Put Wall Boosts DC Throughput and Accuracy

Put walls play an increasingly vital role as a growing number of distribution centers (DCs) take on the challenges of fulfilling e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) orders. By providing an effective way to consolidate diverse products across multiple channels within a DC, put walls make it easy to enhance efficiencies, especially when integrating manual and automated picking workflows with enabling technologies. 

Simple concept, dramatic results

A put wall is a cabinet-like structure divided into a series of compartments or "cubbies." One side is typically staffed by one or more operators who put product into assigned cubbies for their respective orders. On the other side, operators pack out the orders or place them on a takeaway conveyor that whisks them off to shipping.

Where and how put walls are integrated into the workflow can vary widely, depending on the operation. The basic idea is to consolidate demand from various upstream picking processes into the appropriate cubby. This enables efficient multichannel fulfillment of both mixed- and single-SKU orders, making put walls ideal for DCs that handle multi-line orders with regular promotions, flash sales or seasonal specials.

What's driving put wall adoption?

As consumer expectation and the number of online orders continue to rise, the pressure is on retailers to address several significant challenges:

SKU proliferation - Consumers continue to buy more online, and even infrequently ordered items must still be accounted for in the fulfillment process. Put walls make it possible for DCs to optimize upstream picking processes and take on more SKUs, while still maintaining accurate and efficient order consolidation and pack-out processes.

Changing order and product profiles - From small to large products to orders of widely varying sizes, product and order profiles are dictating ever more flexible order processing and handling requirements. The newest generation of configurable put wall technology offers a ground-breaking shift from fixed to customizable cubby sizes, delivering slotting gains of up to 35 percent just by optimizing existing rack space. 

Omnichannel diversification - To keep up with the demands of omnichannel fulfillment, many retailers are converting their existing facilities to incorporate e-commerce distribution into their supply chain operations. Retailers are integrating put walls to deal with these complexities, reduce order errors and increase throughput. 

Enabling technologies enhance put wall efficiency

Put walls can be enhanced by technologies that direct the operator to place items in the correct cubby, then confirm when an order is complete. These enabling technologies - including radio frequency (RF) scanners, and voice- and light-directed systems - deliver return on investment relatively quickly by significantly improving operator productivity and order accuracy. 

In picking and putting scenarios, these technologies enable intelligent order batching, adjustments and order allocation among wave, pick and put. Built-in slotting logic also provides ergonomic benefits to pickers, minimizing fatigue by keeping as much movement as possible inside the "golden" zone. 

To learn more about put wall solutions and the enabling technologies that enhance them. 

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