Hytrol Distributor: Fortna, Inc. (Phoenix, AZ)
Technology and Conveyors Combine for Big Benefits
New WMS and integrated network of conveyors help
Atlas Services grow the business while keeping service levels
high.
 For
Atlas Services, flexibility is the key to success. Over the past few years,
this Phoenix-based "value-added" distributor of electronic components and
computer products has gone through a series of mergers and consolidations.
Through this period of change, the company needed a distribution center that
could handle existing order-fulfillment demands, and also would be able to
effectively address any future requirements.
Atlas was able to meet those objectives with
its modern logistics distribution center in Phoenix. Opened in the mid-1990s,
the 250,000 square-foot facility fills orders for customers both nationwide
and around the globe. Motorola, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, and Compaq are just
some of the brand names distributed through the center.
The Phoenix D.C. relies on high technology coupled
with an integrated conveyor system to smoothly process an average of 2,000
orders a day. A sophisticated Warehouse Management System (WMS) directs the
flow and storage of product throughout the center and an integrated network
of Hytrol conveyors--over a mile and a half in total--assures that these
products get to the right place at the right time.
"It's a real nice system that we have in place
here," says Cliff Gardner, the center's technical maintenance
supervisor.
Growing With the Business
Creation of the Phoenix distribution center was part of a consolidation
strategy to combine three smaller warehouses into one modern facility. In
addition to serving customers more effectively out of one distribution center,
Atlas Services wanted to be able to accommodate any additional volume demands
that might be necessitated by future acquisitions.
 That's exactly what happened in the Fall of 1998
when the company decided to close down a warehouse in California and fold
it into the Phoenix operation. To accommodate the added volume, Atlas Services
added a mezzanine to the new distribution center. The company worked closely
with Fortna Inc. of Phoenix, a systems integrator and distributor of Hytrol
conveyor products, to design the addition. Fortna also did the computer controls
for the entire facility.
Installation of the mezzanine went quickly and
smoothly thanks to a number of factors. For one, the conveyor equipment installed
in the mezzanine--live roller accumulating--was fully compatible with the
other Hytrol conveyor units already in place. These new conveyors feature
the "EZ Logic" technology, which senses product presence and controls
accumulation and release of product from zone to zone. This feature is ideal
for the kinds of high-value products handled by Atlas.
Another factor in the project's timeliness (it
was actually completed in under eight weeks) was the installation approach.
The systems integrator was able to do its work largely on weekends and off-hours.
The end result: Atlas Services experienced hardly any downtime during the
installation period.
An Integrated System
The new mezzanine is an integral part of the Phoenix operation--an
operation where product is computer controlled and efficiently moved on conveyor
from the time it is received to the point of customer shipment. The distribution
center integrates a broad range of Hytrol conveyor equipment. In addition
to the EZ Logic accumulation conveyors in the mezzanine and throughout the
ground level, the D.C. has live roller units, pallet conveyors, gravity lanes,
and a series of incline/decline belt conveyors. There's also an overhead
trash takeaway conveyor in the receiving area and a special shoe sorter in
packing that can divert orders either to the right or the left.
 The center was designed for optimum flow efficiency.
Inbound product, which is mostly palletized, is placed on pallet conveyors
in the receiving area. The WMS determines where in the distribution center
that product should be stored--typically in the ground and upper level
(mezzanine) bin-shelving areas. All orders are filled into totes in these
pick areas and sent through the conveyorized network enroute to their final
destination in shipping.
Approximately 90 percent of the orders go from
the pick areas to a detailed processing area on the ground floor before moving
on to the packing stations. Working off of gravity conveyors, operators in
the detailed processing section perform a quality control check on the orders
and take care of any special labeling requirements. The remaining 10 percent
of the totes move directly from picking to the packing stations.
A special double-sided shoe sorter from Hytrol
diverts the totes to packing stations on either the left or right of the
main takeaway unit. At the packing stations operators perform all of the
necessary bar coding, weighing, and taping prior to shipping.
The completed orders are moved from gravity conveyors
in packing onto the takeaway powered unit leading to the shipping area. There
are five shipping lanes as well as a "911" lane for totes that get "lost"
or have other identification problems. By segregating these totes into a
special lane, operators can more easily identify and resolve any
problem.
Predicting the future can be risky. But if the
Phoenix distribution center is required to take on more volume because of
acquisitions or consolidations--or any other reason, for that matter--management
is confident they can respond. "The system is in great shape," says Cliff
Gardner. "Right now we could easily handle more than 3,000 orders a
day."
That's the kind of flexibility Atlas Services
hoped for-and is receiving from the Phoenix distribution center.
The Atlas Services Distribution Center
An advanced warehouse management system and an integrated network
of conveyors combine to efficiently move inbound product and outbound orders
throughout the 250,000 square-foot logistics distribution center. Inbound
material is transported on pallet conveyors from the receiving docks to the
appropriate storage locations, as determined by the WMS. The order-fulfillment
process begins in the bin-shelving pick areas on the mezzanine and ground
levels. Orders move in totes from picking to a detailed processing area,
then to packing stations, and finally to the shipping lanes. The D.C.
incorporates a range of powered and gravity conveyors as well as a special
shoe sorter that can divert either to the left or the right.
Facts and Figures on the D.C.
Company: Atlas Services
Facility: Logistics Distribution Center
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Size: 250,000 square feet
Employees: 175
Key personnel: Cliff Gardner, technical maintenance supervisor; Beth
Dyer, production planner; Carl Stjernquist, vice president, quality
Product Handled: Electronic components and computer products
Throughput: 2,000 orders a day (3,000 capacity)
Types of conveyors: "EZ Logic" accumulation (190-SPEZ), live roller,
pallet conveyors, incline/decline, gravity, trash takeaway, and double-sided
shoe sorter (QS-1).
Conveyor Supplier: Hytrol Conveyor Inc., Jonesboro AR
Systems integrator: Fortna Inc., Phoenix, AZ
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