JPH11292217A - Article handling method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article handling method capable of efficiently picking up and sorting multiple types of articles without causing loses in delivery cases. SOLUTION: In an article handling method for picking up ordered articles out of multiple types of stored articles and packing the picked-up articles in respective cases for customers, work is done in first and second distribution facilities 20, 22, when the picked-up articles are packed in the delivery cases in the first distribution facilities 20, judgement whether an extra space occurs in one of the delivery cases or not is made, and if the judgement that the extra space occurs is made, part of the picked-up articles in the second distribution facilities 22 is sorted into the first distribution facilities to be resupplied to the extra space.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention picks a variety of products according to an order from a customer, sorts the products by customer,
The present invention relates to a method for handling products that can be packed in shipping cases without waste.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, diversification of products has progressed, and a distribution system that supports the shipment of various types of products has been required at a product distribution center or the like. Conventionally, there are various systems for sorting various types of products by customer. There are a group of products with a small number of types and a large number of orders (hereinafter, referred to as "A-rank products") and a product with a large number of types and a small number of orders (hereinafter, referred to as "A-rank products"). A composite system that preliminarily sorts out groups of “BC rank products”) using a so-called ABC analysis method (PQ analysis method) or the like and performs picking or sorting in a method suitable for each group. Are known.
For A-rank products, since it is suitable for automation and dedicated mechanization, a system that automatically sorts ordered products from products stored in storage warehouses or storage shelves and sorts them by customer using an automatic sorting device is generally used. Has been adopted. On the other hand, the system for BC rank products is not expected to be very effective even if it is automated. Therefore, it is common practice to manually pick products and pack the products directly into shipping cases.

[0003]

The conventional complex system as described above can efficiently perform picking and sorting operations. However, since each system is independent, the following problems may occur.

The following table exemplarily shows the volume ratio of each product to the volume of the shipping case and the number of orders of the customer. The total is 8.1 cases, and the total volume ratio of BC rank products is 3.2 cases. In such a case, in the conventional complex system, since goods are handled in each system, nine shipping cases are required for A rank products, and four cases are required for BC rank products.
A total of 13 shipping cases are required.

[0005]

[Table 1]

However, the total volume ratio of all ordered products is 11.3 cases, so that 12 shipping cases would normally be sufficient. If it is desired to eliminate the waste of one case, conventionally, a shipping case corresponding to a fraction of one system is sent to another system, where the product is refilled.

[0007] Such refilling of commodities is not preferable because it lowers the work efficiency, but if the refilling is not performed, the shipping case will be wasted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a product handling method that can efficiently perform a picking and sorting operation of a wide variety of products without causing waste in a shipping case.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is carried out in an operation of picking an ordered product from stored various types of products and packing the picked products in a shipping case for each customer. A method for handling goods, wherein the work is performed in each of the first and second logistics systems or logistics equipment, and when the goods picked in the first logistics equipment are packed in a shipping case, the goods are handled as one of the shipping cases. It is determined whether or not a surplus space is generated. If it is determined that a surplus space is generated, it is determined that the part to be picked up in the second distribution facility is distributed to the first distribution facility in order to replenish the surplus space. Features.

As described above, the present invention basically employs a complex system in order to efficiently carry out picking and sorting operations of products, but considers the state of entry of products in a shipping case in one system. However, when a surplus space is generated in the shipping case, commodities are replenished from the other system, thereby eliminating waste in the shipping case.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 schematically shows an embodiment of a distribution center to which the product handling method of the present invention is applied.
In the figure, reference numeral 10 is a storage warehouse, and reference numerals 12 and 14 are storage shelves, respectively. Storage warehouse 10 and storage shelves 12,1
4, there are various storage modes and picking methods for the products. In the present embodiment, the storage warehouse 10 stores the products packaged in an outer box (exterior state), and stores them in the storage shelves 12 and 14. It is assumed that the product in a state of being taken out of the outer box (individually packaged) is stored.

The storage warehouse 10 is provided with an automatic picking device (not shown) such as a flow rack picking machine or a picking robot.
It is possible to automatically take out a product with a desired exterior state based on a control signal from the user. In addition, a method is adopted in which the workers on the storage shelves 12 and 14 are manually picked, and the picked products are sequentially packed in a shipping case placed on a hand cart (not shown). In addition, it is assumed that a display capable of displaying a product to be picked by a control signal from the control device 16 is attached to the hand cart.

An automatic sorting device 18 is installed adjacent to the storage warehouse 10. The automatic sorting device 18 receives commodities sent from the automatic picking device of the storage warehouse 10, identifies the commodities with a bar code reader or the like, and sorts the commodities by customer according to a control signal from the control device 16. It is.

