In the News Materials Management & Distribution March 2004 Cover Story "A Smart Match" Find out how Wurth Canada increased its revenues by 20 percent per year, thanks to a smart conveyor system engineered and installed by Beaver. Read the highlights.		Photo: MM&D cover - Bob Keough of Wurth Canada with Michael Leranbaum, President of Beaver Materials Handling

Wurth is the world's largest automotive hardware manufacturer and distributor. Its order picking and fulfilment operations are enormous and highly time sensitive. To make the most efficient use of their picking workforce, Wurth uses the Beaver Smart Tote conveyor system.

As an order enters the system, it is electronically linked with a tote box by scanning both barcodes into a computer. Scanners throughout the length of conveyor track continually track each box's location.

The warehouse itself is divided into multiple zones. The central computer knows where all inventory is located, and diverts each tote into the Picking Zone closest to the items needed to fulfil the order. If a Picking Zone is full of totes, the computer locks out the shunt and circulates totes until space becomes available.

The warehouse layout keeps operators close by their workstations or zones, increasing efficiency by up to 50%. Walking is dramatically reduced, and orders go out faster.