On October 20, Geek+ announced that it has been selected to install 76 of its latest GTP (Goods-to-Person) solution "PopPick," along with 8 picking stations and 490 storage shelves, at the Misumi Group's East Japan Distribution Center (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture).
<PopPick>
"PopPick" features a high-density design that extends up to 3.8m, reaching directly below fire shutters, achieving approximately twice the storage efficiency compared to typical light-duty shelving.
Furthermore, because the containers are automatically pulled out and transported to the workers, productivity in the warehouse is dramatically increased compared to manual operation.
After testing conducted between Geekplus and Misumi, the expected productivity improvements were confirmed, leading to the decision to expand and implement the system.
<Misumi's East Japan Distribution Center in operation>
Misumi manufactures and sells approximately 3000 million products, including its own brand and those of other companies, ranging from manufacturing auxiliary materials to consumables used in industrial automation sites.
In manufacturing, the entire production line can shut down if even one part is missing, so it is essential to supply necessary parts reliably and quickly.
Therefore, Misumi established a new specialized department to promote the automation of its three domestic warehouses, aiming for further logistics efficiency. They were proceeding with the in-house development of automation systems and considering the introduction of products from other companies.
As part of this effort, they developed and introduced a "digital picking cart" that automatically recognizes products using images or weighing according to their characteristics, while also exploring solutions to the problem of walking burden during picking operations.
The deciding factors for choosing "PopPick" were its ability to enable fixed-point work by automatically transporting products to the worker's hands, its prevention of product loss through container transport, and its high accuracy thanks to the automated system, as well as its high degree of customizability to suit Misumi's operations. The fact that it does not require anchors and its flexibility to expand and relocate in line with the company's growth were also appreciated.
Currently, the process of identifying items transported by "PopPick" using "Digital Picking Carts" requires manual staff work. However, Misumi plans to improve efficiency by strengthening the integration of both solutions. They will continue to expand the scope of automation within the warehouse and promote further automation.
