3. “As a result of this vision and the construction
of the distribution centre, Pearson is now
well positioned in a tough business environment.”
In the book publishing business, fast, instrumental to the success of the overall
efficient distribution with maximum operation”.
accuracy and minimal damage to books is
“At the end of the 1990s, we recognised
critical. When you’re shipping over 21 million
that distribution was going to play an
books a year, that’s a big ask.
integral role in the well being of this
That was the brief Pearson Australia Group organisation and we ensured that the
– Australia’s largest book publisher – gave function maintained its focus. We decided
to Dexion and Dexion Integrated Systems, upon a consolidated distribution
key suppliers to its new purpose-built organisation that would replace existing
Melbourne distribution centre branded warehouses thereby reducing operational
United Book Distributors. Oh, and by costs while delivering improved customer
the way, it had to have the flexibility to service and allow departments such as
accommodate continuing growth. sales and marketing to concentrate in turn
The company’s aim in building this new on their core competencies.”
distribution centre was to increase “As a result of this vision and the construction
productivity and customer service levels, of the distribution centre, Pearson is now
reduce operational costs – and provide well positioned in a tough business
the flexibility to accommodate substantial environment,” said Field. “Due to our
growth. investment in efficient and responsive
Effective distribution has long been distribution systems, our business can
understood as crucial to the management continue to grow year on year allowing us
of Pearson. Peter Field, Pearson’s CEO is to effectively service our customers with
committed to efficient distribution. He nothing less than the highest levels of
explains, “We have always considered service.” Sebastian Parkes, United Book
distribution to be a core activity and Distributors Operations Director, joined the
Dexion Case Study – Pearson
4. “Our business can continue to grow year on year
allowing us to effectively service our customers with
nothing less than the highest levels of service.”
business to ensure the vision of Peter Field We have accordingly made the investment
was successfully implemented. He takes decision to integrate a number of systems
up the story. and technologies designed to enhance
efficiency and control quality,” said Parkes.
“The Scoresby Distribution Centre is a
‘mission critical’ element of this business; So now let’s take a look at the detail of the
if we do not perform efficiently in launching operation.
each month the many hundreds of new
titles as well as supporting our other The nature of the task.
50,000 titles, it impacts directly on the There are approximately 40,000 pick
company’s bottom line.” locations at the United Book Distributors
“While we had our challenges as do all facility, consisting of carton live storage,
new turnkey operations these were soon shelving, full and half pallet positions.
overcome with the help of our business With the recent consolidation of operations
partners, including Dexion and Dexion and extension of the facility, the distribution
Integrated Systems, a change management centre is expecting in 2004 to handle
program and the great dedication and 350,000 orders dispatched in over 900,000
commitment of our staff.” cartons: a total of 21 million books.
“We now enjoy considerably improved Adding to the issue of volume are the
cycle times for all our operational activities complexities relating to the nature of orders.
along with markedly increased productivity As well as handling fast moving best
and accuracy.” Accuracy is a key issue. sellers, the facility manages slow moving
lines and “one-off samples” of educational
“We will distribute in excess of 21 million
books to academics.
books this year from the site, so even a
1% error rate extrapolated over that volume The design concept for the 20,000 square
in shipments would be punishing. metre distribution centre is based on
Dexion Case Study – Pearson
5. “We now enjoy considerably improved cycle times
for all our operational activities along with markedly
increased productivity and accuracy.”
co-locating a bulk reserve storage area intervention from operators. Urgent orders product from that area. Dexions’ Pick-to- quality control features to ensure only
and a three-level picking module with an are automatically slotted in at the front of Light is extensively used throughout the correctly picked orders are allowed to exit
integrated sortation and conveying system the queue while others of lower priority operation, providing a common picking the system.
servicing all picking requirements in a follow. Urgent orders that are released as methodology across all picking areas
Split case picking is further enhanced with
paperless and real-time environment. late as midday are despatched that same other than the 3rd level of the Picking
semi automated void filling and fully
day along with all other daily orders. module which employs RF. Pick-to-light
Product movement into and within the automated carton sealing, through two
complements the concept of zone picking
bulk storage area is managed via radio Order fulfilment for the forward picking automatic random carton sealers.
and provides the ability to dynamically
frequency (RF), while carton movements module is provided by the Dexion Realtime Completed orders, whether full or split
allocate work and resources to meet
to replenish the picking zones are via rack Distribution System (RDS) which manages case, are conveyed for final sorting into
fluctuating work load demands. It also
embedded carton conveyor. functionality such as order induction,
provides valuable operational statistics on the appropriate dispatch carrier lane.
