Reliable despatch
December 1st 2003

A reliable new auto ID solution from DataScan Systems has increased output in the despatch area at Clarks Shoes UK distribution centre Clarks Shoes can hold up to three million pairs of shoes in its UK Distribution Centre (DC) in Street, Somerset. Around 80,000 pairs of shoes are handled both in and out of the facility daily, with stock arriving from manufacturing plants in Europe, the Far East and Brazil and the companys own plants in the UK. Annually, the busiest period is during the back to school sales peak in August and September. The successful tracking of around 10,000 packs per day at despatch was becoming an issue due to the age of the existing hardware. The company sought advice on how best to improve the situation through the provision of a system that was 100% reliable. Clarks approached Auto ID Specialists. DataScan Systems, for guidance and to recommend a solution to the problem. Clarks main requirements were to replace the old obsolete scanning equipment, reduce the number of no-reads and increase the output levels through the despatch section. DataScans brief was two-fold and included the supply of a cost effective barcode system to replace an existing installation, which had been in operation for some nineteen years. Barcode readers Clarks distribution centre had four despatch conveyors, each requiring upgrading. The project replaced all the original barcode readers with LS6100 fixed readers, connected to DP1100 decoder units. DataScan worked along side Clarks technical team during all of the installation to ensure exact reading accuracy. The barcodes are actually read through shrink-wrap packaging at the point of despatch. The project also included the development of a PC based despatch control and tracking system to enable successful monitoring of the despatch of around 80,000 pairs of shoes each day. The DataScan team set to work with the IT department at Clarks and developed a working model of their solution to Clarks requirements. The system had to interface both with the LS6100 barcode readers and Clarks own Data General server, handling all processing and despatched orders from the Street site, in addition to controlling the four despatch conveyors. It also had to be easy to use, MS Windows-based and very visual to the operators. The new screen layout has a whole range of options for the operator including load information, product counts, barcode details, and start and stop times for the loads. The system allows loads to be transferred from one conveyor to another. This makes use of Clarks Ethernet LAN network, linking each of the four despatch lane PCs to the DataScan despatch server. The server manages the data between each of the despatch conveyors and the Data General host system. The software also incorporates full redundancy capability. If network connections are lost the DataScan despatch System will automatically run locally to each conveyor, and then fully back up to the Data General once the connection has been restored. The overall distribution centre process begins with receipt of intake units (normally cartons containing a number of individual shoeboxes) being placed on one of four conveyor belts in the goods-in section. Cartons are scanned using LS6100 Datalogic scanners and then directed to the appropriate storage area within the DC. The data information collected is then sent to the Data General host via a PC. Improved efficiency To improve order-picking efficiency Clarks utilise a bulk-pick system. Individual shoeboxes are picked and subsequently directed to the box sortation area. The boxes are fed initially into a 20-lane sorter, which uses a single LS6100 scanner to read the box end barcodes. At this point no reads, mis-sorts and incorrectly picked boxes are automatically sorted, taken out of the process and corrected where appropriate. Once the initial sort is complete boxes are fed on to a conveyor that takes them to a two-layered automated box sorter system which sorts the boxes down to individual customer requirements across 100 chutes. Throughout the whole process moving floats are directed around the DC on a single track. Floats are automatically guided to their destination whether this is for storage or to the box sortation area. Once the box sortation process is complete individual shoeboxes making up customer orders are directed to the shrink-wrapping area. It is at this point where the despatch label with barcode is affixed to the inside of the pack. Shrinkwrapped packs are then automatically sorted to the appropriate despatch conveyor where they are controlled by the new DataScan despatch system.

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