Site: Scottsdale Jaguar-Porsche-Audi

Vertical carousel system adds space, improves service efficiency at busy Scottsdale automotive dealership

Application: Automotive parts for automotive service department

Equipment: Vertical carousel system with Pick Lights, FastPic inventory management software, ADP software interface

Summary: Automated solution saved over 1000 sq. ft. plus increased productivity to 80%

At Scottsdale Jaguar-Porsche-Audi in Scottsdale, AZ, putting a vertical storage and retrieval system to work in the parts department not only helped the dealership expand its storage capability, it helped improve service efficiency too.

The parts department consists of a basement and three mezzanine levels adding up to a total storage space of 4800 square feet. The dealership was running out of space using 4’ by 5’ vidmar-type storage drawer cabinets and standard static steel shelving.

“A major part of our volume, more than 60 percent, comes from our parts counter,” said Doug Payne, Scottsdale Parts Manager. “We found it difficult to support our growth without the need to expand our parts storage facilities.”The dealership replaced conventional storage units with an automated vertical storage and retrieval system from Remstar. The Vertical Carousel is 11’ wide, 5.5’ deep and 21’ high with 30 carriers, and 30 intermediates (totals 60 shelves). It replaced 18 divided-drawer cabinets and 40 standard automotive shelving units, resulting in a space savings of over 1000 square feet.

Reducing Picking Time Improves Efficiency
One of the primary reasons for considering a vertical carousel is the improved space utilization it offers, and that was the case with Scottsdale Jaguar. Depending on usable building interior heights, up to 75 percent of a conventional storage system’s occupied floor space can be recovered. The small unit footprint makes vertical carousels especially valuable for point of use storage applications such as parts counters in automobile dealerships. Improved space utilization extends the useful life of existing facilities, eliminating the need for expensive brick and mortar expansion projects.

Vertical carousels improve order picking efficiency as well. Conventional static storage systems like shelving require order pickers to spend much of their time traveling aisles searching for items. Vertical carousels allow quick access to goods via a system of rotating carrier shelves that bring the exact pick/store position to the operator. Typical productivity can increase by more than 2.5 times. The access area of vertical carousels is designed to present stored items at an ideal height for picking, usually about 39.” This location of the access area contributes to employee safety and improved throughput when compared with bending and climbing associated with conventional shelving and mezzanines. When integrated into an existing inventory control system, parts retrieval speed can increase significantly.

Smart Retrieval Improves Service Efficiency
The vertical carousel was installed in conjunction with upgrades in the dealership’s ADP inventory and accounting software and the addition of an ADP 8800 computer.

Scottsdale Jaguar operates a fully electronic repair order system. Each service technician orders parts from a computer terminal located in his service stall in the repair area. This repair order is transmitted to the parts department where it is processed. The ADP system prints a pick ticket and transfers orders to FastPic inventory management software which operates the carousel. A software utility allows ADP software to communicate directly with FastPic. The dealership stocks approx-imately 15,000 items. About 4500 of the fastest moving items are stored in totes in the vertical carousel. Each time the software system acknowledges that a requested part number is located in the vertical carousel, it automatically activates the unit and delivers the stored part to the pick window. A position light indicates where the part is stored.

The result of this “smart retrieval” method is that order picking time, and the subsequent waiting time for service technicians, has been significantly reduced.

A good example of the efficiency of the system at Scottsdale Jaguar is a routine 30,000-mile service. The service technician first enters a parts requisition on an individual terminal, he then gets the car and drives it to the service bay. By the time he has done this, the parts he needs for the job have been retrieved from storage and have been delivered to the bay by a parts runner. Average processing time for a parts order is about four minutes, including delivery to the bay. An average of 1700 orders are processed each month.

“Prior to the installation of the vertical carousel service technicians had to walk to the parts counter to place an order,” Payne said. “Sometimes they would wait as long as 20 minutes at the counter. Now, technicians can spend more time in the bay working on a car and parts personnel can stay at their work stations looking up parts. The amount of time saved is tremendous.”

Payne added that the unit was installed in three days without disruption to the operations of the parts counter.

“We’re adding another franchise to our dealership, and we’re going to need more room in the parts depart-ment,” Payne said. “Real estate is expensive. The solution is to utilize space that’s available to the fullest. This storage and retrieval system lets us do that.”