What is a pick-by-light picking zone?
How do I plan a picking zone?
Can multiple employees work in a picking zone?
How flexible is the system?
… and much more.
In this article, we explain the function and layout of a picking zone equipped with a pick-by-light system. We also show you how multiple pickers can work simultaneously in such a picking zone.
What is a Pick-by-Light picking zone?
A pick-by-light picking zone defines a specific number of storage locations that are accessed simultaneously during the picking process. One or more pickers work in a picking zone.
How do I plan a picking zone?
The size of the picking zone depends on many factors, which is why only a thorough analysis can provide the correct answer. The most important thing is that employees are able to navigate the area with ease. Access to the merchandise should be quick and efficient. At the same time, the quality of the picking process must be as high as possible.
The system must provide optimal support for employees!
In a semi-automatic picking system featuring conveyor technology, pick-by-light, and flow racks, the picking zones are approximately 6–8 meters long. The conveyor system also serves as a buffer here, with the correct distribution of goods within the zone achieved through A/B/C analysis. It is very important that the employee keeps a close eye on all Pick-by-Light bin indicators and has the shortest possible walking distances.
In fully manual systems that use picking carts, the size of the picking zone varies greatly. Sometimes the zones are very long and are even operated by several employees at the same time. You’ll find out how that works in a moment …
Quick Navigation
A single picking zone can have several hundred displays. Sometimes the picker must stand with their back to the pick-by-light system (for B or C items). To maintain an overview of the storage bins, special displays are used for quick navigation. At a glance, the picker can see where the active storage bins are roughly located (bottom left, top right, center, or behind them). This assigns a segment of the navigation display to each storage bin. After each confirmation, the control system automatically updates the navigation display.
In addition to the graphical display of active orders, the navigation screen shows the number of pending picks. Experience has shown that using the navigation feature makes the picker’s work much more efficient and faster. This results in an overall performance increase of approximately 5–7%. The low cost of this feature justifies the investment .
Can multiple employees work in a picking zone?
Yes! The answer is clear, provided the LUCA-Server is LUCA-Server . With our system, multiple employees can work in a single picking zone. We have multicolored LEDs available on the displays. Each employee and their order is assigned a separate color. The issue of simultaneous access to the bins is complex, but we have solved it very effectively. To address this, a special procedure for synchronizing dispatches and access to the same bins LUCA-Server developed within the LUCA-Server .
This process ensures proper coordination among the individual processes for multiple employees and orders. Each employee works with their own data. However, each process in the picking zone sends the messages not directly to the pick-by-light system, but to a synchronization module. The module is then responsible for properly coordinating access to the shared storage bins.
Would you like to know exactly how it works? Contact us …
How flexible is a picking zone?
The process isn’t exactly simple, but it is possible. The challenge extends beyond the pick-by-light system itself to include the warehouse management system (WMS). To this day, we cannot yet answer with a clear “yes” as to whether the dynamic allocation of picking zones is truly feasible. We always examine these requirements very thoroughly and precisely before such systems are implemented. We have already developed many variations of the solution, but almost every solution was highly customized. We will present some examples of these to you soon in our upcoming blog articles.
Conclusion
It is essential to divide a pick-by-light system into multiple picking zones. This allows multiple pickers to process different orders simultaneously. The layout and size must always be determined on a case-by-case basis. In the LUCA system, multiple employees can even pick orders simultaneously and efficiently.