Carousels, as the name implies, are mechanical devices that house and rotate items for order picking. The most frequently utilised carousel configurations are the horizontal and vertical systems.
Vertical Carousel
The vertical carousel consists of a number of shelves connected at the ends to powered chains that can rotate vertically. Each shelf carries multiple bins. Most of the vertical carousels are contained in a closed chamber with only an opening at the position of the operator. This allows for good protection of the stored items. The compact construction allows vast storage capacity to be accommodated on minimal floor space by making use of the available room height thus saving costs. Some advantages of this system are easy rapid retrieval, short access times, ease of operation and protection from dirt and damage.
Horizontal Carousel The horizontal carousel consists of a large number of carriers driven by a powered chain that can rotate horizontally around a narrow closed loop. Each carrier consists of multiple bin positions. It can be driven forwards, or backwards to bring the required stock to the operator. Horizontal carousel systems save up to 60% of otherwise wasted floor space. In addition, the carousels provide dramatic productivity enhancing features. The newly freed-up floor space can be converted for value-added purposes. There are also other advantages such as, accommodate more parts in less floor space, items are conveniently brought to the operator and inventory are 100% accessible at all times.
For example, the Park Seed Company in South Carolina, the largest family-owned mail order seed company in the world, must be able to fill customers' orders within 24 to 36 hours during the peak season of December to April. Because of increasing business, the firm replaced its 125-year-old wooden bin system with automated horizontal carousels. As a result, the lines picked per hur per operator increased five times while labour was reduced by one-third. Compared to the old system, picking speed increased from 180 to 950-1,000 lines picked per hour.
