Production line supply with Pick to Light: error-free supermarket and milk-run picking
In production line supply, Pick to Light lights up the supermarket locations of the parts a logistics operator must pick for a specific line, station or milk-run tour, and shows the quantity. No more searching lists: picking speeds up and missing or wrong parts no longer stop production. At Witte Automotive, processes became 60% faster and capacity rose by 20%.
At a glance
- 5,000 positions deployed in 6 weeks at Witte
- Training under 30 minutes at Johnson Controls
- Our own P2L hardware and software since 2018
When logistics cannot keep up with production takt
A production supermarket holds hundreds or thousands of parts, and logistics staff fill carts for each line at fixed intervals. Every error means downtime or an emergency run, and with shift changes and new people, accuracy depends largely on individual experience. Expanding the supermarket floor space is often not an option.
How Pick to Light speeds up line supply
Light-guided shelf supermarket
A light above or below the location shows where to take the part and how many. The next task arrives as soon as the pick is confirmed.
Several routes on one rack
Colour coding lets several operators pick for different lines or milk-run tours at the same wall without getting in each other's way.
Large parts on the floor
Bulky containers can sit in Flat Storage with rail tracks and LED navigation gates, fitting up to 30% more on the same floor area.
Fast onboarding across shifts
New operators do not need to know where parts are stored. At Johnson Controls, training a newcomer takes literally a few dozen minutes.
How it works
- 1Production or the ERP issues a replenishment request for a line or a milk-run tour.
- 2The system splits it into supermarket locations and assigns it to an operator or colour.
- 3The locations of the required parts light up with quantities.
- 4The operator picks the parts onto a cart or into a tote and confirms each pick.
- 5When complete, the system reports the delivery as ready and updates the ERP.
WMS and ERP integration
Supply requests come from your ERP, WMS or production systems via REST API, MQTT or WebSocket, as at Škoda Auto, where the solution was integrated with production management systems. Pick confirmations return in real time. At Witte Automotive, the project included integration with production and real-time monitoring of the whole material flow.
SoftwareWhat to prepare for an inquiry
- Number of parts in the supermarket and rack or tote types
- Number of lines supplied and tour frequency
- Whether you supply per line, station or kit
- The system that issues replenishment requests
- Share of bulky parts stored on the floor
Frequently asked questions
Other applications
All applications- E-commerce fulfillmentOne trip through the warehouse, several orders on one cart and a light that shows where each item belongs.Read more
- Put-to-light sortationPick in bulk, sort by light: a put wall splits one batch into dozens of orders at once.Read more
- Automotive kittingEvery part into the right kit and in the right order, without leafing through variant lists.Read more
Shall we look at your operation?
Send us your number of locations, orders and shifts – we will propose a setup and a payback estimate.