Replenishment

The Kiva warehouse automation solution provides the forward pick, pack and ship processing area within a distribution center.  Inventory is replenished into the Kiva zone and orders are picked, packed and shipped out of the Kiva zone.  Kiva replenishment is more productive and accurate than replenishing pick faces in traditional distribution operations.  The process looks a lot like picking with a Kiva system, just in reverse.

Workers stand in a replenishment station and scan items and cases to be put away.  The system then finds and retrieves the best pods to hold that inventory.  When the pods arrive at the replenishment station a rack light on the station indicates which inventory to put away then a laser pointer on the station points at the proper bin on the pod into which the worker should place that inventory.  This type of replenishment is considered "system directed."

The solution also supports "operator directed" put away for installations that require it.  For this method, the operator looks at the inventory to be put away then determines which type of pod should be sent over.  The system finds the best-fit pod of that type and sends it to the replenishment station.  When the pod arrives the operator scans the inventory then scans the bin into which they are placing the inventory thereby 'directing' the system as to where the inventory is now stored.

Features of Kiva's Replenishment

Highly Accurate Light Directed Put Away - Workers stage items to be replenished on shelves, tables, and other fixtures that are equipped with rack lights.  When the pod for an item arrives in the station, the rack light tells the worker which item to put away and a laser pointer indicates which bin on the pod to place the item into.

Flexible Replenishment Staging Includes Wireless Rack Lights - To stage large cases, full pallets and large quantities of inventory, the Kiva solution includes wireless rack light 'pucks' which can be used to put a rack light where there aren't any racks.

Replenish Items, Cases and FULL Pallets - Kiva replenishment stations are configured to handle item, split-case, full case and full pallet put aways into the Kiva zone for picking.  For fast moving items and cases, it is more efficient to place full pallets of inventory onto a pallet pod base and release the entire pallet to the Kiva storage floor.

Simultaneous Picking and Replenishment - Replenishment and picking can proceed at the same time with full productivity, allowing reduced days-on-hand of inventory.

Zero Re-slotting - Items are dynamically assigned to the best available location for storage and retrieval, which means that there is no need for profiling or re-slotting.

Multiple Bin Consolidation Strategies - The system can be configured to implement different consolidation strategies when replenishing different inventory such as: consolidate items into open cases with room, no mixing allowed,  mix only for full cases, mix based on inventory dates, batches, etc.