Basic System Delivers Big Benefits

New conveyor installation helps Illuminations process orders more efficiently, achieve higher productivity with one third the staff.

Two years ago, Illuminations was picking orders onto pallets one store at a time. Things have changed dramatically since then. The company is now processing more orders, more efficiently with only one third of the staff. The difference: a new distribution center with a streamlined and efficient conveyor system.

Illuminations (www.illuminations.com) is a success story of the new economy. The company is a producer and retailer of candles, glassware, and brass items. Based in Petaluma, Calif., Illuminations operates a network of company-owned retail stores across America. It also has a successful wholesale distribution and a catalog business. More recently, the company launched a Web site for online orders.

Each of these distribution channels poses its own challenges, which can be particularly tough when the business is growing. And Illuminations’ business has been growing at a rapid rate ever since the company was founded just over four years ago.

The order-fulfillment challenges were especially evident at the company’s existing warehouse in Northern California. That facility handled product distribution for the company’s retail, catalog, and Web orders. Other facilities in Southern California and Minnesota take care of the wholesale operations.

Order processing at the old warehouse had been entirely manual—an approach not particularly supportive of business growth. "When I started here over two years ago, we were picking orders onto pallets," recalls Walt Blum, the company’s vice president of logistics. "We had no conveyor capabilities whatsoever. We were picking one store at a time, one SKU at a time."

The opportunity for change came when Illuminations acquired a new complex in Petaluma that had existing racks and shelving in place. The company worked hand-in-hand with FloStor Engineering of Hayward, Calif., to design a conveyor system that would capitalize on the existing equipment in place and deliver the kind of productivity needed to support growing business lines. FloStor is a systems integrator and distributor of Hytrol conveyor equipment.

Basic and Reliable

The new installation, which went into operation in June 2000, incorporates some of Hytrol’s most basic and reliable equipment. Orders are picked off the racks and placed on a belt conveyor (RB) that runs though the picking area. The boxes pass over a gas-operated gate, which provides a passageway for personnel, and then onto a powered horizontal unit.

Before making a 180-degree turn, the boxes move onto a "zero-pressure" live roller conveyor with Hytrol’s exclusive EZ Logic feature. After the turn, the cases run on a section of skewed rollers to bring all the cases to the outside guard rail. The outside orientation allows for a more dependable scan. The EZ Logic accumulating system effectively controls the flow of product from zone to zone without product build-up or damage.

Orders then pass through a short belt break before being read by the computer controls, which will determine which of six shipping lanes the orders will divert to. The computer can be programmed so that trucks are loaded in the most efficient manner based on delivery requirements for the day. Power pivot diverters smoothly transfer the boxes off the main powered line and down the gravity shipping lines.

These gravity conveyors in shipping are extendible, giving Illuminations added flexibility during peak shipping times. If order volume gets particularly heavy in a given lane, a warning light will flash, indicating that the line needs to be extended to accommodate the boxes.

One other important feature of the system bears mentioning. It’s quiet. Illuminations specified that special rollers from Ralphs-Pugh be engineered into the system to help keep conveyor noise to a minimum.

On Time, On Budget

The new installation has had an immediate and positive impact on the company’s distribution operations. Whereas in the past, orders were picked one store at a time, Illuminations now can do a much more efficient bulk distribution pick. "We can pick orders in bulk for a dozen stores at a time," Blum explains, "and then sort to the appropriate stores. This is a direct result of the Hytrol conveyor system."

There were other benefits as well. "The system was implemented on time, on budget without one hitch," says the logistics V.P. "A lot of credit goes to John Fisher of FloStor who helped us design and implement the system."

While everything has worked out well to date, management at Petaluma is looking forward to the upcoming peak shipping months of November and December. "We expect fabulous results in the busy season," says Blum, noting that order volume can increase by a factor of four during this period. "We’ll be able to get as much done in a 12-hour shift as what 
used to take us 36 to 48 hours.

The Illuminations Distribution Center

Order processing at the Petaluma DC is simple and efficient. Operators fill the orders from racks in the picking area and place the boxes on a takeaway belt conveyor. Boxes move out of the picking area, over a gas gate, and onto a powered horizontal unit. They move onto a zero-pressure accumulating conveyor with EZ-Logic and then make a 180-degree turn. The boxes are "read" by the computer, which assigns them to one of six shipping lines that feature extendible gravity conveyors. Power pivot diverters automatically send the orders down the right line.

Snapshot of the Operation

Company: Illuminations
Facility: Distribution Center
Location: Petaluma, CA
Size: 100,000 square feet
Employees: 50 (150 peak periods)
V.P.-Logistics: Walt Blum
Product handled: Candles, glassware, brass items.
Throughput: 20 boxes per minute (max.)
Types of conveyors: Belt (RB), horizontal power (190-ACZ and 190-ACC), zero-pressure accumulating (190-ABEZ), gravity extendible, gas gate, PPD diverters.
Controls: Systems Automation
Rollers: Ralphs-Pugh
Conveyor supplier: Hytrol Conveyor Inc., Jonesboro, AR
Systems Integrator: FloStor Engineering, Hayward, CA.
Web site: www.illuminations.com

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