KPI Solutions  /  Case Studies  /  Missouri Book Services (MBS)
DISTRIBUTION

Missouri Book Services (MBS) Capital Improvement

Dramatically improving inventory, picking, and storage with a green solution

Automated conveyor and storage system with sorting bins in facility.

The Client

A book distributor servicing college bookstores, MBS are innovators in course materials distribution, store systems and retail technology with a history of over 100 years. They have more than 160,000 titles on hand at any given time, with over 8.6 million textbooks shipped annually.

The Challenge

MBS has had several different challenges in their 200,000 sq. ft. facility. They needed a new system to sort their inventory and more efficient picking and storage systems. They particularly wanted a solution that would not only boost efficiency but would serve as a green initiative that saved energy.

The Solution

Working with the MBS team, KPI designed and implemented over ten major solutions at the facility. The most recent was a sortation system to sort prepacked student book orders into 80 different sort destinations. This solution saved energy by shipping all the student orders as groups to bookstores on campuses instead of parcel shipments directly to individual students, dramatically cutting down the number of shipments.

KPI also designed and installed a conveyor system to combine totes from 12 existing mini-load systems into a central pick area, effectively tripling the crane efficiency. A multi-level shelving system was also implemented for storing over eight million books.

These improvements increased throughput ten times to over 40,000 orders per day, tripled the storage capacity, and allowed for a 50 percent increase in picking volume.

The Value

  • 10x throughput successfully executed
  • 3x storage capacity installed
  • Ability to decouple the picking from the front-end mini-load allowed for a 50% increase in volume
multi-level pick module with spiral chute Automated sorter conveyor with distribution bins.