Background
Based in Savannah, Georgia, lnnomed, Inc. manufactures orthopedic surgical instruments. It has huge amount of inventory, with the business and inventory grows, they have to consider to move to a new building, or they need a more efficient storage solution. By installing four Modula VLMs allowed the company to store 90% of its surgical instruments, which previously occupies a large space with traditional shelving. storage automation has also increased Innomed’s operational productivity.
Pain Points
Better manage the expanding inventory of surgical instruments, without moving to a new warehouse.
The biggest challenge Innomed faced was managing a fast expanding inventory of medical instruments in its existing facility. As items arrived from Innomed’s manufacturing site to its warehouse, Innomed workers were unable to put them in a permanent storage location. They first placed them on buffer manual shelves, accumulate enough to move in one batch. This was not only a drain on time and resources, but also results in a chaotic inventory control system.
Another issue was surgical instruments couldn’t fit standard containers and thus created a lot of space waste on shelves. Retractors, for example, one item can have large curves while mallets can be long and thin. Innomed’s management team wanted to avoid moving to a new warehouse. So they need a solution that could maximise the storage capacity in current space, as well as solve their operational issues.
Solution
Installation of four Modula VLMs , housed the large inventory of surgical instruments and decrease labor load and time.
It is obvious that the only available space is vertical space to the ceiling in current facility. Innomed has no choice but to take vertical solution. After careful investigation, the company decided to install four Modula VLMs. Now they are able to store over 8,500 medical instruments inside the 4 units which provided 92.2 cubic meters of storage capacity within a 57 square meter area. “It was shocking to us that we could get 90% of our inventory in the machine,” says Aaron Ingram, Vice President of Product Operations.
With 9% their surgical instruments stored in one central area, the picking and replenishment became streamlined and efficient. Operators no longer need to climb ladders and walk through multiple areas to fulfill the multiple lines order. Now they can stand at the Modula VLM and retrieve all the items, which are delivered to them at an ergonomic level, safe and easy.
Innomed experienced significant time savings with both order fulfillment and inventory stocking. With the Modula VLM, inventory levels are quickly refilled. Modula trays can be configured for various instrument shapes. With their normal workflow, orders are fulfilled efficiently without adding more labors. Innomed saved the cost of moving to a new location. “For us, to be able to put that kind of inventory in a footprint like that, was a no-brainer,” says Aaron Ingram.
