 As part of a strategy to enhance efficiency, Littlewoods took a decision to centralise their distribution operation at the site in Burton-on-Trent and implement a just-in-time (JIT) delivery system. The distribution centre features a material handling system designed and installed by Dematic and is managed by Wincanton Logistics ensuring smooth handling of the goods.
For virtually every sales transaction in a Littlewoods store, an order is placed with the appropriate supplier to replace the item. The suppliers are then responsible for delivering the necessary volume of goods to Burton-on-Trent the following day. The aim is to despatch these goods to the stores on the day they are received from the supplier.
Some 85% of the centre’s throughput is cross-docked. The majority of all incoming goods is delivered in standard-size tote boxes and—after clearing the receiving check—these are placed onto the input conveyor.
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 From goods-in to crossbelt sorter
Up to 20,000 items per hour to the packing areas
All cross-docked goods are routed to a crossbelt sorter via one of 16 induction points. The sorter incorporates 338 two-tier carriages, with a potential throughput of 20,000 items per hour. Induction operators place goods onto the conveyor belt according to instructions issued via a PC screen. The induction system allows a diverse range of goods to be handled individually rather than in bulk, saving over £1 million per annum in packaging. The goods are inducted in store order and the sorter directs the correct quantity of each product line to the appropriate stores. There are 450 output lanes, three for each store, dedicated to womenswear, menswear or
childrenswear. The goods can therefore be despatched sorted in in-store destination, eliminating the need for this to be done manually at each store.
ith sortation complete, warehouse staff put the completed loads into tote boxes, add a barcode label and scan it prior to transfer to despatch. Any incoming goods that are not cross-docked are transferred to a high-bay warehouse for storage. |
 Temporary storage or disbursement
Four S/R machines for threefold operation
The store has 72,144 locations, and is served by four twin-masted ASCW multistore automatic storage and retrieval (S/R) machines that are each capable of handling three tote boxes simultaneously. Any goods required to complete the day’s orders are retrieved whilst sortation of cross-docked goods is underway. The totes are transferred to one of the induct points and are inducted in exactly the same fashion as cross-docked goods. The crossbelt sorter can also accommodate larger products that do not fit into tote boxes. These are placed on a separate input conveyor before being sorted into one of 16 special output lanes. The goods are then retrieved by staff and placed into roll cages. As with goods in tote boxes, these cages are marshalled before being transferred to the despatch area.
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