Bastian Solutions Helps Southern Wine and Spirits Double System Capacity in Five Months

INDIANAPOLIS - Oct. 21, 2015 - PRLog -- The Southern Wine and Spirits (SWS) facility in Puyallup, WA partnered with Bastian Solutions to automate the system enabling rapid entry into a new market while reducing headcount. The case study was featured recently in Modern Materials Handling by Josh Bond, Senior Editor.

The 350,000-square-foot distribution center delivers wine and spirits to liquor stores, grocery chains and restaurants throughout the state. Shortly after the facility opened, Washington voters approved the privatization of the distribution and sale of distilled spirits. After the law change, SWS redesigned its facility with automation to enter the spirits market and quickly increase capacity.

With goals of expansion and efficiency in mind, the final system included four pick modules: one split case and three full case pick modules. Orders originate in one of the four locations, depending on whether full cases, split cases, or both are needed. From the pick modules, orders are conveyed to a central merge and released based on their route. A project this size would normally take nine months to complete, but SWS had only four months if it wanted to be the first to leverage the new law.

“We were in a key position to take up some of that business,” says Jesse Perez, night manager at Southern Wine & Spirits of Washington. “We were only a wine distributor before, so our business was going to more than double. That meant the old ways of picking orders manually was not going to work, so the company decided to go full automation.”


About Bastian Solutions

Bastian Solutions a global material handling systems integrator and expert in e-commerce fulfillment automation is an innovator in the fields of material handling automation, goods-to-person systems, wearable AR technology, supply chain software, and robotics. Bastian Solutions recently announced the acquisition of Forte Engineering. The merge creates a turnkey software suite for beverage distributors and strengthens the companies’ overall product offerings and customer support.

Bastian Solutions is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, with an additional 16 domestic offices and 7 international offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. Uniquely positioned, Bastian Solutions offers customers complete and innovative turnkey material handling systems, from design and simulation, all the way through installation and operations. Modern Materials Handling named Bastian Solutions 2015 Top 20 Systems Suppliers Worldwide.

Bastian Solutions provides integrated material handling systems reducing the total cost of order fulfillment and delivery cycle times for its customers; tremendous productivity gains and a quick return on investment are ensured. Automating supply chain logistics with harmony between material flow, information flow, and operational processes, yields a unique and important competitive advantage. Follow Bastian Solutions on Twitter @BastianSolution.