An Introduction to Bucket Brigades

This video illustrates how bucket brigade picking can be used to optimize picking productivity and throughput in a traditional, manual pick module.

Many DCs install high velocity pick modules for their fastest-moving products. In most pick modules, the products are packed densely in flow racks with a conveyor running in front of the shelves, so pickers can slide one or more totes or cartons along the conveyor as they pick items from the shelves.

In some pick modules the workers will pick all items in an order from beginning to end. When a worker completes his or her last pick, he will push the tote to the end of the module, and then walk back to the start to get his next order and a new tote.

In high volume operations, multiple pickers will work in each pick module, causing congestion as workers pick items from the same bays or pass each other working their way up and down the pick module.

An alternative to having each person pick complete orders is to place each worker in a defined zone spanning one or more bays in the pick module. Each worker will pick the items in his or her zone before passing the tote to the person working in the next zone. This eliminates congestion, but it leads to a different problem as some workers will inevitably be standing around at times waiting for work in their zone, while other workers are getting backed up in theirs.

Bucket brigade picking solves the problems of congestion and uneven work distribution.

In a bucket brigade, the person at the end of the pick module will complete the last pick in her order, push the tote off the line, and then walk up the line to where the previous worker is picking and take over that order. After the last worker steals the assignment, the previous worker will do the same to her predecessor, and so on. The effect is that every worker has work at all times, and no two workers are competing to pick items in the same bay at the same time.

Bucket brigades create a self-regulating flow of orders through the pick module, distributing pickers where there is work. To further boost productivity and throughput in the pick module, workers can pick multiple orders at a time in a so-called train of multiple totes or cartons.

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Video Link: https://youtu.be/tyxv6SAflK8

Видео An Introduction to Bucket Brigades канала Lucas Systems