JFC International

Overview of the Facility

JFC International firmly believes in their philosophy, “Quality Merchandising and Good Service.” They handle a wide variety of products and service a diverse range of customers including Wal-Mart. The brand new 200,000 sq-ft distribution center provides systemic improvements in accuracy, efficiency, and traceability through the presence of four temperature zones. The Exacta® Warehouse Management System and Warehouse Control Software orchestrate Information Flow that includes pick to light, Vocollect pick to voice, RF Picking with automation that includes conveyor control system, print and apply, in line scale and camera scanners providing a very well tuned system delivering up to 40 trailers in a single shift – doubling previous output performed over 3 shifts!

JFC International Case Study

Production and Distribution

The JFC Los Angeles distribution system is designed to process orders in waves.  Due to JFC’s variety of products – 15,000-item product line, there are 5 primary areas – ambient conveyable and non-conveyable, freezer conveyable and non-conveyable and chill room.  The Exacta Wave algorithms manage the order fulfillment between these 5 areas so that the total order consisting of frozen, chill and ambient products comes to together at the right place and time. The key was applying the right mix of technology to make the system efficient and effective. 

The system consists of two separate conveyor systems, one in the freezer and one in the ambient area of the warehouse.  Each system consists of a three level pick module, a merge, and a multi-lane sorter. JFC sales personnel out in the field have the ability to send customer orders directly to JFC’s host computer from their PDA’s and have real-time visibility to stock levels through Exacta browser based Warehouse Management Software. Exacta guides operators.  In the ambient area, operators are using voice and ride on walkies to pick bulk and rainbow pallets while their counterparts are using pick to light for fast movers.  In the freezer, voice is used to pick mid to high movers while the picked product is conveyed to pack lanes to build the pallets.  In the chill area, voice is used for processing case and pallet picks.  The ambient and chill areas use Exacta® Pacing screens to provide both operators and managers real time visibility to the order picking status.  Exacta pick to voice users hear the same data while picking.

The product is conveyed from the pick module and merged into one line to be inducted onto the sorter.  At induction, each box is scanned, a shipping label is applied, the box weight is verified for accuracy, and a shipping lane is assigned based on the order to which the box belongs.  The box then moves to the sorter where it is diverted to the assigned lane.  An operator will then palletize up to five pallets per lane based on information on the shipping label such as pallet number, pallet quadrant and tier level.  If any error occurs in processing a box (wrong SKU for the orders, cannot read the barcode, etc.) it is sent to the error lane, also known as the jackpot lane.  This is done both in the ambient and freezer areas.  As the ambient picks occur the freezer, chill, pallet and rainbow pallets are being loaded onto the truck.   As all the pallets are loaded into the trailer, Exacta RF mobile validates each, ensuring 100% accuracy.

Key Technologies pacing screen

  • Exacta Warehouse Management Software
  • Exacta Wave Management – Ship Lane Assign, Cubing, Sequencing
  • Exacta Mobile RF-Based
    • Receiving
    • Put away
    • Replenishmentvoice picking
    • Picking
    • Consolidation
    • Cycle Count
    • Trailer Load Validation
  • Exacta pick to light for full and split cases.
  • Vocollect pick to voice for full and split cases.
  • Exacta™ Pacing Screens - for synchronized picking between the various pick zones. Read more about JFC's pacing screens
  • Exacta Shipping Lane Marqueesprint and apply
  • Exacta Manager configuration and monitoring tools
  • Exacta Reporting tools
  • Exacta Warehouse Control Software
    • Automated Order Routing
    • In Line Print and Apply
    • In Line Weight Verification
    • Event Director
  • BMH Controls with Steeplechase PC based controls and 3-D Human Machine Interface with remote capability.pick to light
  • Accusort camera scan tunnels in the ambient and freezer areas for higher read rates.
  • Dual In line RFID capable Print and Apply machines from Printronix in the ambient and freezer areas.
  • Hytrol Prosort high-speed shoe sorter

The Results

JFC International’s system supports up to 40 trucks per single shift and is more than capable of meeting future demands. Pacing screens provide instant snapshots of operational productivity to management and operators and synchronizes flows between pick zones. The new JFC headquarters and distribution enter is designed with energy-saving and environmentally friendly technology. The result is remarkable efficiency. The warehouse is designed to run at 99.99% accuracy with a strict first-in, first-out (FIFO) policy. It combines the flexibility of individual human operation with the high speed and absolute precision of automation where appropriate.