
"article" is also used for bundled articles which are likewise not
capable of being shipped alone, e.g., owing to their sensitive
properties. In particular, the small, expensive or sensitive
articles are suitable for the method in accordance with the
invention since otherwise these would always have to be processed
and handled separately.
[0017] Therefore, the method in accordance with the invention is
suitable in particular for central distribution warehouses of
retail businesses from where the businesses are supplied with goods
that are required for refreshing or restocking or supplementing
their range. It is frequently the case that, in addition to goods
which are simple to pack or ship, small parts are required, namely
the articles mentioned above which, individually, are not capable
of being shipped such that they could be packed for shipment onto
the corresponding shipping units, such as a pallet or roller
car.
[0018] It is understood that within the scope of the invention, it
is also possible to supply shipping containers--previously filled
by a picker--to the shipping station as is typical.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] Further details of the invention will be apparent from the
following description of an exemplified embodiment with the aid of
the drawing, in which FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a flow
diagram of the sequence of a combined picking and shipping method
in accordance with the goods-to-person principle in a distribution
warehouse of retail businesses which is referenced as a whole with
the numeral 1; and
[0020] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an exemplary shipping
unit.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0021] The distribution warehouse 1 of retail businesses is
supplied with articles A via an inlet 2. After processing orders
for supplying retail businesses, shipping units VE leave the
distribution warehouse 1 via an outlet 3.
[0022] When processing supply orders, the requested number of
articles A of the most varied type are gathered for the respective
order and packed onto a (or several) corresponding shipping unit
VE.
[0023] For this purpose, the articles A are initially stored
intermediately in a storage area 4, entering via the inlet 2. The
articles A can be repacked into product containers depending upon
the type of delivery, e.g., on pallets or in cartons or can also be
stored in the cartons. Likewise, it is possible to not depalletize
the articles but to store them on the pallets. The most varied
types of storage are feasible and are known in principle.
[0024] For completing an order, the different articles are, as is
already known, now successively guided in sufficient amounts, e.g.,
in picking stations 5 storing product containers where the picker
places the articles A of an order into corresponding shipping
containers VB.
[0025] The still partly filled product containers are returned to
the storage area 4 and the completely filled shipping containers VB
are either stored intermediately in the storage area 4 or are
further conveyed to shipping stations 6.
[0026] In the shipping stations 6, packers pack the shipping
containers VB--previously filled by the picker--and manually pack
packing units VP--directly supplied to the shipping station 6 from
the storage area 4--on a corresponding shipping unit VE.
[0027] The packing units VP directly supplied to the shipping
station 6 from the storage area 4 are thus designed such that they
can be packed and safely transported on the shipping unit VE
without any additional repacking, etc. They do not need to make the
detour via the picking station. It is understood that if an order
contains no articles A which do not have to be picked, or the
article range is appropriate, the picking step can be bypassed and
the packing units VP are directly supplied to the shipping station
6.
[0028] However, a mixed operation is often required since modern
retail businesses sell a thoroughly diverse product range and
correspondingly have to be supplied with such a range.
[0029] In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the packer is
also supplied with minimum amounts of individual articles A
supplied to the shipping station 6. He can then gather these into a
particular shipping container VB provided at the shipping station
6.
[0030] If, for example, a small rural retail business requests four
toothbrushes, then possibly it may not be worthwhile to pick these
individually and the toothbrushes are supplied to the packer at the
shipping station 6. At that location, the packer packs the
toothbrushes together with expensive articles A such as razor
blades or high-value creams into the shipping container VB which is
additionally provided for this purpose.
[0031] The shipping container VB for the individual articles can
already be provided on the shipping unit VE during filling or it
can be packed onto the shipping unit after filling, i.e., it is
arranged adjacent to it during filling.
[0032] While the foregoing description describes several
embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood by
those skilled in the art that variations and modifications to these
embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope
of the invention, as defined in the claims below. The present
invention encompasses all combinations of various embodiments or
aspects of the invention described herein. It is understood that
any and all embodiments of the present invention may be taken in
conjunction with any other embodiment to describe additional
embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, any elements of
an embodiment may be combined with any and all other elements of
any of the embodiments to describe additional embodiments.
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