Goods-to-Person Systems Are Revolutionizing Order Fulfillment

Lightning-fast order fulfillment is no longer just an option for retail and ecommerce warehouses. Stores and consumers expect their goods promptly, and there is plenty of competition in the market that they can turn to if their current supplier isn’t delivering. Keeping up with demand may seem daunting, but that’s where warehouse automation can make all the difference. Faster fulfillment isn’t just about working harder but working smarter. Innovations such as goods-to-person (GTP) systems automate some of the most onerous and time-consuming parts of the fulfillment process, increasing efficiency, decreasing operational costs, and maximizing storage space.

What is a Goods-to-Person System?

Goods-to-person picking revolutionizes the order fulfillment process. Instead of workers being required to walk up and down warehouse aisles, retrieving totes or cartons of ordered goods, the product is brought straight to them. Automated storage and retrieval systems or robotics retrieve goods from their storage locations and transport them to workers at stationary workstations. The worker, who has the order information on the screen in front of them, picks the ordered items, and the GTP system returns any leftover goods still in the carton or tote back to where it came from.

GTP automation simplifies the retrieval aspect of the picking process, saving time and keeping employees safe. It also maximizes your warehouse's capacity since goods can be stored tightly.

[Translate to North America:] goods-to-person order fulfillment

GTP vs. Traditional Person-to-Goods Models in Order Fulfillment

Upgrading to a GTP system from older methods can transform your warehouse, with results including:

A safer workplace with fewer injuries
Decreased training time
Lower risk of product damage
Increased picking accuracy
More efficient fulfillment

Traditional person-to-goods material flow models require hands-on retrieval and more strenuous work. In this process, a worker is assigned an order, physically transports the ordered goods from their storage area to a picking station, and then returns the tote or carton to its origin point. Fulfilling orders in this way can involve heavy lifting, handling of bulky or breakable items, and excessive walking. This demanding physical labor can result in injury, leading to diminished staffing and low employee morale. Product damage is also a significant concern.

GTP material flow, on the other hand, eliminates the most physically challenging elements of picking orders. Workers remain at their stations, which are ergonomically designed for their comfort and safety. Using automated equipment to retrieve and transport the storage receptacles to these stations frees employees up to do the tasks that do require human intervention. Workstations are armed with order information on their screens and can have added accuracy safeguards, such as changing color lights to ensure that they’ve picked the right product from the tote or carton. Utilizing GTP automation and the employee’s trained eye to fulfill orders increases accuracy and decreases shipping errors.

Additionally, shuttles and conveyors can locate and move items much more quickly than humans and fit into smaller spaces, reducing travel time significantly. Workers do not have to be trained on the exhaustive layout of the whole warehouse, slashing the time needed to get employees up to speed.

Generally, GTP systems speed up the picking process, create a safer and healthier workplace, and significantly boost accuracy.

The Core Benefits of GTP Systems

Let’s discuss the benefits of GTP systems for the order fulfillment process further so you can see what they can help your business achieve.

Amid a labor shortage across the warehouse industry, maximizing employee efficiency and thoughtfully distributing tasks is paramount. Utilizing GTP automation reduces your reliance on human labor to bring goods from one place to another. In a traditional system, most pickers spend 60% of their time walking and only 40% of it picking. With a GTP upgrade, pickers spend 100% of their time picking, resulting in a 150% increase in productivity.

This upgrade can lead to lower labor costs or freeing up employees to develop more specialized skills. Workers will have the flexibility to take on other roles when needed and to train in new positions where human involvement is more necessary.

No matter how trained your staff are, the reality is that human error does occur. If a mistake is made during the retrieval process and the right product needs to be located, that can double the time it takes to pick and pack an order. Even in the best circumstances, automated machinery moves faster than human workers, getting goods to workstations for picking in record time. Speedier picking leads to faster fulfillment speeds overall. And the combination of automated retrieval and picking safeguards ensures accuracy. When customers receive the correct order the first time, less money is spent on returns and reshipments.

Limiting human handling of the product also leads to fewer goods being damaged during fulfillment. Limiting product loss means lower costs.

The health and safety of your staff should undoubtedly rank at the top of your management concerns. By automating the most physically demanding parts of the material flow process, you’ll see a reduction in injuries and fewer health-related absences or costs.

GTP systems are increasingly popular in the consumer goods and retail industries, especially at fulfillment centers where demand is growing and products are highly varied. High-volume warehouses use consumer goods logistics solutions to boost accuracy and efficiency, maintaining customer loyalty.

GTP as a Foundation for Future Automation

A GTP system can be integrated into a multifaceted automation roadmap that touches every part of your material flow process. As a solution, it’s scalable to grow alongside your company and be adapted to meet new needs.

Additionally, warehouse automation is not an all-or-nothing decision. Implementing a goods-to-person system can be part of a phased upgrade process, eventually incorporating other automation solutions and inventory control.

At TGW Logistics, we can help you plan for an easy integration with your overall warehouse management system (WMS). And for a more advanced solution, we offer FlashPick with RovoFlex. This robotics expansion uses AI to enhance the picking process continuously and allows you to switch between manual and automated operations seamlessly for 24/7 picking.

Investing in smart automation systems with lifetime support will lead to long-term cost savings, increased order fulfillment capacity, and higher revenue.

Real-World Praise for GTP Systems

Every day, we see the positive changes GTP solutions are making for our customers. Our clients have praised our “all-inclusive fulfillment solutions” and “strong after-sales service.” One customer said that TGW Logistics “makes it easy for clients to adapt their systems to changing market conditions and operational requirements.”

These automation solutions are revolutionizing order fulfillment in the fashion, grocery, ecommerce, and home improvement industries, among many others.

GTP Is the Smart Move for Growing Warehouses

To be a cutting-edge, next-gen warehouse, you must have equipment and software to compete with other suppliers. GTP is the cornerstone of the next frontier of outbound logistics efficiency and is redefining the material flow process for customers across countless industries.

Upgrading from a person-to-goods picking system will have reverberating benefits across your business. It combats labor issues by decreasing reliance on human intervention, increases warehouse safety by taking inherently risky duties off employees’ plates, and increases revenue by enhancing accuracy, improving fulfillment times, and freeing up space to store more product.

For many clients, it’s the first step in adopting a modular automation system that completely changes how you do business and handle goods.

Ready to speed up fulfillment while reducing labor strain? Explore TGW’s goods-to-person automation solutions tailored for modern warehouse demands.

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Why Goods-to-Person Systems Are the Cornerstone of Next-Gen Warehouse Efficiency