The Traditional Order Pick System is used by many distributors today. In this system, pallets of
product are taken from the dock, where they have
arrived from the producer, and are placed in
racking slots. Selectors then remove a specified
amount of product from the slots and place them on
pallets so they can build loads of goods as per
customer specification. The selector moves the
pallet from slot to slot collecting the specified
goods using some sort of lift and transport
device. Generally, this device is a pallet jack
but in some warehouse operations a fork lift may
be used. The pallet jack is often capable of
carrying two pallets at a time and the selector
can sometimes ride on the device from slot to slot.
After a palletized load is fully assembled, it is wrapped with a plastic material and loaded
into a truck for delivery to the customer's
facility.
The advantages of this type of system are that
it allows tremendous amounts of product to be
stored in reduced floor space since much of the
product is stored in overhead slots.
Product handling is minimized since it is lifted
only once from the slot to the destination pallet.
Product is moved using a pallet and mechanical
means for most of the operation. Large orders can
be filled as full pallets with little manual
lifting. Employees are also provided frequent
micro-breaks as they move from one slot to
another.
The disadvantages of this system are that
Selectors are exposed to a number of musculoskeletal
stresses including heavy lifting,
bending, reaching, twisting, etc. Because employees move about the warehouse, development of
mechanical aids to assist with heavy lifting or
reducing awkward postures is difficult.
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Incoming product is stored in
racks and loads are built by removing product from rack
storage.
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