In this embodiment, the product to be handled is A
A-ranked products and B.C. by BC analysis (PQ analysis)
The products are classified into C rank products, and the A rank products are stored in the storage warehouse 10 and the storage shelves 12, and the BC rank products are stored in the storage shelves 14. Therefore, storage warehouse 1
0, the storage shelf 12, the automatic picking device in the storage warehouse, the automatic sorting device 18, and other related devices mainly function as the first distribution facility 20 that handles A-rank products. In addition, the storage shelf 14 and its related devices function as a second distribution facility 22 that handles BC rank products. Where A
The BC analysis method refers to a method of analyzing quantitative conditions of a product with respect to an item (Product) and a shipping frequency or an order quantity (Quantity).

The control device 16 inputs and outputs signals to and from the automatic picking device, the display of the hand cart and the automatic sorting device 18, and an order data input device 24 such as a keyboard and an optical character reader. An interface unit 26 for performing various operations, a storage unit 28 for storing various data,
And a central processing unit 30 for processing data. The storage unit 28 stores data of each product to be handled in advance. The merchandise data to be stored is at least the merchandise name or merchandise code of the merchandise to be handled, the size of each merchandise, whether the merchandise is an A rank merchandise or a BC rank merchandise, individual merchandise ranks, and an outer box It is the quantity of the goods packaged in. In this embodiment, the size of a product refers to a volume ratio per piece of a product when the effective volume of the shipping case (the volume obtained by subtracting a margin of a certain ratio from the actual volume) is “1”. I do. The product rank refers to the order of shipping frequency. These merchandise data fluctuate depending on the season, the economy and the like, and are updated as appropriate.

To briefly describe the picking / sorting operation according to the present invention in such a configuration, first, order data to be processed in one operation is input from the input device 24. Then, the central processing unit 30 of the control device 16 collectively collects the input order data, and basically sends the A-ranked product to the automatic sorting device 18 as in the conventional case. For the ranked commodities, a control signal is issued so that single order picking is performed. According to the present invention, when the A-rank products sent to the automatic sorting device 18 are packed in the shipping case, the number of the products is one.
If the case is not satisfied, and there is a surplus space in which products can be replenished, the control device 16 transmits a control signal to the display of the hand cart so as to distribute a part of the BC rank products to the automatic sorting device 18. . As a result, when the products processed through the automatic sorting device 18 are packed in shipping cases, no unnecessary surplus space is formed in each shipping case, and the situation where the shipping cases are wasted is eliminated.

This work process will be described in more detail with reference to the example shown in Table 1 above. In Table 1, the symbols “a” and “b” for each product indicate an A-rank product and a BC rank product, respectively, and the numbers appended thereafter indicate the product rank. Further, the example of Table 1 is for explanation, and the kinds of products handled in the actual distribution center are about 100 kinds in the case of A rank products,
In the case of BC rank products, there are many thousands of types,
Many products have a volume ratio of about 0.01 to 0.03.

The order data is transmitted from the input device 24 to the control device 1.
6, the central processing unit 30 of the control device 16 performs the following processing for each customer.

First, it is determined whether or not each of the ordered A-rank products can be shipped in an exterior state. For example, in the example of Table 1, the customer X has ordered 21 pieces of the A-rank product a1, but since this product a1 is stored in the storage warehouse 10 in a state where 10 pieces are stored in the outer box, the control is performed. The apparatus 16 determines that the customer X has ordered the two-piece exterior product and the one-piece individual product. The product in the exterior state is shipped without being opened, and the quantity of the product a1 packed in the shipping case is counted as one piece. Similarly,
Since the product a2 is packaged in an outer box in five pieces, the product a2 put in the shipping case is counted as “0” in the case of the customer X order.

Next, the sum of the sizes of the ordered A-rank products to be packed in the shipping case (commodities sent to the automatic sorting apparatus in an individually packaged state), that is, the total volume ratio is determined. For example, regarding the order of the customer X in Table 1, only one piece of the product a1 and the product a
Since 4 is 7 pieces and the product a9 is 3 pieces, the total volume ratio is 1.1 cases. Similarly, the customer Y has 1.1 cases, and the customer Z has 2.0 cases. In the case of the customer Z, no fraction is generated (there is no surplus space in the shipping case), and the work proceeds in exactly the same procedure as in the past. On the other hand, in the case of the customers X and Y, a fraction of 0.1 case is generated. When the product is packed in the shipping case, an excess space of 0.9 case is formed in one of the shipping cases. Means that

