Amway Midwest Regional Service Center, Ada
⭐Key Features
- •Over two miles of varied conveyor systems (inclined belts, spirals, gravity declines)
- •Automated document (invoice/pack list) insertion into cartons
- •Automated carton labeling (license plate and shipping labels) and lidding system
- •DAC sliding shoe sorter for outbound shipping sortation
- •Integrated pick-to-light and voice picking technologies
- •Inbound weigh scales for real-time order accuracy verification
- •Bastian human-machine interface (HMI) for total system management and fault recovery
📊Results & Benefits
- ✓Operates in a facility roughly 50% smaller (200,000 sq ft vs. 400,000 sq ft)
- ✓Capable of handling over 30,000 cartons per day, supporting 3 million orders annually (50% of NA volume)
- ✓Substantial decrease in required training time (voice picking training reduced from 30 mins to 5 mins)
- ✓Increased scanner accuracy and reduced picking errors
- ✓Increased trailer load capacity from 32,000 lbs to 38,000 lbs due to reduced package void space
- ✓Achieved faster order fulfillment response times and shipping savings
- ✓Reduced total cost of fulfillment
🎯Challenges & Solutions
Needed to streamline operations to improve customer experience and operational efficiencies in a new, significantly smaller facility.
Designed and implemented a comprehensive, highly automated material handling system from Bastian Solutions that condensed operations into 50% less space while increasing throughput and accuracy.
📝Project Overview
Project Overview
Amway, a global leader in direct selling of nutrition, wellness, beauty, and home care products, relocated and modernized its Midwest Regional Service Center, which also serves as its corporate headquarters in Ada, Michigan. The strategic decision to move was driven by the need to drastically streamline fulfillment operations to enhance the customer experience for its network of over 3 million distributors and improve overall operational efficiency.
The primary goals for the new automated facility were ambitious: achieve a faster and more streamlined order fulfillment process, significantly reduce picking errors, increase daily throughput, and decrease shipping damage. Critically, this needed to be accomplished while operating in a new facility approximately 50% smaller than the previous 400,000-square-foot space. The center was designed to support about 50% of Amway's North American volume, equating to roughly 3 million orders annually.
Technical Solution
Warehouse Control System (WCS) & Order Orchestration
A Bastian Solutions Warehouse Control System (WCS) serves as the operational brain. It manages order release, directs carton routing throughout the entire process, and controls both the pick-to-light and voice picking systems. It requests pre-made cartons to initiate the order flow.
Momentum WES: Next-Generation Warehouse Execution and Control
Vendor: Honeywell Intelligrated
Key Features
The system's extensive conveyor network and automated sortation enable high-volume throughput of over 30,000 cartons daily within a condensed footprint. The integration of both pick-to-light and voice picking provides flexible, high-accuracy picking methods tailored to different tasks or zones.
A standout feature is the fully automated packing line, which includes document insertion, carton resizing, lidding, and label application, minimizing manual touchpoints. The inbound weigh-in-motion scales provide a critical quality check, ensuring order accuracy before shipping. The Bastian HMI offers exceptional operational visibility and control, facilitating quick recovery from any system faults.
Results & Benefits
The project successfully condensed operations into a facility roughly 50% smaller (just over 200,000 sq ft) while maintaining the capacity to handle over 30,000 cartons daily and support millions of orders annually. Training efficiency saw a dramatic improvement, with voice picking training time reduced from 30 minutes to just 5 minutes.
Operational accuracy increased significantly, with reduced picking errors and higher scanner accuracy. The automated lidding and carton reduction process directly increased trailer load capacity from 32,000 to 38,000 pounds, effectively taking "a trailer a week out of the network" previously needed for spillover. Overall, Amway achieved faster order fulfillment, streamlined processes, shipping savings, and a reduced total cost of fulfillment.
Challenges & Solutions
The core challenge was designing a system that could match or exceed the output of a much larger facility within a 50% smaller footprint while improving accuracy and efficiency. Bastian Solutions addressed this by implementing a densely integrated, highly automated material handling system. This system eliminated waste in space and motion through automated carton processing, optimized conveyor routing, efficient picking technologies, and automated sortation, allowing the same high volume to flow through a much more compact and efficient layout.
System Integrator
Bastian Solutions was the system integrator for this comprehensive project. They were responsible for the design, implementation, and integration of the entire automated system. This included the Warehouse Control System (WCS), the extensive conveyor network (over two miles), the pick-to-light and voice picking systems, the automated document inserters and labelers, the automated lidding system, the DAC sliding shoe sorter, and the human-machine interface (HMI). Their solution enabled Amway to achieve its goals of space reduction, efficiency gains, and cost savings.
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📚Related Knowledge Articles (6)
Voice Picking Systems
Voice picking systems revolutionize warehouse operations by enabling hands-free, eyes-free order fulfillment through speech recognition technology. Workers receive spoken instructions through wireless headsets and confirm actions verbally, dramatically improving productivity, accuracy, and safety while reducing training time.
Pick-to-Light Systems
Pick-to-light systems use illuminated displays at storage locations to guide warehouse workers to the correct items and quantities, dramatically improving picking speed and accuracy.
Pallet Racking
Pallet racking systems are structural storage solutions that hold palletized goods in horizontal rows with multiple levels, forming the backbone of warehouse operations by maximizing vertical space while maintaining direct access to inventory.
Pallet Conveyors
Pallet conveyors transport palletized loads through warehouses and manufacturing facilities using powered rollers, chains, or belts, enabling automated material flow between storage, production, and shipping areas.
Small Load Conveyors
Small load conveyors transport individual items, totes, cartons, and packages through warehouses and distribution centers using belt, roller, or slat systems optimized for lightweight products.
Vertical Conveyors
Vertical conveyors transport products between different floor levels using continuous lifts, spiral systems, or reciprocating platforms, enabling multi-level material flow in warehouses and manufacturing facilities.
