Germantown, WI -- (SBWIRE) -- 10/14/2010 -- Manufacturing journalist TR Cutler reviewed Pick to Light technologies for the current issue of Quality Digest. In the feature article Cutler explores how Build-to-Light systems keep profit margins from eroding, and how generation of pick-to-light systems meet today's custom manufacturing needs.
In late August, Sarah E. Needleman profiled in the Wall Street Journal that entrepreneurial manufacturers are experiencing a demand for made-to-order goods. In her feature titled, “‘Custom’ is Customary,” Needleman hop-scotches through a variety of businesses from Create-a-mattress.com to Panraven, a 3-year-old customer photo-scrapbooking business.
Along with these customized products and one-at-a-time customer orders comes not only the opportunity for increased profit margin but also the potential for dissatisfied clients if the fulfillment process is lacking or mispicked. Returned materials, and the corrective actions and express shipping that result, can consume all the profit-margin benefits of a customer build-to-order operation.
The newest development in supply-chain efficiency techniques and tools is “build to light,” used by build-to-order and assemble-to-order manufacturers. Lightning Pick is the exclusive developer of Build to Light technology. Build to light is the latest generation of what is commonly referred to as “pick to light,” a light-directed, error-proofing system that reduces errors within critical procedures such as parts picking, kitting, assembly, and sequencing, among others. Pick-to-light systems have been around for more than 30 years. Lights mounted on workstations, bin shelving, or other material storage media direct operators to the correct parts, quantities, and sequences to execute their task with greater accuracy than paper-based methods.
However, with the increasing demand for customizable manufacturing throughout the supply chain, a newer pick-to-light technology is needed, one that can pioneer the next generation of cost-effective picking solutions. Build to light is that technology.
About Lightning Pick
For over 25 years and across 500 installations worldwide, Lightning Pick Technologies (http://www.lightningpick.com) has delivered advanced order picking technologies on time, on budget, every time. Lightning Pick has best-in-class applications for Pick to Light, Put to Light, Pack to Light (Put to Store) Voice and RF systems support lean supply chain processes from manufacturing through order fulfillment. As a result, Lightning Pick clients improve their level of service, achieve superior order quality, and advance their positions in the market.
Lightning Pick Technologies
http://www.lightningpick.com
Joe Pelej
joe.pelej@lightningpick.com
262-250-2143