In the case where a fraction of the total volume ratio of the A rank products is generated, the central processing unit 3 of the control device 16
0 calculates “one case-fraction”, and selects a product that fills the surplus space of the shipping case from the ordered BC rank products based on the calculation result. In this selection step, products are selected in descending order of product rank.
For example, in the case of customer X in Table 1, a fraction of 0.1 case has occurred, and B is filled to fill the space of 0.9 case.
-Product b1 with the highest product rank among C rank products
Is selected first. Since the volume ratio of the product b1 is 0.2 and the order quantity is 4 pieces, the surplus space remaining in the shipping case becomes 0.1 case when the product b1 is refilled. The control device further selects the next rank product b2 to replenish the product in the space of 0.1 case. Thereby, it is possible to prevent one case from being completely buried and forming an unnecessary space.

The reason for selecting the replenishment products in descending order of the product rank is that, in this embodiment, the replenishment BC rank products are batch-picked and conveyed to the automatic sorting apparatus. That is, when performing batch picking, if a product having a high product rank (shipping frequency) is selected, the number of times of picking may be smaller than that of a product having a low product rank, and work efficiency may be increased.

Also, for the customer Y, it is necessary to select a BC rank product which fills the extra space for 0.9 cases as in the case of the customer X. In this case, the products b1 and b3 are selected. It is preferable that the control device performs arithmetic processing so as to exclude the product b2. In the example of Table 1, there is an order of 5 pieces from the customer Y for the product b2, but when the product b2 is selected, the same type of product in one order is placed in the first order.
This is because it is handled at two places of the physical distribution equipment 20 and the second physical distribution equipment 22, which is not preferable.

When a product to be sorted to the automatic sorting device 18 among the BC rank products is selected in this way, the control device 16 issues a control signal to the automatic picking device and the automatic sorting device 18 of the storage warehouse 10. , A rank product in the exterior state is batch picked by product,
It is sent from the automatic picking device to the automatic sorting device 18. In addition, a control signal is transmitted from the control device 16 to the display attached to the hand truck to display the A rank products and the BC rank products to be batch picked,
The operator takes out the product from the storage shelves 12 and 14 according to the display and carries the product into the automatic sorting device 18. Conventionally, BC rank products were handled only by the second physical distribution facility 22. However, according to the present invention, the first physical distribution facility 20 is used.
Work to move it to However, since this work is the same as the batch picking of the A-rank products stored in the storage shelf 12, the work efficiency does not decrease.

The automatic sorting device 18 reads information of the conveyed goods by a bar code reader or the like and sends it to the control device 16. Based on a control signal from the control device 16, a predetermined sorting chute assigned to each customer is sent to the sorting chute. Sort products. The products sorted in this manner are housed in the shipping case and shipped without generating unnecessary surplus space.

On the other hand, the remaining ordered BC rank products are handled by the single order picking method. That is, a shipping case for each customer is placed on the hand cart, and the operator views the product name and the quantity displayed on the display in response to the control signal from the control device 16, and stores the product on the storage shelf. Take out from 14 and put it in the shipping case. In this way, the number of shipping cases shipped by customer can always be kept to a minimum.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, one of the logistics facilities performs automatic picking and automatic sorting,
In the other logistics facility, manual picking is performed. However, in the present invention, both logistics facilities may be automated, The equipment may be one that performs picking manually.

Further, in the above embodiment, whether or not a surplus space is formed in the shipping case is determined using the parameter of the volume ratio of the product. Various methods such as a method using dimensions can be considered.

Further, in the above embodiment, the products are ranked by the ABC analysis method and are distributed to the first and second distribution facilities. However, the ranking and storage form of the products are not limited to the above embodiment.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, 2
While maintaining the advantages of picking and sorting products at each of the two logistics facilities, without impairing work efficiency,
It is possible to eliminate a situation in which a useless shipping case occurs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing one embodiment of a distribution center to which a product handling method according to the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Storage warehouse, 12, 14 ... Storage shelf, 16 ... Control device, 18 ... Automatic sorting device, 20 ... First logistics equipment, 2
2. Second logistics facility.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A product handling method performed in an operation of picking an ordered product from a variety of stored products and packing the picked product in a shipping case for each customer, wherein the work is performed by a first distribution facility ( 20) and the second logistics facility (22), when packing goods to be picked in the first physical distribution facility (20) into a shipping case, does one of the shipping cases generate extra space? If it is determined that the surplus space is generated, the first logistics facility (20) is used to replenish a part of the goods picked in the second logistics facility (22) into the surplus space. )
A product handling method characterized by the following: