Question 1

What components does the solution consist of?

Accepted Answer

A pick-by-light system fundamentally consists of hardware and software components. Hardware components of a pick-by-light system: Shelf displays in various versions, e.g. with or without quantity display, as alphanumeric or graphical displays, with or without sensors. Controllers, which both provide the power supply for the shelf displays and serve as the interface between the shelf displays and the control system (IT). Mounting materials for installing the system on a wide variety of shelving systems. KBS uses a special mounting profile with an embedded bus rail. The shelf displays themselves can be clipped on at any position. Additional possible components of a pick-by-light system include scanners, zone displays, scales, label printers and similar devices. Software components of a pick-by-light system: The management and control of individual components such as shelf displays and controllers is handled by the PTF Device Manager software. A customer-specific application software is required as the interface to the customer's ERP or WMS system. This controls the processes during picking and coordinates the data exchange with the customer's host system. Application software can generally be developed by the customer themselves, by third-party providers, or by KBS Industrieelektronik. Many WMS system vendors have already integrated interfaces to the KBS PickTerm Flexible system into their software.

Question 2

How does the solution work in detail?

Accepted Answer

In the paperless picking method pick-by-light, every storage location is equipped with an electronic shelf display. This shelf display features at least an attention light, usually also a quantity display and a confirmation button. The shelf displays are connected to the customer's WMS or ERP system (or others) via an interface unit and receive the 'pick lists' for an order to be processed from there. Once a picker has started an order, the host system transmits the data on the items and quantities to be picked. The attention lights of the shelf displays associated with the order illuminate to show the employee the picking position. The quantity to be picked is additionally shown on the shelf display. After the employee has removed the item or items, they confirm this by pressing the confirmation button. Alternatively, confirmation via sensors is possible. The confirmation is reported back to the host system in real time, and the attention lights and quantity display of the relevant shelf display are switched off. The employee works through the pick zone in this way until all attention lights are switched off, meaning all items belonging to the order have been picked. The system is then ready for the next pick order. The size of a pick zone is based on the order volume. The PickTerm Flexible system also enables variable pick zones, so that during high order volumes multiple smaller zones can be formed, which can be combined into larger units as needed.

Question 3

What are the unique selling points of this solution?

Accepted Answer

KBS has been manufacturing its own pick-by-light systems for over 30 years, in Freiburg im Breisgau. The PickTerm Flexible system incorporates all of our experience gained from direct exchange with users of our systems. The following points can be identified as the main reasons for its worldwide success: The industrial suitability of PickTerm Flexible. Our customers repeatedly emphasize the reliability, longevity and resilience of the system. For our customers, this includes not only the simplicity and robustness of the IT interfaces, but also the fact that the shelf display housings are made of aluminium. This protects against mechanical damage and ageing. Not least, aluminium can be recycled any number of times. The flexibility of PickTerm Flexible, which is already reflected in its name. The shelf displays are simply clipped onto the mounting profile at any position and are immediately ready for operation. All shelf display types are compatible with one another and can be installed in any combination within a single system. The up to 7 colors of the attention light can be used for different order types (removal, put-back, stocktaking, batch change, etc.). Alternatively, they can of course also be used for different employees within the same pick zone. The wide variety of shelf display variants. The majority of applications can certainly be covered by the 'classic' model — the shelf display with attention light and 3-digit quantity display. Different use cases, however, require other solutions, which can then be implemented via alphanumeric, dot-matrix or graphical displays (OLED, e-paper). Operational reliability is without question one of the most important factors. All components have built-in intelligence that detects potential faults in real time — such as a defective attention light, excessive operating temperature, communication interruptions, etc. — and reports them to the leading system. Defective components can be replaced within minutes, without tools, and without a KBS technician needing to be on site. The KBS PickTerm Flexible system thus combines industrial suitability, flexibility, variant diversity and operational reliability in a unique picking system manufactured in Germany, which has established itself as a pioneer in pick-by-light technology through its robustness, adaptability and reliability.

Question 4

What does your ideal customer look like?

Accepted Answer

Our pick-by-light systems can be used in many industries. They are applicable wherever goods and components need to be picked — whether for dispatch to the customer or for internal processing within the production chain. Our customers include all well-known logistics companies, virtually all European automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, dozens of mail-order, publishing, pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, as well as manufacturing companies from all conceivable industries. Automotive for parts provision (supermarket) / assembly preparation / operator guidance Assembly & Production for assembly workstations Retail, Publishing & E-Commerce for goods picking and sorting stations Cosmetics, Pharma, Medicine, Medical Technology Logistics, Intralogistics

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