carton routing, paperless picking, quality
The first 6 bays of each aisle of the bulk both the picking staff and product movement
control and dispatch. RDS has introduced Order-picking module.
storage area feature embedded conveyors and, in conjunction with the warehouse
automation to tasks often viewed as
3 meters high in the racking. This ensures management system, processes invoices Originally, Dexion was asked to design a
labour intensive and time consuming such
the bulk module operates as an element of and price labelling at the pick face. two – tiered mezzanine system that was
as order induction, label print and apply
the pick module providing rapid progress capable of extending to a 3rd tier when
and check weighing, allowing staff to The system has a combined capacity to
of full case picking and replenishment required.
focus on value add activities. For example, handle shippers from all areas at a total
items to the split case storage areas. This
incorporated into the conveyor system is a rate of 30 shippers per minute. It also has Due to organic growth and new, third party
conveyor is integrated with the overall
semi automated carton construction and the ability to recirculate, eliminating contracts the 3rd level was soon added.
sortation system for greater efficiency.
induction system ensuring valuable bottlenecks and preventing work load Today, the orderpicking module is housed
Order management. resource isn’t wasted on laborious tasks disruption in down stream areas. This serves in a three-tiered mezzanine system where
whilst quality control is enhanced. to balance out workload and maximise
Orders are downloaded to the work pool stock is picked for front and backlist book
picking efficiency.
and queued in order of priority, ensuring The forward picking module accommodates titles and educational texts. Approximately
special conditions are managed without 31 picking zones each manned by one or The RDS is an integral element of the 40,000 titles are catered for and picked
the need for constant monitoring or more pickers responsible for selecting paperless order fulfilment system, providing from the module.
Dexion Case Study – Pearson
6. “Currently, this facility brings to the Australian
book publishing and distribution industry an operation
with the highest levels of service, bar none.”
All carton/shipper movements to and from the pick module in this manner until it is the requirement for invoice/pack-list “Currently, if an order is received by this
the picking module are carried via a carton complete. The management of invoice and printing and uploads a request to the facility by midday we can guarantee it will
routing and sortation system supplied by pack-list printing is performed by the WMS, which manages the printing as the be despatched the same day if the
Dexion Integrated Systems. This conveyor LogPro WMS in conjunction with RDS. picker picks the order in the normal customer so requires it. To accommodate
system provides maximum efficiency fashion. The picker acknowledges the future growth and 3PL opportunities we
A key strength of the process is the
through its ability to route cartons to the invoice/pack-list in the same manner by intend to maintain these service levels.”
provision of a transparent “closedloop”
necessary picking areas, minimising travel pressing the acknowledgment button on “We are planning to extend the sortation
quality control mechanism, which ensures
paths and maximising throughput. the picking display at the printer location. system and number of pick locations and
invoice and packlist documentation is
Dexion Integrated Systems will continue to
It allows virtually any order to access requested, printed and picked. With Once the picking process is complete
play an integral role in our plans with its
numerous parts of the distribution operation invoicing included as an element of the each shipper exits the module and crosses
systems capable of continuous expansion
while providing total accuracy in terms of picking process, the system ensures that an in-line check weigher. Discrepancies
on a modular basis,” said Parkes.
tracking and distribution. every invoice is placed in the right shipper are routed to a checking station where any
“Currently, this facility brings to the
and that bottlenecks are eliminated. errors are corrected and the shipper placed
Australian book publishing and distribution
Order-picking process. back on the conveyor ready for dispatch.
The WMS determines which shipper will industry an operation with the highest
Within each PTL picking zone, orders are carry the invoice, which shipper requires Single book or small orders are batch picked levels of service, bar none,” he said.
inducted for picking by scanning the price tickets and in which zone these are into totes and routed to a dedicated
shipping label, which illuminates the lights to be printed. This information is included packing area and placed in specifically
for those products required to be picked. in the WMS’s download in the same designed cardboard packaging, which are
Displayed quantities of the required manner as normal picks, and invoice or then conveyed to dispatch. Invoices and
products are picked and acknowledged by price ticket printing is carried out in pack-lists are generated semi-automatically
the pickers. predetermined zones or as a final step while in the packing area.
automatically after the last pick in the
After completing all picks for the zone, the “With Pearson’s anticipated on-going
despatch area.
shipper is placed on the takeaway conveyor growth, further expansions to the operation
and sent to the next zone where picking is As each shipper is processed in a given are planned, but not at the expense of
required. The shipper progresses through zone, the RDS automatically recognises service,” said Sebastian Parkes.
Dexion Case Study – Pearson
