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Hermes FulfilmentOptimization of returns management

Automatic destacking of mixed returns containers Storing 2000 containers per hour OSR Shuttle™ for 1 million items

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The customer

Hermes Fulfilment, a member of the Otto Group, is an innovative full-service pro-vider and offers companies from within in the group as well as from without custom made fulfilment services for the entire flow of goods. The development of integrated, future-orientated logis-tic solutions is the core business of the company.

Hermes offers a range of services along the entire flow of good, from purchasing to delivery at the point-of-sale or directly at the end customer, up to and includ-ing returns management. With a range of 600,000 products, Hermes Fulfilment moves around 260 million items each year. Hermes Fulfilment sees itself as a neutral service provider in the market, providing integrated fulfilment services not only to the members of the Otto Group, but also to external customers.

Hermes Fulfilment employs about 5,000 people in four separate logistics centres in Germany and has direct access to a large network of other logistic locations in Europe. The logistics centre in Hal-densleben counts as one of the most modern dispatch centres in Europe. Every day during peak hours about 250,000 shipments rely on this location.

The challenge

What may be troublesome duty for many companies is the core competence of Hermes: returns management. Hermes Fulfilment takes complete responsibility for returns management for its custom-ers and takes care of all the tasks associ-ated with it – from acceptance of returns, to product preparation and repackaging.

In order to further optimize returns man-agement for its customers, Hermes Ful-filment decided to automate part of the returns process at the Haldensleben lo-cation with a shuttle system by KNAPP. All returns qualified for resale were previously stored manually in the exist-ing picking warehouse, and new orders were filled using picking carts.

Since the picking warehouse for supplier goods is was located at the same loca-tion, all the preparation for the returned goods for resale had to be synchronized with other warehouse processes. A con-nection to the existing conveying system was necessary. The new warehouse system was realized in the existing build-ing while considering building conditions such as foundation, arrangement of pil-lars and the electrical system.

The solution

The heart of the new automatic returns system with a storage capacity of about 1 million items is the shuttle system by KNAPP. The OSR Shuttle™ supplies 30 work stations on two levels, and dur-ing peak times, up to 15,000 items per hour are picked. The system offers stor-age capacity for about 176,000 storage locations across 30 rack lines and ac-cepts and stores 2,000 mixed returns containers per hour coming directly from goods-in.

The master concept is convincing not only because of the advantages of the highly dynamic OSR Shuttle™, but also because of the work station design based on KiDesign guidelines. KNAPP sees KiDesign as an intelligent design for goods-to-person solutions fashioned according to principles of ergonomics, ergo-dynamics and multi-functionality.

At the goods-to-person work station, Pick-it-Easy Fashion, specially designed according to the needs of the fash-ion sector, returns are processed with special efficiency. The work stations of the Pick-it-Easy series were created in close cooperation with the Occupational Health Centre Graz and the renowned Institute for Occupational Health of the TÜV Rheinland, and meet the highest demands for ergonomics and efficiency.

Pick-it-Easy Fashion 30 goods-to-person work stations Ergonomic guidance in the picking procedure

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Goods-in for returns

Returns are delivered in mixed returns containers, stacked on carts. The prepa-ration of returns – from unpacking from the original carton, checking and repack-ing of the item – is already taken care of at this point.

At arrival the mixed returns containers are automatically unstacked and placed on the conveyor system. After an auto-matic check the containers are stored in the OSR Shuttle™ on two levels.

Storage of mixed containers

The returns system of Hermes Fulfilment prepares all products for quick order pro-cessing and sorting. The system accel-erates the processes between goods-in and goods-out. Most products remain in the system for only a few hours. The containers are stored in the most conve-nient free storage location according to the principle of chaotic stock manage-ment.

To attain an optimal storage density, up to ten different items are stored in one container. Up to 2,000 such mixed con-tainers can be stored in the system per hour, where containers on one level are distributed across ten zones, to achieve a balanced filling of all the rack lines.

Order processing

At Hermes Fulfilment, what was ordered yesterday is, at the latest, ready-for-

shipping today. With the new system, Hermes is well-prepared for handling deliveries that must go out faster, or for handling deliveries with a more economi-cal solution, if the order is not so urgent. Picking from the returned goods system takes place in agreement with the pick-ing warehouse for the rest of the stock.

For picking from the OSR Shuttle™, Hermes Fulfilment profits from the re-dundancy inherent in the system through the reserves of over 700 containers per rack line. The special design of the work station in combination with picking from mixed containers helps to smooth out fluctuations in the order structure. At the same time, a very high picking perfor-mance is achieved. Dependence on inci-dental multiple picks or average fill levels of the source containers during changes in the product range is therefore avoided.

The work stations can be switched on according to need. Every product can be accessed from each work station; sev-eral order types can be processed at the same work station.

Ergonomic work stations

The transport containers are located directly in front of the operator at an er-gonomically ideal height. A work station has two positions for source containers and five positions for target contain-ers where one of the positions is freely configurable. The fact that the source container positions slope gently down-wards towards the work station not only means that the content of the containers

is visible to the operator, but also that the products can be picked easily.

Guidance through the picking procedure

The operator receives clear, straight-for-ward information from the central touch screen monitor. All indication and operat-ing elements lie within the optimal field of view, giving the operator an overview of all procedures.

If necessary, the operator can display a product photo on the screen plain-ly showing which product should be picked. To check, the product can be scanned again and is relabelled directly at the work station for the processes that follow. Put-to-Light indicators signal the container in which the items should be put away.

Picking from mixed containers

By picking from mixed containers, an op-timal mix between storage density and picking performance is achieved. The special design of the work station opti-mally supports the batch-oriented order structure of Hermes Fulfilment.

Special picking procedures such as ran-dom checks or the complete removal of discontinued stock from the OSR Shuttle™ are easily integrated into the procedure. The completed transport containers are diverted into the system and sorted according to customer order before reaching dispatch.

The returns system of Hermes Fulfilment in detail

Easy access for servicing through servicing walkways

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Maintenance concept

Servicing platforms are located at the end of each rack line of the OSR Shut-tle™ and in the lift area. The platforms provide fast and easy access to each rack and lift position. The rack plat-forms provide a safe area for working at all heights without the need for per-sonal safety equipment. The servicing platforms in the front are connected by

servicing walkways. From here an easy descent to the pre-zone loop is possible. Fire protection sprinklers are located in each service aisle.

Safety – TÜV certified

The OSR Shuttle™ has a unique safety and access concept with an interlock key system. All access points are secured

with sensors. The use of the proven principle of key exchange effectively pre-vents two people from entering an area unknown to each other and guarantees fast and secure access in all areas. The compliance with all norms and standards is certified by TÜV, and CE-compliance is confirmed.

Dr. Jürgen Schieleit System Development, Hermes Fulfilment GmbH”After an intense offer phase, we made the decision for the returns system offered by the KNAPP company. In record time a warehouse was realized that optimally combined performance and ergonomics and that on the scale realized offers a maximum availability and serviceability.”

Technical data

Warehouse data OSR ShuttleTM

Industry Mail-order business Rack lines 30 (21 modules each with 28 levels)Location Haldensleben, Germany Storage locations 176,400Total floor spaceMezzanine area

approx. 11,000 m2

approx. 4,000 m2

Storage locations per rack line

5,880

Number of articles (SKUs) approx. 1 million Storage movements/h 2,000

Pick-it-Easy stations Servicing areaWork stations 30 Servicing levels 5Picks/h 15,000 Servicing platforms 4Picks/station 500Other operator locations 7

Software High-bay rackingWarehouse control system KiSoft WCS Rack length 54 metres

Rack width 70 metresRack height 11.5 metres